Green Bay Packers: 3 Matchups to watch in Week Three

Drew Brees vs. Aaron Rodgers

It will be a matchup of Hall-of-Fame quarterbacks this Sunday night in New Orleans, and while it probably won’t be a good old-fashioned shoot out duel between the two without their top receivers, it’s still a historical matchup and could be the last time that these two face off.

I don’t even need to list these guys’ accolades for you to know how illustrious their careers have been. Both of their football reference pages are littered with bold text, denoting that they lead the league in certain categories. They’ve both been in the elite quarterback’s category for many years now, and even though they’re both aging, they’ve got plenty left in the tank to make this an entertaining matchup.

After three straight seasons of completion percentages at 72 percent or higher, Drew Brees has started fairly cold, only completing 64.7 percent of his passes through three games. His yards per attempt are the lowest he’s ever had with the Saints at 6.9.

Brees has only been sacked once, however, and the fact that he’s been underperforming with an offensive line that’s doing their job does not bode well for the rest of his career. Even with that, he’s still no slouch. Last week, he threw for 312 yards in their loss to the Raiders, even without Michael Thomas, and could definitely replicate that this week against the Packers.

36-year-old Aaron Rodgers has turned back the clock in a big way through two games this year. He’s leading the best offense in the NFL right now and leading the entire league in QBR, at 91.7 in a stat that maxes out at 100.

Part of that success has been him getting the ball out quickly, as I discussed earlier, but there’s been a few other factors too. First, some credit has to be given to Matt LaFleur for calling concepts to get receivers open easily, but Rodgers has done plenty to help with his checks at the line as well.

Another factor is how good he’s been on his deep shots. Marquez Valdes-Scantling has been a great target downfield for him despite a couple of drops; Rodgers has hit him for multiple big plays in each of the first two games. Even with the fact that Rodgers has taken more chances downfield this season, he still is the best in the league at protecting the ball and hasn’t thrown an interception yet.

These quarterbacks know how to perform at a high level even when they aren’t in the best of circumstances without their top targets. They’ll still both put on a show Sunday night and do their best to grind out a big week three win for their respective teams. Whichever quarterback can manipulate the defense and get their players in the correct spots will have the advantage in this matchup and probably lead their team to a victory.

What do you think the most important matchups are for the Green Bay Packers? And do you think Rodgers will outduel Brees? Let me know in the comments below or on Twitter @DairylandXpress.