Green Bay Packers are in a spot they haven’t found themselves often in the career of Aaron Rodgers or Brett Favre before him. One of the biggest underdog spots ever for the last two Packers quarterbacks. The line keeps climbing as the Rams are a 9.5 point favorite as everyone jumps on Los Angeles. Could Green Bay shock the world? It’s very possible. It’s more than they have Aaron Rodgers. Mike McCarthy lives for bye weeks. He’s 9-3 overall with two of the three losses coming to unbeaten teams. Will history repeat itself or will the Packers breathe new life into the season?

Defense needs a strong start to the game
We’ve seen it time and again with the Packers this season. The defense starts out slow and flat-footed. They almost look unprepared. From my eye, they’re a young team that’s not ready for the speed immediately when a game begins on Sunday. Green Bay cannot have that happen on Sunday. They need to come out firing early and often forcing Los Angeles into punts and short possessions. It’s a must to limit what Los Angeles does on the offensive side of the ball.

Aaron Jones needs to be the man
This might be part of the ‘What to Watch’ until Aaron Jones is the king of the backfield. I’m not sure how much long McCarthy can wait on Jones. The time feels right to unleash him, and a part of me believes this was all part of a sick plan to keep him fresh for this five game stretch. Call me naïve, but I’ve seen McCarthy do things like this in the past. Jones needs the ball 15-20 times, and Green Bay needs to control the clock.

The return of Cobb and Allison
Randall Cobb and Geronimo Allison are back for the Packers this week. That’s a welcomed sight to see considering the Rams struggle in the secondary without Aqib Talib back there. They’re going to use a ton of four wide receivers sets with Jimmy Graham inside to have both Cobb and Marquez Valdes-Scantling run the slot. Allison will return to the outside. He can handle Marcus Peters as I assume Davante Adams will be on the other side.

Prediction
I want to take the Packers, I really do. But I just think the Rams have too much firepower to deal with for four quarters. Rams squeak this one by a score of 31-28, but I promise you, we will all feel better about this Packers team moving forward in the 2018 season.