The Green Bay Packers have won 13 straight prime-time games in the regular season. That’s an impressive stat. They ain’t getting to 14. But they may keep things interesting.
A floundering Packers team, losers of three straight, have drawn the shortest straw you can draw in 2022: a prime-time game on Halloween weekend in Buffalo against the best team in football, a team itching to play after coming off their bye.
Not the ideal spot to try to kick-start your season. Add to that, the Pack will be without Allen Lazard, meaning Aaron Rodgers will be without his two favorite receivers — the other being Randall Cobb. There’s a chance Christian Watson returns to action, but the Pack will likely be very careful with his snaps. The threat of his speed would be a welcome addition to a passing game that’s going to need to be productive to try to keep up with Josh Allen and his high-flying circus of stars.
Not helping matters is the offensive line’s health: David Bakhtiari and Elgton Jenkins are listed as questionable. No. 69 will likely be dealing with that designation for the rest of the season. If he can’t go, rookie Zach Tom likely gets his second start and will have to deal with Von Miller all night. Like last week, expect the Pack to give Tom plenty of help, which hampers how creative the offense can be.
For an offense that has looked like it’s been playing in quicksand for the past 2½ weeks, a short-handed unit playing against Buffalo’s No. 1 defense is going to have to figure things out quickly. Who knows? Maybe this is the game Aaron Jones finally gets 20+ touches. With the shortage of proven wideouts, lining him out wide from time to time makes sense, as does getting back to play action, pre-snap motion, and getting guys like Josiah Deguara and Amari Rodgers involved.
We’ll see if Rodgers’ unusual leadership style of calling guys out this week, motivates the young guys or causes them to go into their shells. If the Packers are to keep up with the Bills on the scoreboard, they’re going to need guys like Romeo Doubs and Sammy Watkins to wake up and have the game of their lives.
This game features the league’s top passing offense against the Pack’s top-ranked pass defense. This game will show us if that stat means anything. The roster of QBs that pass defense has faced is not exactly awe-inspiring. Jaire Alexander will need a bounce-back game after giving up a few huge plays to Terry McLaurin last week. If he can slow down Stefon Diggs a bit, it might make things a little more challenging for Allen, I mean, just a little.
There are two things working in the Pack’s favor: their lousy run defense won’t be tested too much because the Bills hate to run the ball. Plus, right tackle Spencer Brown is out, giving Rashan Gary or Preston Smith a chance to irritate Allen all night. Teams have had success blitzing the Bills, and in a matchup like this, the Pack should take their chances and pick their spots — and just hope that De’Vondre Campbell and Quay Walker can get Allen to the ground when he decides to take off and run.
Let’s face it, the Packers are going to need some weird NFL flukiness here. An Aaron Rodgers team has never sniffed being a double-digit underdog, but that eleven point spread is more than warranted. The Bills have been blowing teams out at home and come in rested, healthy and ready to scare the living daylights out of the Pack on Halloween weekend. I say the Pack finds a way to hang around, but Allen will get it done when it matters.
Bills 27
Packers 20
