The marathon is about to become a sprint.
For the first time ever, the National Football League season concludes with a 17th game over 18 weeks. Eighteen of the league’s franchises will hit the finish line of the four month marathon unfulfilled. The rest? They’ll start the month long sprint to Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles as the playoffs are about to begin.
For the 13-3 Green Bay Packers, they’ll finish the marathon as the NFC’s top team for the second consecutive year and they’ll close out the schedule against the team with the worst conference record, their North Division rivals, the 2-13-1 Detroit Lions at Ford Field in a 12:00 PM CST kickoff.
By earning the number one seed heading into the sprint, the Packers have been rewarded with the only playoff bye and that forced Head Coach Matt LaFleur to answer questions every day this week about who should play, for how long, at what risk and for what reason? Isn’t this a meaningless finale?
The idea of a meaningless game was scoffed at by LaFleur. If it really didn’t matter, Commissioner Roger Goodell would simply call the Ford family in Detroit, tell them thanks for coming in 2021 and just let the top seeds save the travel cost and give ’em win number 14. From the outset, LaFleur said, “we’re going to Detroit for one reason, to win the football game”
The Lions under first year Head Coach Dan Campbell would certainly relish the prospect of finishing a disappointing, albeit competitive rookie season together by beating the Packers to give them a feeling of accomplishment to build on through the off-season.
If they’re going to keep score and play four quarters of 15 minutes each, then it behooves both sides to give it their best.
LaFleur has said every healthy player will see action, including Aaron Rodgers. He considered resting key players but doesn’t want to stunt the momentum built up over their current six game winning streak. Rodgers is intent on playing to the end, practicing both Thursday and Friday this week for the first time in over a month.
A couple other players taking even longer to attain full health worked in the Hutson Center this week. Rookie center Josh Myers, out since mid-October with a knee injury, is expected to take snaps giving snaps on Sunday. David Bakhtiari worked two out of three days and is officially listed as questionable for the game but he could make his 2021 debut at last. Two others will have to wait. Jaire Alexander, activated off the Reserve/COVID-19 list on Friday, has practiced for a couple of weeks but LaFleur will hold him out until the playoffs. Randall Cobb is also close to return from core muscle surgery and the Divisional Round game is a real possibility.
So how will the last act play out?
When the Packers have the ball.
My guess is the front line skill players will go until they put up a comfortable lead or halftime, whichever comes first. Detroit’s defense has struggled most of the year, ranking 28 in yards allowed per game and 30th in points. Seattle hung up 51 on them last week. With Aaron Jones questionable with a sore knee, A.J. Dillon may work up a sweat before giving way to Patrick Taylor. Myers and Bakhtiari very well could get a series or two but the offensive line has only Ben Braden and Cole VanLanen available as backups with Billy Turner the last player still on the Reserve/COVID-19 list.
Davante Adams needs 22 yards to break Jordy Nelson’s 7 year old single season receiving yardage record. Give him a fade route early and let Juwann Winfree finish up. A touchdown pass or two for Rodgers should put the finishing touches on his second straight and 4th MVP season. Getting Jordan Love any regular season game reps, whenever they may come, is always a good thing.
The offense will play hard, but carefully.
When the Lions have the ball.
The Tim Boyle show will have to wait for another time. Jared Goff has recovered from the knee injury suffered in Detroit’s upset victory over Arizona and is expected to start. Boyle got in the first three starts of his career, tossing three touchdowns and six interceptions, one of the scoring passes when to offensive tackle Taylor Decker. Deker, along with top draft pick Penei Sewell, both went on the Reserve/COVID-19 list this week and might not be activated. That will make it easier for the front seven to defend the most consistent part of Detroit’s offense, the running game of DeAndre Swift and ex-Packer Jamaal Williams. They have combined for over 1000 yards on the ground and they’ll make the defenders work hard to get them on the ground. I’m looking forward to a rookie on rookie matchup between Eric Stokes and Detroit’s 4th round pick, Amon-Ra St. Brown, the younger bother of Equanimeous St. Brown. He’s been terrific for Detroit, setting the franchise record for rookie receptions with 82.
The bottom line.
The Packers might unintentionally take their foot off the gas by playing conservatively to avoid injury and the Lions will play hard for Campbell right to the end. A Detroit victory wouldn’t come as a shock. But Matt LaFleur’s one day at a time, one week at time approach has gotten this year’s team through nearly every challenge. They’re the more talented team and they should get through the final one before the real fun begins.
I like the Pack, 27-16.
