All that matters in football is beating your rivals. Chicago Bears coaches get hired and their only mission is to beat the Green Bay Packers. Too bad for them because even at our worst we still wake up early for Bear hunting. Settled in after a cozy division win, Green Bay was able to mend its wounds during the bye week and convince themselves of the morale victories to come. Do we start seeing starters sit in mid-December? Yuck.

The true testament of where we are as a team is how available Packers tickets are. It must be bitter cold or the Packers stink. Only benefit is the incoming Los Angeles Rams also stink and I doubt any coastal elites are venturing in for a meaningless game. That Rams Super Bowl bandwagon emptied quicker than a cooler in late July. The NFL had a marquee matchup of Sean McVay and his big brain versus his buddy, Matt LaFleur. Two titans of the NFC now wondering how long they will have their aging QBs.

The Rams mortgaged their future for last year’s title run meanwhile the Packers have the future and the present on the roster with no real plan for either. Green Bay’s defense has continued to underwhelm, and the offense has been embarrassing for most of the year. The upside is Christian Watson has shown himself to be a burner and playmaker. The bread and butter of the team is the rushing offense which gains a boost with the monstrous Aaron Donald out of this game.

 

Aaron Rodgers

Passing Attempts o31.5 (-114) Lower

Passing Completions o21.5 (+100) Lower

Passing Yards o231.5 (-115) Higher

Passing TDs o1.5 (-107) Higher

With the Rams front missing it’s key component, Rodgers able to slice the defense with big plays. A week healthier and he gets a defense that has been charred for 230+ yards in 6 of the last 7 with last weeks shut down of Derek Carr. No surprises there.

 

Aaron Jones

Rushing Yards o60.5 (-115) Higher

Receptions o3.5 (+110) Higher

Receiving Yards o22.5 (-119) Higher

AJ Dillon

Rushing Yards o36.5 (-123) Lower

Receptions o1.5 (-125) Higher

Receiving Yards o10.5 (-110) Higher

Allen Lazard

Receptions – o3.5 (-163) Higher

Receiving Yards – o45.5 (-112) Higher

Christian Watson

Receptions – o3.5 (-130) Higher

Receiving Yards – o46.5 (-115) Higher

Rodgers will have his choice of weapons during the day with limited pass rush. Lazard and Watson have made their reliability obvious at this point. With QB1 adjusting plays and taking deep shots throughout the season, each of these guys could hit their prop in one quick strike especially Watson who has found new ways to break open to his track speed.

Bobby Tonyan

Receptions o2.5 (-120) Lower

Receiving Yards o23 (-112) Lower

Again outside last weeks dud performance by the Raiders, the Rams struggled against the TE giving up 7 or more catches in the previous 3 games. Tonyan hasn’t been as explosive as we remember him with his last 5 games only exceeding his prop of 23 on one occurrence, 5 weeks ago.

Outlook

Hard to imagine that Baker Mayfield can do anything competent two weeks in a row especially with the host of targets he has at his disposal. His last trip to Lambeau was Christmas day last year when he threw 4 picks with a talented offense. His hero moment of last week has given him a boost of confidence that is sure to lead us right back to overconfident and reckless Baker that will give plenty of opportunities for the defense to capitalize on. With the Packers playoff hopes gone into the winds of winter, let us play whoop and see if we can finish the season building depth and experience for next year. If we were going to tank for pick quality, it should’ve been done weeks ago so finish strong and see what the future holds.

Green Bay has the better team left healthy and edges out McVay’s brain 27-17

As always it is #GoPackGO