The Packers laid an egg last week and need to bounce back to keep a firm grip on their division lead. The Panthers are coming to town and here are the big things to watch:
Packers Evolving Offense
We’ve seen the Packers offense continue to show new looks and try new things. They’ve used their running backs and tight ends as receivers more than they have in the past, while still using their unheralded receivers (who keep coming up with big plays). Now, Davante Adams is back and Jace Sternberger is cleared to play. How they are integrated into the offense will be a big storyline to follow for the second half of the season. Last week was a terrible shoehorn of a sh!t show to get Adams back into the offense. Matt LaFleur needs to get Adams involved with this offense, not shift the offense to suit a wide receiver. How successful he is (or isn’t) at this may very well determine the fate of the 2019 Packers.
Run CMC
Christian McCaffrey may only second in the league in rushing, but he’s played in one less game than the other leaders. His 110 rushing yards per game rushing and 10 TDs in 8 games both lead the league. His 5.3 yards per carry is better than any featured back in the league. He also has more receiving yards than Dalvin Cook and Aaron Jones, and Alvin Kamara and more receiving touchdowns than Mohamed Sanu or Larry Fitzgerald. And he’s going it all with a backup quarterback while defenses key on him. I really don’t know what the Packers are going to do to try to contain him, but “bend but don’t break” will need to be in full effect to stop him from breaking the game.
The Weather and Takeaways
The Panthers have 2 total takeaways in their 3 losses this year. They have 17 total takeaways in their 5 wins. They have turned the ball over 7 times in their 3 losses and only 6 times in their 5 wins. So they are -5 in their 3 losses and +11 in their 5 wins. This team has an opportunistic defense and they depend on turnovers to win. The weather forecast calls for temperatures around 32 degrees at kickoff. It’s not super cold, but it’s enough to harden the ball a little and maybe be a turnover factor for a warm weather team.
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For more coverage of this week’s game, check out Pregame Predictions: Packers vs Panthers – 2019 Week 10