Green Bay Packers v. Titans: 3 Key X-Factors in Heavyweight Matchup
By Paul Bretl
Here are three key X-Factors for the Green Bay Packers’ matchup on Sunday night against the Tennessee Titans.
The Green Bay Packers will face their toughest test in over a month as the 10-4 Tennessee Titans come to town for a Sunday night matchup. Like the Packers, the Titans have one of the best offenses in the NFL; however, their defense is on the opposite end of the spectrum and is ranked as one of the worst.
With a Packers’ win and some help from the Los Angeles Rams, Green Bay can clinch the NFC’s No. 1 seed on Sunday. But in order to do so, it’s going to take a complete game against a very good Tennessee team. While Derrick Henry draws much of the attention — and understandably so — the Titans also have a potent passing attack led by wide receivers AJ Brown and Corey Davis.
Each week my X-Factors are a little different. Sometimes I focus solely on specific players who can leave their mark, while other times, it’s certain aspects of the game or certain units. This week is a combination of all the above. As I said, it’s going to take a complete performance to win this one.
Kevin King
It’s easy to think of the Tennessee Titans as a run-heavy team because of Derrick Henry. And, I mean, they do run the ball a lot. But don’t discount their passing game either. This season, AJ Brown has totaled 881 receiving yards at nearly 16 yards per catch with 10 touchdowns. Across from him, Corey Davis has 945 receiving yards at almost 16 yards per catch with five touchdowns and a catch rate of 75.9 percent.
If the Green Bay Packers become too focused on Henry, Ryan Tannehill and these two receivers will burn you–especially off play-action where they’ve been particularly potent.
We know that Jaire Alexander is going to hold his own and could very well take one of these receivers out of the game. However, we don’t really know what to expect from Kevin King. These last two games have been two of his worst games this season as he’s given up 10 receptions on 12 targets for 186 yards, and he’s been called for three penalties as well.
If King is going to regain some of his 2019 form, this week would be a great time to do so.