Philadelphia Eagles
at
Green Bay Packers
Philadelphia at Green Bay – If you had very short term memory, you might never know that the Eagles actually won the Super Bowl two seasons ago. Thus far in the season, they have shown almost none of what made them champions just a little over one year and a half ago. They struggled to come back and beat Washington in the opener, which might have been a source of inspiration, if not for the two losses that quickly followed. One on the road against Atlanta, and then last weekend at home against the Lions.
So, what gives? Well, the Eagles defense certainly seems to be yielding too many points to this point. In their three games, Philly’s defense had given up 78 points, which means an average of 26 points. I can promise you that, in the Super Bowl championship season, they were not allowing 26 points per game.
It is not like the Eagles are losing badly, because all of their games thus far have been close. But they are losing, and that is often the difference between good teams and great teams – whether you win or lose the close ones.
Green Bay, meanwhile, is exceeding everyone’s expectations. The defense obviously has come to play, and they have allowed 35 points total in the three games, which means an average of less than 12 points. Nobody has scored more than 16 points against them yet. And while the offense has not quite resembled the offense that the Packers typically have enjoyed with Aaron Rodgers, the fact of the matter is that, with him present and healthy, they always have the potential to be explosive and rack up the yard and the points.
Plus, of course, Lambeau Field is renowned as a tough place to play. That may be especially true this season, the way that they are playing.
The Eagles just are not playing very well, and this will be a tough road game for them. Their offense has not found it’s rhythm, and it is a lot to ask that they find it against an apparently very tough Green Bay defense.
Yet, if the Eagles are to turn this season around, before it spirals out of control, they really need this game as a win. After all, if they lose this, it is their third straight loss, and they would stand at 1-3. Needless to say, that is not where they want to be. Their offense needs to find some rhythm, finally, and their defense needs to dig in a little bit more deeply, and hold a potentially explosive offense from scoring too many points. But there are question marks about whether or not they can even do that.
Ultimately, the Packers are playing extremely well. I think that Philadelphia should prove to be a tough test, and I would not be surprised if they even win. Yet, looking at these two teams, and how they are playing, it would seem to offer no reason to not pick the red hot home team to win this home game to complete a perfect month of September for them.
My pick: Green Bay
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