The Green Bay Packers take a 6-1 season record into Kansas City Sunday night to take on the 5-2 Chiefs. Kansas City is 4-0 on the road and a surprising 1-2 at Arrowhead Stadium. The Packers are making their third road appearance this season, winning their previous two.
Offensively, the Chiefs are among the highest scoring teams, ranked third at 28.9 points per game. The Packers are ranked 10th averaging 26.3 per game. Kansas City is vastly improved defensively, ranked 13th in points allowed at 21.4 per contest, while the Packers are ninth giving up just under 20 per game.
The Chiefs’ offense goes through Patrick Mahomes, who has thrown for 2180 yards and 15 touchdowns with only a single interception. However, after a dislocated knee in last week’s game, he’s listed as doubtful. Veteran Matt Moore is likely to get the start. He completed 10-of-20 for 117 yards and a touchdown last week in relief.
With Moore in the lineup, the Chiefs will rely more heavily on a running attack led by LeSean McCoy. The 11-year veteran has rushed for 322 yards and averaging 5.4 per carry. Damien Williams is second on the Chiefs in attempts but has struggled to find room to run, averaging just 1.7 per attempt.
When the Chiefs choose to attack through the air, they will likely look for arguably the best tight end in the league in Travis Kelce, who had 38 catches for 541 yards. Kansas City spreads the ball around nicely, with Sammy Watkins, Mecole Hardman, Demarcus Robinson and Tyreek Hill each with three touchdown receptions this season.
Kansas City has been very active defensively, recording 20 sacks, six interceptions and 14 forced fumbles. Emmanuel Ogbah, Frank Clark and Alex Okafor head the pass rush, combining for 9.5 sacks. Kicking Harrison Butker hasn’t attempted a kick from 50 on out, but has converted 14-of-16 tries this season.
The Packers have been getting stellar play from Aaron Rodgers, who is coming off a five-touchdown passing game. He’s thrown for 2019 yards and 13 touchdowns with only two interceptions. His numbers have been particularly good considering the Packers have been without top receiver Davante Adams. Marquez Valdes-Scantling has picked up the slack with 27 receptions for 416 yards and two touchdowns. Jimmy Graham and Jamaal Williams lead the team with three touchdown receptions.
On the ground, Aaron Jones has shown a nose for the end zone, having scored eight times, while rushing for 399 yards on 101 carries. Jamaal Williams has been a good change of pace back, rushing for nearly 200 yards on 4.6 per carry.
Defensively, the Packers pass rush has generated 18 sacks with 13 of them coming from the duo of Preston Smith and Za’Darius Smith. The defense has also been opportunistic, having picked off eight passes with seven forced fumbles. Mason Crosby hasn’t had the number of opportunities as Butker, but has been nearly automatic, hitting 10-of-11 field goal attempts this season.
The Packers play four out of the next five games on the road, heading to Los Angeles next week before returning home for a match up against the Carolina Panthers.
Updated: LA not SD
20 Comments
I don’t buy any of this pre-game hype talk about Mahomie playing. Why?…because he threw a few balls in practice?
My take on it, since the Chiefs haven’t dismissed it, is that they are concerned the Packers are going to beat them.
There are reasons i believe the Packers have a real possibility of winning this game that i’ll get into later. Make no mistake, if the Packers are 7-1 at the halfway point after this game, i might have to spend some “Packer Cash”. That’s the cash i refused to support them with in years past. I might have to go spend a weekend there to watch a game and money be damned. Gotta bounce, i have a pitcher of kool-aid i need to chug down.
You could find yourself a nice air bnb on mike McCarthy way. Maybe hold off for a december game and you might be lucky enough to get some snow and try out the sledding hill…afterwards you can warm up inside one of the many attractions Murphy has built for your entertainment. Better bring some extra packer money with!!
Found this golden observation from Drew Magary (a noted Vikings fan) over on Deadspin this morning:
“This is a bittersweet success story, because obviously it’s nice for the Packers to be finally rid of both Mike McCarthy and Ted Thompson and to flourish without them. But holy shit, think of all the time this franchise LOST keeping those two mummies around. They could have discovered free agency a DECADE ago, if not earlier. Instead, they signed Reggie White in the ‘90s and then never did anything else. They could have fired Dom Capers at any time, the way every other NFL franchise has. Instead, they had the gall to help his feed his family. Grotesque. They could have helped Aaron Rodgers by having a real playbook. Instead, they were content to stand pat and run fullback dives to nowhere for years and years.
All those years of waste have left these current Packers furiously working to take advantage of having competent leadership before Aaron Rodgers fucks off into retirement. They need to win TWO Super Bowls this year just to compensate for the grief. And if it comes at New England’s expense, I can’t say I’m rooting against them.”
You found that this morning? Gee…where was he years ago? We could have used his expert insight years ago, as none of us even had a clue these problems existed.
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THANKS DREW!
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Pssttt…Drew……two words….Charles “fucking” Woodson.
That Ryan Pickett guy wasn’t bad. Ditto for Julius Peppers. I would add Jared Cook, but that would have required them to resign him after a one year prove it deal. But yes, I get the point
San Diego has a team?
There is no way Mahomes plays a week after a patellar dislocation- risks of re-injury are out of sight. This is a smokescreen to try and have the Packers burn practice time preparing for the wrong guy. Matt Moore is under center and in the Smith Brothers’ sights. I expect a different game now- Packers should roll.
In unrelated…Good men aren’t recognized by what side of the isle they are from. They are recognized being good men for righteously representing constituents and for service to our Country.
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R.I.P. Elijah Cummings
In NFL News….The Queens 6th rated defense host the Redskins 29th rated offense tonight. Expect a nail biter decided in the last few seconds….Queens 5….Redskins 3.
Long deep chuckle….
Thanks for the scouting report on the Chiefs.
For those interested in the ongoing debate/comparison of Rodgers and Cousins, especially as much same to same as possible (which Cousins thus far is clearly winning), both team face the Chiefs in KC in the next two weeks. Also, the Vikings will play the Cowboys in Dallas as the Packers did earlier this year. In that game Rodgers achieved a passer rating of 85.17……
How many TD passes did Cousins throw against the piss poor defense of the Redskins?
Hint: Count how many friends you have, same number.
?
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” (which Cousins thus far is clearly winning)” – The Lonely Boy
Since you brought up Cousins, and winning. Please enlighten us Lonely Boy, what exactly has Cousins ever won?
Think hard about it, do all the research you need to do, take your time, I’m looking forward to reading your Novel, explaining Cousins accomplishments in the NFL.
He won contract negotiations.
^^^This is accurate.
Let’s let the Lonely Boy respond. At least give him a chance to not be a coward.
He has nothing to say, which is odd, he usually quite a bit to say. Perhaps he finally found a hobby outside of commenting on other teams fan pages? Maybe he found himself a hooker? Or an actual girlfriend? Maybe took up knitting?
He never responds to pointed questions when it comes to dealing with reality. It’s not an area where he feels comfortable. It has nothing to do with finding a hobby, or a g/f or b/f.