Green Bay Packers: 3 Matchups to Watch in Week 14

The Green Bay Packers are favorites against the Lions this week, and they’ll have to win some matchups that could turn the tide of the game.

Last week, the Green Bay Packers won key matchups en route to a win over the Philadelphia Eagles. Guard Jon Runyan, who I had written about potentially starting in his hometown where his dad had played so many years, was taken out of the lineup as the Packers chose to shuffle the offensive line. However, Fletcher Cox, who he was set to go up against, was a nonfactor, making just one solo tackle in the game while Green Bay ran well between the tackles for a second straight week, racking up 156 yards between their top two backs. Keeping Cox from making a big impact was a massive win for the Packers.

Our next important matchup was Darnell Savage against Jalen Reagor in the sense that they would hope to keep Reagor from burning them deep with his speed and explosiveness. Reagor did have one deep catch for 34 yards, but that was over Kevin King down the sideline with Savage in the middle of the field. Savage made a big interception that also had nothing to do with Reagor.  They both made big plays independent of the other, so we’ll call that a tie.

Finally, there was Kevin King against big-bodied receiver Alshon Jeffery. The biggest play of this matchup was when Jeffery was called for an offensive pass interference penalty as he pushed off of King on fourth down. This made it fourth and eighteen before the touchdown pass to Greg Ward. Jeffery had no catches in the game, so while King gave up some other catches, this one was a Packers win.

This week, there’s another inferior opponent that needs to be dealt with, and the Packers need to keep their foot on the gas and continue to win these big matchups.