Green Bay Packers v. Detroit Lions: 5 Burning Questions

As the Green Bay Packers prepare to face off against the Detroit Lions on Monday Night Football, these are five burning questions that we want the answers to.

After a stellar road win in Dallas to move to 4-1 on the season, the Green Bay Packers now turn their focus to another divisional matchup, this time with the Detroit Lions. The Lions enter Monday Night’s game with a 2-1-1 record and the winner will be in first place in the NFC North through the first six weeks of the season.

Although Detroit would blow a late lead and tie the Arizona Cardinals in week one, they’ve had a couple of nice wins since against the L.A. Chargers and the Philadelphia Eagles. While in the past it has been easy to overlook this Lions team, this is certainly not one of those times as they are poised to pull off the upset at Lambeau Field.

As it usually is, this will be another physical NFC North matchup but with a win for the Green Bay Packers, they can move to 3-0 within the North and really have a firm grasp on the division. But before we get ahead of ourselves, these are the five big burning questions that I have prior to kickoff and the answers will determine the outcome of the game.

Will Davante Adams play?

As you’re all aware, Davante Adams was held out of last week’s matchup in Dallas with a nagging turf toe injury. And as you’d expect, he was greatly missed in the passing game. Luckily, the Green Bay Packers were able to rely on Aaron Jones as well as get the tight ends involved in the passing game because the wide receiver group wasn’t overly impressive. As a unit, they would catch just 4 of the 13 passes thrown their way for a total of 55 yards.

Now, this week they will be up against a tough Detroit secondary led by Darius Slay and this group has been very good at limiting the big plays this year. Even against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. Without Adams, it is going to be difficult for this Packers’ offense to move the ball through the air.

Another big game for Aaron Jones?

Establishing the running game is vital to the Green Bay Packers as it opens up the rest of the offense as we saw last week in Dallas. Aaron Jones led the team to victory with a career game where he rushed for 107 yards, including four touchdowns, and added another 75 yards receiving.

Well just as I mentioned above, with Adams’ status unknown and a difficult Detroit secondary coming to Lambeau, the Green Bay offense may very well need another big game from Jones if they hope to put up points on the scoreboard.

Can they slow the Detroit WRs?

Lions’ quarterback Matt Stafford loves to sling the ball around and through their first four games, he’s done it very effectively. Detroit ranks seventh in the NFL in passing yards per game with 279.2 and a big reason for their success is the play of Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones.

Last week the Packers’ secondary struggled to slow down the Dallas passing attack as they gave up 441 yards through the air and the big play was a problem. With Golladay looking like a number one receiver and Jones’ deep threat ability, it is going to be another difficult matchup for Jaire Alexander, Kevin King, and company.

Will Green Bay take advantage of the Detroit OL?

The Detroit offensive line may be the weakest unit on the team this season. Running back Kerryon Johnson is averaging just 3.4 yards per carry this season and if Green Bay can take the lead early while slowing down Johnson just as they did last week with Ezekiel Elliot, it is going to make this Lions team one-dimensional which plays right into Mike Pettine’s hands.

A lack of a running game will allow Za’Darius Smith, Preston Smith and others to pin their ears back and focus on getting to Matt Stafford. This is an opportunistic Packers’ defense and Stafford has shown that he will make mistakes, so if they can create pressure, it should lead to some turnovers.

Can the Packers finally beat Detroit?

For the better part of 15 years, this was a lopsided matchup in favor of the Green Bay Packers. However, over the last two seasons that hasn’t been the case as the Detroit Lions are on a four-game winning streak against the Packers.

Now a little context – Aaron Rodgers has essentially only played in one of those four games. He missed both games in 2017 with a collar-bone injury and in last season’s final game at Lambeau, he left in the first quarter with a concussion. But nonetheless, this is a trend that needs to stop. Will this finally be the week?