Five Days to Kickoff: 5 Packers-Lions Keys to Game
GREEN BAY, Wis. – On paper, this is a big mismatch.
No, not the Green Bay Packers (9-3) at Detroit Lions (5-7), though that might be the case, as well. Rather, in the opposite direction, it’s Lions returner Jamal Agnew vs. Green Bay’s special teams.
In his fourth year in the NFL, Agnew has three touchdowns on punt returns and one on a kickoff return in his career. He’s having a rather ho-hum year by his standards, with a 24.0-yard average on kickoff returns and 8.8 yards on punt returns.
But every returner on Green Bay’s remaining schedule must be drooling like a hungry dog standing outside Ruth’s Chris Steak House. Green Bay has allowed two punt-return touchdowns in a span of four weeks. That’s as many as the previous eight seasons combined. In fact, the other 31 teams have given up a total of two touchdowns on punt returns.
“It’s always a concern when you’re giving up big plays like that,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said on Monday. “You need every player doing their responsibility. If you don’t get that done, bad things typically happen. It’s just one of those deals where it’s going to take all 11 and it starts on that punt. I mean we’ve got to have a better punt. JK knows it. We can’t put the ball right down the middle of the pipe. Our gunner should’ve been on the left side of the returner and he ended up on the right side. It goes back to every man owning their responsibility and doing that to the best of their ability. If you don’t get guys that are executing and doing their responsibilities, those are the things that happen.”
Here are the rest of this week’s five keys to the game.
2. Deliver the Knockout
The last thing the Packers want to do is give Matthew Stafford a chance to lead a late rally. Last week at Chicago, the Bears led by 10 points midway through the fourth quarter when Stafford and Co. started a possession at their 4-yard line. Talk about long odds, but Stafford pulled it off with a 96-yard touchdown drive, a takeaway and another touchdown.
Stafford has authored 31 fourth-quarter comebacks and 39 game-winning drives. Of this year’s five wins, he’s delivered the game-winning drive four times.
“That was vintage Matthew Stafford right there,” interim coach Darrell Bevell said. “We kind of let him play today and he just responded in a big way.”
3. Injury Report
Like most teams, Green Bay is beat up. But Detroit is particularly vulnerable. Receiver Kenny Golladay (hip), cornerback Jeff Okudah (shoulder) and running back D’Andre Swift (concussion) were inactive against Chicago. Golladay, who was inactive for the Week 2 matchup, has missed the last five games after leading the NFL in touchdown catches last year. Okudah was the third pick overall. Swift was the third pick of the second round. He caught all five targeted passes for 60 yards in Week 2.
With cornerback Desmond Trufant, defensive end Trey Flowers and defensive tackle Danny Shelton on injured reserve – Flowers is eligible to return – the Lions need all the help they can get.
4. Adams vs. Everyone
Davante Adams has been unstoppable of late. Without Trufant and perhaps without Okudah, who on earth are the Lions going to put on Adams?
Green Bay is fourth in the NFL with 48 passing plays of 20-plus yards. Detroit has allowed 44 passing plays of 20-plus yards, the fifth-most in the NFL.
“Aaron Rodgers has been playing at a high level for a long time, Davante Adams out there on the edge, and they have a great connection,” Bevell said on Monday. “They can just wink or nod, and they know what each other’s doing. It’s going to be a huge challenge. We have to do a great job all across the board. It’s not just the back end, it’s the front end, all of it working together. We hope that we can cause it some problems.”
5. Top Tight Ends
Both teams have quietly productive tight ends.
In the 2019 draft, T.J. Hockenson was considered a potential first-round target for the Packers. Instead, Hockenson went at No. 8 overall. He’s having an excellent second season. He leads the team and is third among all NFL tight ends with 52 receptions
It all worked out for Green Bay because Robert Tonyan, who got his first taste of the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Lions, has turned into a true threat. He’s caught 41 passes for 497 yards and eight touchdowns. One of those touchdowns came in the first matchup. Among tight ends, his 89.1 percent catch rate is by far the best in the league. Plus, he’s tied for first in touchdowns with the Chiefs’ Travis Kelce and tied for first with the Buccaneers’ Rob Gronkowski with six catches on passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield.
Both teams have been excellent against tight ends. No team has allowed fewer receptions than the Lions (38) and the Packers have yielded the third-fewest (45).
