Green Bay Packers: 3 Matchups to Watch in Week 13

The Green Bay Packers seem to have the advantage against the Eagles coming into this week, but they’ll need to win some critical matchups to come out on top.

Last week, we didn’t quite get the blockbuster matchup of Akiem Hicks against Elgton Jenkins because Hicks was out with an injury. His absence left a gaping hole in the middle of Chicago’s run defense, and the Green Bay Packers’ running backs gained 163 yards against their weakened front. It wasn’t the exact matchup, but Green Bay’s interior lineman controlled the line of scrimmage all night, so we’ll chalk that up to a big matchup win.

The other matchup that we didn’t get was Jason Spriggs for the Bears in a revenge game against his former team in Green Bay. Maybe the Bears should have played them because both Smith Brothers beat the offensive tackles that were across from them for sacks and the Packers had three sacks in total, another big win for the good guys.

The best 1-on-1 matchup of the game was Allen Robinson going up against Jaire Alexander. At first glance, it appears Robinson took the win here. He totaled eight catches for 74 yards and two touchdowns. However, Robinson caught just three of those passes for a measly 28 yards when facing Alexander. Jaire got the best of the matchup, but Robinson’s success pushes this to a tie.

The final bonus matchup was a matchup of worst on worst with the Packers’ run defense facing the Bears rushing attack. David Montgomery started the game with a 57-yard run due to some baffling alignment by Green Bay, but they managed to shore things up the rest of the game. The Bears only handed it off 12 more times in the game for 54 yards because they were down big for much of the game. The best run defense can be an explosive offense, and that was the case on Sunday night.

So three big Green Bay Packer wins, and one tie all added up to a blowout win last week. Let’s look at what matchups will sway the outcome against the Eagles.