Packers Periscope: Week 2 vs Detroit Lions

NFL players did agree on something last week. Football without fans is just plain weird. The weirdness will continue in week two when the Green Bay Packers host the Detroit Lions at an empty Lambeau Field.

NFL players did agree on something last week. Football without fans is just plain weird. The weirdness will continue in week two when the Green Bay Packers host the Detroit Lions at an empty Lambeau Field. But fans or no fans, the goal remains the same, put together another dominating win.

The Packers scraped by last year against their upcoming opponent with two wins by a combined four points. It would have been two undefeated teams facing off this week if not for another Lions' implosion. This time it was a Mitch Trubisky led comeback and a dropped touchdown by rookie D’Andre Swift that led to their demise.

However, Swift is a good player, and Green Bay will have to worry about him for years to come. Currently, he’s only one component of the three-headed backfield the Packers will face on Sunday. Adrian Peterson was a late addition to a rushing attack that already had Kerryon Johnson. A timeless Peterson led the Lions with 14 rushes for 93 yards last week.

Detroit’s reimagined run game is not good news for the Packers run defense. They looked a lot like they did in 2019, allowing 134 yards on the ground and two rushing scores to the Minnesota Vikings. Expect the Lions to try and run it down their throats, especially with Kenny Clark not around to solidify the middle.

Detroit’s crushing defeat happened without their top receiver Kenny Golladay who was out with a hamstring injury. Golladay hasn’t practiced this week and has been officially ruled out for his second straight game. He is one of two key starters out this week joining gaurd Joe Dahl. 

Injuries haven’t been kind to the Lions thus far as they were also without corners Desmond Trufant and Jeff Okudah in week one. Trufant has been held out of practice this week while Okudah is healthy and slated to play in his first NFL game. That’s great new for Aaron Rodgers’ following a week in which he torched a young group of Vikings corners.

Neither would have had much of an impact on the 149 rush yards post by the Chicago Bears. Perhaps Sunday will be a breakout opportunity for Aaron Jones. In four career games against Detroit, Jones has 199 rushing yards on 48 attempts, including 25 attempts for 100 yards to end the 2019 regular season. Though, he may have to do it behind a banged-up offensive line.

Green Bay’s injury report has also been less than encouraging heading into week two. On top of missing Clark with a groin injury, they will be trying to replace Lane Taylor. Lucas Patrick is back at practice, and Billy Turner could make his 2020 debut after getting bumped to a full participant. If needed, the Packers could turn to rookie Jon Runyan and Rick Wagner. Both stepped in and played well against Minnesota.

Despite being hobbled, both teams know how important Sunday’s matchup will be. The Lions want to avoid falling to 0-2, and Matt Patricia wants to get his first win over Green Bay. On the other hand, the Packers want to show that last week’s offensive performance wasn’t just a flash in the pan and they are a force to reckoned with for this season. Also, starting off 2-0 in the division provides a nice edge.

With a win on Sunday, the Packers will move to 29-11 against Detroit since the year 2000. Now that’s what you call a one-sided rivalry.

In all seriousness, this should be a game in which Green Bay puts their foot down. The Lions defense should be no match for Rodgers, Jones, and the array of weapons Matt LaFleur has at his disposal. The defense just needs to prove they are somewhat formidable. It definitely can get worse than last week for the Packers defense, but it shouldn’t against this Detroit team.

 

 

Brandon Carwile is a Packers writer who also enjoys watching and breaking down film. Follow him on Twitter @PackerScribe.

6 points
 

Comments (8)

Fan-Friendly This filter will hide comments which have ratio of 5 to 1 down-vote to up-vote.
Coldworld's picture

September 18, 2020 at 04:03 pm

Just who is going to threaten the middle? KeKe? If we are relying on M Adams, maybe a lottery ticket is a good bet. Lancaster was ok last week but he isn’t going to disrupt.

I’m glad LaFleur said the D line didn’t play well last week. Hope he put them on notice. So far Lowry and KeKe are just bodies and M Adams can only aspire to that. We need a big NT anyway. Wish Mack had panned out.

8 points
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Bearmeat's picture

September 19, 2020 at 05:24 pm

The DL didn't play well because they can't play well. They're just simply not skilled enough. ILB and to a lesser extent WR is like this on our team as well. Gute simply has not thrown enough resources at the position. Every team has those problems in a hard cap league. KC's secondary is awful. Baltimore can't rush the passer well. New Orleans has a QB who has a popgun arm. Tampa Bay has a bad secondary. SF has a bad QB and bad WRs...

Hopefully, our problems are less problematic than every team we face this year. :)

3 points
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Bure9620's picture

September 19, 2020 at 11:09 pm

They are all JAGs other than Clark....no one on that front scares anyone...hopefully the groin isn't serious for Clark...Clark makes it all work because he eats up 2 blocks every play

1 points
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Thegreatreynoldo's picture

September 20, 2020 at 02:17 am

GB promoted Previllon to the roster. At 6'5" and 287 pounds, he doesn't sound like a prototypical NT. Interesting that they didn't promote Winn. He might need a week to acclimate?

0 points
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PeteK's picture

September 19, 2020 at 07:37 am

Turner and Patrick are questionable. We could see Lewis playing T by end of game. Hoping Runyan does well so that we can rid ourselves of Turner's contract. If Rogers plays like he did last week with dump offs and accuracy , you can put a win in the bks.

-1 points
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Coldworld's picture

September 19, 2020 at 08:03 am

It will be very interesting to see who is elevated and if they fill Taylor’s spot. Deguara is injured, so could be Lovett is elevated but surely one DL and maybe a WR since EQ is out.

1 points
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PatrickGB's picture

September 19, 2020 at 01:45 pm

If Turner doesn’t play my guess is that we see Wagner again. Also, there is the possibility that Jenkins plays RT again and Runyan at guard. Our linebackers may need to step up to help stop the run because I can’t see out D-line holding up well enough. Our offense looked deadly last week so I hope that it continues.

-1 points
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fansince1959's picture

September 19, 2020 at 06:25 pm

Peterson ALWAYS plays well against us and i am worried by the lack of consistency among lancaster, lowry, keke and adams---i hope they prove me wrong but they are very much a part of why we lost the nfc championship game and Gute did nothing to fix that---

0 points
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