Two star quarterbacks, two championship-winning coaches and two of the NFL’s marquee franchises.
Toss in the iconic venue of Lambeau Field and Sunday’s game between the New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers shapes up to be more than just a Thanksgiving holiday weekend appointment viewing.
This potential shoot-out pairing the Patriots’ Tom Brady and the Packers’ Aaron Rodgers could be a Super Bowl preview – not that anyone who will play in the game has acknowledged to thinking that far ahead.
“This one’s important because it’s a November game and you start to see the play-off stuff start to shake out a little bit,” Rodgers said before correcting himself. “We’re not allowed to talk about that, I don’t think – we’ve got to win 10 games first, I think [coach Mike McCarthy] usually says.”
The Packers seem well on their way given how well things have been going at home of late.
Green Bay (8-3) have been crushing opponents early at Lambeau, outscoring foes 128-9 before half-time in four straight home wins. Rodgers spent the fourth quarters of the last two home games watching from the sideline in a knit cap.
That seems likely to change today.
New England (9-2) have won seven straight and has already defeated every other squad in the four-team NFC North. Brady remains ridiculously good at 37, having thrown for 26 touchdowns against six interceptions.
“His command at the line of scrimmage, his up-tempo offence, his cadence,” McCarthy said in beginning a long list of compliments for the Patriots star.
He could have gone on for hours.
The Patriots were probably in a similar mode. They do not want to be the latest team caught up in a Packers offensive onslaught.
“This is not the team you want to get behind. You get behind 14-0 and then it’s 21-0, then it’s 28-0 and, before you know it, they’ve just got the game so well under control that you have no chance,” Brady said.
Rodgers has been pretty good himself this season, throwing 30 touchdown passes to just three interceptions. There are few better in the league than Rodgers when it comes to extending plays and making pinpoint throws under pressure.
“You definitely don’t want a quarterback like him having more time than what he already has,” Patriots linebacker Akeem Ayers said.
But today’s game will severely test the abilities of receivers Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb to get open against the Patriots’ cornerback duo of Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner. It will be a case of strength on strength when Rodgers tries to throw to his top wideouts.
On the other end, six-foot-six tight end Rob Gronkowski will test young Green Bay safeties Micah Hyde and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, a rookie.
Matchup nightmare Gronkowski might also draw Clay Matthews in coverage, though that could take the star linebacker away from his pass-rushing duties more often than the Packers might prefer.
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