With week two on the horizon, the Green Bay Packers prepare to take on another dual-threat quarterback in the Washington Redskins’ Robert Griffin III.
RG3 and the Redskins have a daunting task ahead as they try to worsen the Packers’ 26-2 regular season home record over their past 28 games.
Washington Redskins (0-1) Analysis: The Redskins opened the season with a punch in the mouth by the new-look Philadelphia Eagles in a 33-27 loss at home. While it ended up being a one score game, it was never really that close.
Griffin III was obviously rusty after not playing at any point in the preseason. While he did improve as the game went on, he wasn’t anywhere near as dynamic as what we saw during his brilliant rookie campaign. To make matters worse, Alfred Morris had a train-wreck of a game, fumbling on his very first hand0ff and running for a paltry 45 yards on 12 carries. To compete at Lambeau Field, they will need a lot more from Morris.
On the other side of the ball, Washington was absolutely shredded by the Eagles offense, particularly LeSean McCoy who rushed for 184 yards. In order to stop Michael Vick and the passing game, they played primarily in a nickel defense. That probably won’t change against Aaron Rodgers and the Packers, so look for running back Eddie Lacy to have a huge effect on the outcome of the game.
Green Bay Packers (0-1) Analysis: In Green Bay’s 34-28 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, they looked like one of the best teams in the league. They’re not quite as good as the 49ers, but even with some costly penalties and two first-half turnovers they held a lead midway through the fourth quarter.
Almost everyone can agree that the Packers lost that game in San Francisco due to an extremely leaky defense. Green Bay’s front seven struggled to pressure Kaepernick and should have a much better time getting to RG3. The secondary will be tested yet again and will have to create turnovers.
An emphasis last week was the play of the Packers’ young tackles Don Barclay and the rookie David Bakhtiari. Minus a couple of Aldon Smith sacks, they both held up pretty well in the protection of Rodgers. This paved the way for the offense to be fairly successful against a stout 49ers defense.
Brutally Honest Prediction: Green Bay 40 Washington 24
Sunday should be smooth riding for Rodgers and the offense because Washington’s defense is without a healthy safety in Brandon Meriweather. E.J. Bigger’s move from safety to corner was a disaster against Philadelphia. Green Bay should be able to exploit that weakness in addition to seeing what the rookie Lacy can do. RG3 didn’t look explosive enough to give the Packers problems in their home-opener at Lambeau.
TV Coverage: FOX 12:00 PM CT; Joe Buck (play-by-play), Troy Aikman (analyst) and Pam Oliver (sidelines)
Betting Lines: Packers favored by 7 and over/under at 50
2013 Record straight up: 1-0
2013 Record against the spread: 0-1
2013 Record in over/under: 0-1
Do you think the Packers will have any problems with the Redskins? Let me know by commenting below.
Nick Grays is a senior writer at the Sports Bank where he covers the Wisconsin Badgers and Green Bay Packers. He also enjoys sharing Fantasy Advice and pretends to be a Golf expert from time-to-time. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here or visit his blog Nick Knows Best. If social media is not your thing, shoot him an email at grays@uwalumni.com.
*Pictures obtained from Packers.com and Redskins.com