Game 8: Detroit at Green Bay - 7:30 ESPN and Channel 12

[MickeyDavis]

Go Pack

[ahagen87]

Is the game on local channels in Madison?

[Turk Nowitzki]

I've barely paid any attention to the NFL the past few weeks and it's honestly been kind of nice.

[MickeyDavis]

I thought Madison was considered a Packers local market, as Milwaukee is, but I don't see a local Madison station carrying the game.

[humanrefutation]

Packers are the home market insofar as they'll always show the Packers game when there's a conflict. But cable games don't get local broadcasts here like they do in MKE or GB.

[Mags FTW]

I thought Madison was considered a Packers local market, as Milwaukee is, but I don't see a local Madison station carrying the game.

Pretty sure it’s just Green Bay and MKE.

I really have no clue what to expect tonight. Obviously if Hundley shows he hasn’t made any strides over 2 weeks practicing with the 1’s, this season is toast.

[emunney]

Playing the Lions reminds me of Jim Schwartz, which reminds me that the Eagles hiring Jim Schwartz basically took a TD/game off their defense.

Props to Doug Pederson, the archetypical backup QB.

[Kerb Hohl]

I thought Madison was considered a Packers local market, as Milwaukee is, but I don't see a local Madison station carrying the game.

Madison isn't.

This was a big deal for the big 2008 matchup with the Cowboys when basically nobody had NFL Network because of the contract disputes. I was in a tiny bar with like 300 people to watch that one in Madison.

The NFL only has one home market (for local broadcast when on cable) for each team but grandfathers Milwaukee in for the Packers. They won't give them a third market, though.

[Ron Swanson]

Gotta figure that they need to win these next two games if we still have ideas of winning the division.

[MickeyDavis]

I haven't been keeping up with injuries and practice reports. I know Biegel will be playing special teams. Everyone else healthy? Brooks? Perry? OL ?

We have the long snapper back who Crosby hated. Hope it doesn't come down to a field goal.

[humanrefutation]

Bennett, Dial, and Brooks are doubtful. King, Randall, and Taylor are Questionable. Thomas is out.

http://www.packers.com/team/injury-report.html

[MickeyDavis]

Bennett, Dial, and Brooks have been busts. Bennett should just retire now.

[MickeyDavis]

TEAMS: Green Bay Packers (4-3) vs. Detroit Lions (3-4).

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Monday.

WHERE: Lambeau Field.

TV: ESPN, WLUK Fox 11 (Green Bay), WISN ABC 12 (Milwaukee).

RADIO: AM-620 in Milwaukee, AM-1360 in Green Bay; Packers Radio Network.

SERIES: Packers lead, 98-68-7.

LINE: Lions by 2½.

WEATHER: Clear, high around 40.

SURFACE: DD GrassMaster.

COACHES: Green Bay’s Mike McCarthy (128-72-1) vs. Detroit Lions' Jim Caldwell (58-51-0)


5 THINGS TO WATCH

IT'S A SNAP: Long snapper Derek Hart would like to erase the memories of a nightmarish practice inside Lambeau Field on Aug. 6. The only way do it would be to get the job done as the Packers’ new long snapper. Kicker Mason Crosby missed six of his last seven attempts that night and has had Brett Goode and Taybor Pepper snapping during the season. Goode and Pepper (broken foot) are out and Hart is back. If the game comes down to a field goal, all eyes will be on Hart. “Any time you take young guys that haven't snapped in the National Football League, there's a learning curve,” special teams coach Ron Zook said. “That's kind of the way it is.”

ROLLING WITH THE OL: Having helped produce 413 yards and three touchdowns rushing in the last three games, you can bet the offensive line wants coach Mike McCarthy to keep calling run plays. The line should be back to full strength — the starters have played only 15 snaps together, all vs. Minnesota — but you can bet Detroit will be loading the box to stop rookie Aaron Jones. “I think in every lineman’s heart somewhere in there, (it’s) ‘let’s run it one more time instead of throwing,’” line coach James Campen said. “But they don’t complain about anything. They just do their job and go.”

ASSESSING THE OPTIONS: Don’t be surprised if the offense features more read-option with quarterback Brett Hundley as the season goes along. If teams use an extra defender in the box, the offense can even things up by adding the quarterback as a running threat. They aren’t going to want Hundley to be at risk a lot, but his size and speed make him a threat and defensive ends won’t be able to charge in from the backside if Hundley shows he’s willing to run with it. “We used to run a lot of zone read,” Jones said of his days at UTEP. “You can pick and choose (an option), even against a stacked box.”

BOTHERING BRETT: New Orleans did not blitz Hundley much in his first start, choosing to force him to throw into coverage, but the Lions like to bring an extra defender into the box and they aren’t afraid to pressure. On the defensive line, Haloti Ngata and Kerry Hyder were lost to season-ending injuries and end Ziggy Ansah is playing with knee and ankle injuries. They may need to pressure Hundley. "It's a young quarterback, so (if) you get after a young quarterback, that’s when they really struggle," Lions DT Akeem Spence told the Detroit Free Press. "They don’t know where to go to.”

FAMILIAR FACE: Based on the way Dom Capers moves players around, Lions guard T.J. Lang could be blocking a half dozen or more of his former teammates during the game. If the Packers are smart, they’ll focus their attention on beating center Travis Swanson and guard Graham Glasgow rather than Lang. The pair struggled against Pittsburgh last week while Lang has been his usual consistent self. “He’s had one little setback just in terms of dealing with his back but other than that, he’s done a great job for us,” Lions coach Jim Caldwell said.
OUR PREDICTIONS

TOM SILVERSTEIN

As tough as it is to pick a team with an unproven quarterback, the fact Mike McCarthy has had two weeks to get Brett Hundley settled into a new-look offense gives the Packers a chance. It would help a lot if the defense could chip in something for a change, but that’s a big if. Packers 24, Lions 23

PETE DOUGHERTY

Big game for both teams in a wide-open NFC North race. The Packers (4-3) are looking to right the ship in Brett Hundley’s second start and have had their bye week to re-group; the Lions (3-4) have lost three straight. When in doubt, look to the QBs. Matthew Stafford rates a big edge for the Lions, so the guess here is he’ll make the difference. Lions 27, Packers 20

MICHAEL COHEN

Until Brett Hundley shows he can win a game, it’s hard to pick the Packers based on any tangible measure of logic. So, the Lions it is. Lions 27, Packers 19

RYAN WOOD

It’s a quarterback league, and for the second straight week, the Packers will be facing a franchise quarterback without their own. This game should be closer than the Packers' loss to the Saints. Matthew Stafford is not a Hall of Famer like Drew Brees, but he’s good enough to make one more play than Brett Hundley at the end of a close game. Lions 23, Packers 20

AARON NAGLER

There has been a lot of gnashing of teeth from Packers fans about Mike McCarthy's offensive approach with Brett Hundley at quarterback. While I don't think we'll see drastic changes in that regard, I do tend to think McCarthy will give Hundley more opportunities to make plays against the Lions instead of hiding him like he did against the Saints. The thinking here is that Hundley rewards his coach's faith in him and the Packers get a much-needed victory. Packers 27, Lions 23

[MickeyDavis]

GREEN BAY – Elsewhere in the NFC, two contenders bolstered their roster with veteran acquisitions as the trade deadline came and went.

The Seattle Seahawks addressed their biggest need with the acquisition of left tackle Duane Brown from the Houston Texans and the Philadelphia Eagles boosted their rushing attack by acquiring running back Jay Ajayi from the Miami Dolphins.

In Green Bay, the Packers stood pat, putting all their chips down on two rookies to address their biggest need on defense: the pass rush.

When the Packers take on the Detroit Lions on Monday night, outside linebacker Vince Biegel and defensive tackle Montravius Adams will be integrated into the defense with the hope that sometime in the remaining nine weeks the two rookies will make them a better team.

Both players spent August rehabbing broken bones in their feet, missing critical practice time that fellow rookies Kevin King and Josh Jones used to get themselves ready for substantial playing time.

Their addition is the Packers’ last best hope to improve a pass rush that ranks 26th in sacks per pass play and 28th in quarterback hits (including sacks). The defense has allowed opposing quarterbacks to post a combined 90.2 passer rating.

Adams has been available for action since Week 3, but he has played just four snaps all season and has been inactive the last four weeks. That is expected to change this week following the release of veteran defensive lineman Ricky Jean Francois, which opened a spot for Adams to play.

“You get these young guys and we’re asking them to do some different things than they did in college,” defensive coordinator Dom Capers said. “So, guys like that benefit greatly from training camp and he wasn’t able. We lost him very early in camp. He missed camp.

“I think physically he’s gotten better and I think he’s become more familiar with what we’re doing. So, hopefully, we’ll see him ascend and make progress as we go through the next three or four weeks.”

Adams admitted it’s been frustrating not to be able to help despite being healthy, but he said he has used his time in practice to refine his game and learn from veterans such as Mike Daniels and Jean Francois.

The 6-3½, 304-pound third-round pick had impressed his teammates with his quick get-off at the snap in offseason workouts and two training camp practices, leading them to believe he would help the pass rush right away. Whether he can regain that form and get the snaps necessary to improve will be worth watching in the weeks to come.

“I’m healthy,” Adams said. “I feel good. I’m ready to help any way I can.”

For Adams to help, however, Capers and defensive line coach Mike Trgovac must put him on the field. If defensive tackle Quinton Dial (chest) doesn’t play Monday night, then Dean Lowry and Adams will be the only ones available to divvy up the 30 percent of snaps in which Daniels and Kenny Clark are off the field.

That would suggest Adams could be on the field for 20 or more snaps.

In Biegel’s case, the process of getting him to be a productive player is much more difficult because not only did he miss all of training camp but he also was ineligible to practice the first six weeks of the regular season because he was on the physically unable to perform list.

He has had two weeks of practice — just two practices in pads — to prepare for live action and so getting him accustomed to playing real football will be the first order of business. It’s likely he’ll play mostly on special teams, but with Ahmad Brooks (back) expected to miss another week, there are snaps to be had.

“We’ll have to see,” Capers said of what Biegel can offer. “It’s hard when, you know, we’ve only had him on the practice field for a couple of weeks.

“But he’s taking the right approach in the meeting room. He obviously brings some energy and enthusiasm and we’ll have to see how that translates. It’s like anything, this is his first shot and we’ll just have to see how it goes.”


Biegel said he hasn’t had much time to hone his pass-rush techniques, so he’ll be relying a lot on hustle, something he regularly brought to the Wisconsin Badgers. Whatever he can bring in the effort to put pressure on quarterback Matthew Stafford will be a bonus Monday night.

"I think as a pass rusher for me it's been fun just getting right back at it,
Biegel said. “Being a pass rusher, I haven't done anything for five or six months. So, to be able to come back out there, start working my hands again, start working with (outside linebackers) coach (Winston) Moss, the D-line coach (Trgovac) has been awesome.

“The confidence has been building. For me, my biggest aspect is I'm bringing energy to the Packers.”

[FAH1223]

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[BUCKnation]

Win this one and look good, season is still on. Lose and look as bad as last game, may as well tank.

[El Duderino]

Gonna be interesting to see how Hundley handles cold weather as the season goes along.

[rilamann]

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If it was the old west days and Mike McCarthy was in good old western shootout he'd be the type to not even draw his gun, he'd be content to lay down and die from one bullet wound than to put up a fight and possibly die by 3 or 4 bullet wounds.

Obviously if you don't draw your gun, you have no chance and as long as #12 isn't out there, the Packer's have no chance with Mike McCarthy.

If this is still a game by halftime I'll be surprised.

[rilamann]

Is the game on local channels in Madison?

Check Comedy Central around 8:30.

[FAH1223]

Aaron Jones retweeted this

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