Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions get ready to renew their rivalry this weekend. It will be at an empty Lambeau Field as Green Bay opens their season without fans. That will be one of the stranger things thus far. No rowdy Packers fans ready for a noon kickoff. I reflect back to Aaron Rodgers talking about how the fans needed to liquored up for those noon games. Alas, we can all still be liquored up, but just at home. Detroit is looking for revenge from last season where the Packers escaped late on two occasions. While the Packers are looking to plant their feet as the kings of the North.

STORYLINES TO WATCH
Aaron Rodgers, will you play us an encore – After last week, Aaron Rodgers gets a Lions secondary that is beaten up. Justin Coleman is out. Desmond Trufant hasn’t practiced this week. No Darius Slay. Rodgers has to be licking his chops looking at this matchup. Additionally, Detroit plays mostly man coverage meaning Rodgers is going to have Davante Adams against some no-name guy all Sunday. Rodgers should have another big day.

Managing without Kenny Clark – Green Bay will likely not have Kenny Clark. He hasn’t practiced for two games after hurting his groin. It is unlikely that Clark will grab his helmet and go. We have no idea what his groin injury is at this point. Assuming Clark is out on Sunday, that means Tyler Lancaster, Dean Lowry, Kingsley Keke, Montravious Adams all need to step up. Lions don’t have much of a run game but enough of one that it can be an issue.

Which red zone offense will we see: First half or second half? – Green Bay did not do well in the red zone in the first half then in the second half, they were great. Hopefully, the first half was more rust than anything else, and it’s a blip on the radar. Green Bay has enough options to be pretty lethal in the red zone.

Slowing down Matt Stafford – We talked bout the Kenny Clark angle, but the Matt Stafford part is worth mentioning too. When this guy gets rolling, it is bad news bears for the opposition. Stafford has been good against the Packers for his career and had some gaudy numbers in the past. Jaire Alexander versus Marvin Jones will be the matchup to watch. And if Kenny Golladay cannot go, that’s a big loss for Detroit.

Chris Myers again?! What the hell: For the second straight week, we will be blessed with Chris Myers, Greg Jennings, and Brock Huard. I cannot tell you how little I’m looking forward to hearing Myers and Jennings. It is an incredible knife twist that Jennings’ first two games of the season are Packers’ games. Jennings stated recently that he would love to come back to Green Bay and mend fences. We’ll see.

Player I have my eye on: Josiah Deguara – I loved what this kid did on Sunday. He is a blocking machine. Look for Green Bay to start to integrate him more into the passing game. You want to create a layer of unpredictability. Teams will catch on tape if Deguara is only in on passing downs. We’ll see if Green Bay tries something special with him on Sunday.

Prediction: While the Lions offense does have some promise, this defense is banged up and they’re playing the wrong quarterback. Lions’ best hope is a shootout with Detroit getting the ball last. Part of me thinks the defense will find itself a little bit more this week compared to last week. Another great Aaron Rodgers’ performance leads to another Packers win. Green Bay 31 Detroit 21

Charlie.