Brett Favre chatter, bye week aside, did you see what I saw last night? I saw exactly the kind of team that the Packers don’t fare well against, a tough, physical team in the trenches. The undefeated Tennessee Titans are awaiting the Packers in Nashville after running the table thus far. When you look at the stats and comparison, you see exactly what I mean;
Offensively
Yards Per Game Packers 328.9 (10th) Titans 309.7 (23rd)
Rush Yards P/G Packers 101.0 (23rd) Titans (145.0) (4th)
Pass Yards P/G Packers 227.9 (10th) Titans (164.7) (28th)
Defensively
Total Points Packers 159 (16th) Titans 87 (1st)
Points P/G Packers 22.7 (16th) Titans 12.4 (1st)
Sacks Packers 12 (24th) Titans 18 (8th)
Total Yds. P/G Packers 327.9 (17th) Titans 275.4 (4th)
Int’s Packers 13 (1st) Titans 12 (2T)
Forced Fumble Packers 5 (24th) Titans 8 (9t)
Notables
Penalties Packers 58 total (3rd) Titans 44 (19th)
Penalty Yds Packers 534 (1st) Titans 327 (21)
Turnover +/- Packers +6 (5th) Titans +8 (1st)
The Packers have returned 5 of their 13 defensive picks for touchdowns this season which means the defense has been a huge points contributor for Green Bay. The Titans on the other hand have forced 8 fumbles and recovered 4 of those where the Packers, up front, have forced 5 fumbles but only recovered 1 thus far.
If you look at the numbers, they’re evenly matched teams for the most part but it’s the physical play up front by the Titans, the run game the Titans offense possesses, the way the Titans’ defense swarms the line of scrimmage and the ball carrier and this one is being played on Tennessee’s home turf, prediction-wise, this match-up can be chalked up for a blemish in the “L” column for Mike McCarthy’s Packers…but wait.
The X-factor in all of this, the Packers are coming off of the bye week. Mike McCarthy has proven that given time to prepare, he’s a pretty good coach at getting his team ready to play especially on the road. Throw in the fact that the Packers are going to get a good dose of regulars back on the field as healthy as they can be (Bigby, Harris, Montgomery, Hunter, Hawk, Clifton, Jones, even Aaron Rodgers with a rested shoulder), this all should bode well for a Packers team that has been plagued by nagging injuries.