After letting a second-half lead slip away, Aaron Rodgers showed off his brilliance once again with a game-winning drive. Trailing by four, Green Bay’s offense marched 54 yards downfield, and then Rodgers found Andrew Quarless open for the game-winning touchdown. Coming off a clutch performance and three straight wins, Green Bay will hope to build on their streak and move to 5-2 on the season, by picking up the win against the Carolina Panthers.
Carolina looks to finish its two-game road trip in Green Bay, after walking out of Cincinnati with a tie. A disappointing stretch of losses to the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers could be turned around quickly. The best news for the Panthers is Cam Newton’s return to form from an athletic statement. There is no question Newton has been throwing the ball extremely well, now he is back to the dominant athlete we saw before numerous injuries early in the season. While Carolina might be weak up front and their defense has struggled, Newton clearly has the ability to put the team on his back and carry them to a win.
Now let’s take a closer look at this game and key matchups and players to keep an eye on.
Key Matchups
Cam Newton versus Clay Matthews: The sky is blue, grass is green and the Green Bay Packers can’t stop the read-option. We saw it last week against Miami, Matthews repeatedly locked on to the first thing he saw in the backfield, allowing Ryan Tannehill to sprint right by him for a 40-yard run. Tannehill would have picked up another big run if not for Nick Perry making a shoestring tackle. Now Green Bay faces a quarterback who is bigger, faster and stronger than Tannehill.
Newton’s athleticism will present a problem for multiple reasons. Green Bay has shown they can’t consistently wrap up and bring down the ball carrier, a task that will be more arduous given Newton’s size. If they elect to focus a lot of pressure on him and keep him in the pocket, he can attack a secondary that will be missing two starters. Newton may not have even a decent offensive line, but he can make Matthews and the entire front-seven pay for focusing on stopping the running game or selling out versus the pass.
He is coming off a three-touchdown game against the Bengals, but his best performance of the season could come this week. He just has to hope his defense can do enough to keep the game close.
Aaron Rodgers versus Panthers’ secondary: Newton will certainly give Green Bay’s defense trouble, but the outlook for Carolina doesn’t look much better. Cornerbacks Antoine Cason and Melvin White have been the biggest culprits behind Carolina’s 20th ranked secondary. Now they face a hot Packers’ offense, led by Rodgers who has a 15/1 TD/INT ratio this season.
Carolina will certainly look to move free safety Thomas DeCoud over to Cason’s side to help against Jordy Nelson. While that will certainly help, it will lead Randall Cobb and Davante Adams in single coverage against White and Charles Godfrey. To make matters worse, Carolina’s pass rush has taken a significant hit this season without Greg Hardy.
In the end, Carolina just doesn’t have enough talent to make Rodgers day difficult. Green Bay’s offensive line should give him time to throw, allowing Rodgers to pick on one cornerback after another.
Kelvin Benjamin versus Davon House: Green Bay’s secondary is hurting. Sam Shields was ruled out on Friday, while Tramon Williams is questionable and would have only been a limited participant on Friday. With their two outside corners likely out, Green Bay must rely on House to battle against Benjamin.
Benjamin is a freak at 6’5” 240 pounds, making things much tougher for House in coverage. House is no slouch at 6’1”, but will likely be outmuscled by Benjamin. House does have experience on his side; Benjamin is just a rookie and has run into issues with drops. He also is still waiting to be cleared by doctors after suffering from a concussion last week, but he practiced on Friday and is expected to play. Look for Newton to test House often and it could be the matchup that decides how close this game is.
Prediction: Packers 34 Panthers 27
The Packers continue their tradition of losing more starters to injuries. This past week they lost starting Shields, Williams and inside linebacker Jamari Lattimore. While the injuries aren’t believed to be long-term, they could keep them out against Carolina.
If Green Bay was healthy, there’s a real shot they could beat the Panthers by double-digits. The Panthers defense isn’t nearly as strong as it was in 2013 and the offense lives off of Newton. But when you take away Green Bay’s two best corners, Benjamin and Olsen should find plenty of opportunities to slip past their coverage. Green Bay will also have to account for Newton’s athleticism, which was set free last week, when he rushed for 107 yards and a touchdown.
Fortunately, Green Bay has enough talent to pull out the win at Lambeau Field, against a reeling Panthers team. As long as Green Bay can avoid turning the ball over, a mistake the Bears made in their loss to Carolina, the Packers can walk out with a win and four straight wins.
Stat Projections
Passing:
Aaron Rodgers: 28/39, 314 yards, 3 TD’s, 0 INT’s
Cam Newton: 23/35, 268 yards, 2 TD’s, 1 INT
Rushing:
Eddie Lacy: 13 Carries, 67 yards, 1 TD
Jonathan Stewart: 14 carries, 56 yards
Cam Newton: 8 carries, 84 rush yards, 1 TD
Receiving:
Jordy Nelson: 9 receptions, 118 yards, 1 TD
Randall Cobb: 5 receptions, 68 yards, 1 TD
Kelvin Benjamin: 6 receptions, 95 yards, 1 TD
Greg Olsen: 5 receptions, 76 yards, 1 TD