Green Bay Packers at Seattle Seahawks: 5 matchups to watch

3. Packers run defense vs Seahawks run offense

The Seahawks possess the NFL’s best run offense in yards per game, which doesn’t bode well for the Packers and their bottom-11 unit. One thing that has not helped the Packers is spotting the team’s playing against them an early lead. This allows teams to run the ball a lot which wears out the defense and keeps Rodgers off the field. The Packers best chance to win is for Rodgers to be on the field and playing with a lead.

The Packers need to come out hot if they want to make Thursday night successful for them. Far too often they come out slow and stumble out of the gates. With the first 15 plays of the game scripted, this is just simply unallowable. Another surprising aspect of this is that the Packers have scored on the first drive following halftime in every game, except against the Dolphins. They adjust well, but they need to game plan better.

Carson being out makes the Packers job a little easier, but Mike Davis and Rashaad Penny present a formidable duo, as was evidenced by their performance last week. Oren Burks and Blake Martinez will play major roles this week. In addition to them, linemen Kenny Clark and Mike Daniels will be looking to take advantage of the soft interior of the Seahawks offensive line.