Green Bay Packers get set to welcome the Oakland Raiders to Lambeau Field. Jon Gruden brings his ballclub to Lambeau Field on a two-game winning streak and coming off a bye week. Raiders are better than people expected at the start of the year. The same could possibly be said for the Green Bay Packers. They were not predicted to be a Super Bowl contender by many people, and I doubt many Packers fans believe this team would be 5-1 in August. Raiders cannot be taken lightly. They need to come aggressive and put the foot on the throat early and often. This is a game that Green Bay cannot afford to lose as they finish up their heavy home schedule.

Three Storylines I Care About
1. Injuries, injuries and more injuries – Who will play for the Packers at wide receiver? There was some panic about that this week with so many missing with injury. I doubt that all of them will miss the game. We do this as sports fans where we panic midweek only to be relieved on Saturday night or early Sunday morning. My guess is that Geronimo Allison and Davante Adams will both miss Sunday whilst Marquez Valdes-Scantling will give it a go.

Raiders have their own set of injury problems too. Trent Brown missed practice the last two games after his wife filed a domestic violence charge against him. Tyrell Williams has also been out with an injury. If neither of those guys can go for Oakland, they’re at a disadvantage.

2. Start fast and slow down this Oakland running attack – One of the reasons why Dallas never got their run game a couple Sundays ago was the fast start of the Green Bay Packers. They need to do something similar this week too. Oakland is the third-best running team according to DVOA behind Baltimore and Dallas. If Josh Jacobs is allowed to get going early on, this could be a tighter game than most expected it to be for Green Bay. Oakland wants to control clock. And if the Packers can prevent that, they’re in business.

3. Rodgers could have a field day – I know the Packers do not have many healthy receivers but hear me out. Oakland’s secondary is one of the worst in football. They rank 26th in DVOA currently. Look what quarterbacks they’ve faced thus far – Joe Flacco, Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins, Jacoby Brissett, and Chase Daniel. Mahomes is obviously elite, but the rest of those guys are average to below-average quarterbacks. Rodgers should be licking his chops, and it would not surprise me if he has his biggest stat game of the year.

Don’t Sleep On Em
Ryan Grant – Part of me thinks will see the new receiver will have an impact on Sunday. With the lack of receivers combined with Oakland’s inability to defend the pass, Rodgers’ receivers could have a big day. He is a trust guy, so sometimes, the new players do not get the ball as the others do. Still, I’m going with Grant to have an unexpectedly big day.

Prediction – Packers win this football game. I like their chances to win rather convincingly even with the injuries.  Oakland is a better team than expected, but Green Bay is still the superior team. Rodgers puts up huge numbers and leads the Pack to another victory.  Packers 31-20.