After an awe-inspiring 13-3 season in 2019, Aaron Rodgers is back fighting for his second Super Bowl championship. Last year, he and his Packers fell to the San Francisco 49ers in NFC Championship Game. This 37-20 loss came after a 28-23 victory over the Seattle Seahawks in the Divisional Round in Matt LaFleur’s first year as the team’s head coach.
The last playoff appearance for former head coach Mike McCarthy’s Packers was an NFC Championship Game loss. Coincidentally, the NFC Champion Atlanta Falcons, who defeated the Packers, also fell in the Super Bowl.
The 2019 Packers are running it back in 2020, as they look to have another strong start to the season. Last year, Green Bay also started the season 3-0. The 2020 team hopes to have an even longer winning streak than last season’s six-game streak. The majority of core players have remained with the Packers to pursue the franchise’s fifth Vince Lombardi Trophy.
Aaron Rodgers, Aaron Jones, Davante Adams, and Allen Lazard have led the Green Bay offense to a tremendous start to the 2020 season, and they have put up points among the best teams in NFL history. It may be partially due to an increase in scoring across the league in 2020, but there is no doubt that the Packers are looking like they are Super Bowl contenders early in the season.
Read Also: Chicago Bears Predictions and Odds
2020 Packers Draft Picks
Jordan Love, QB (Utah State)
A.J. Dillon, RB (Boston College)
Josiah Deguara, TE (Cincinnati)
Kamal Martin, LB (Minnesota)
Jon Runyan, OG (Michigan)
Jake Hanson, C (Oregon)
Simon Stepaniak, OG (Indiana)
Vernon Scott, DB (TCU)
Jonathan Garvin, LB (Miami FL)
Notable Other New Faces for the Packers
Tyler Ervin, RB/PR/KR
John Lovett, TE
Christian Kirksey, LB
Parry Nickerson, CB
Notable Packers in New Places
Dan Vitale, RB – New England Patriots
Geronimo Allison, WR – Detroit Lions (opted out of 2020 season)
Jake Kumerow, WR – Buffalo Bills
Trevor Davis, WR – released
Jimmy Graham, TE – Chicago Bears
Treyvon Hester, DT – released
Kyler Fackrell, LB – New York Giants
B.J. Goodson, LB – Cleveland Browns
Blake Martinez, LB – New York Giants
Tony Brown, CB – Cincinnati Bengals
Ibraheim Campbell, S – Indianapolis Colts
Notable Packers on the Injury Report
Jordan Love, QB – inactive for Week 3 (coach’s decision); has yet to play an NFL snap
Davante Adams, WR – out for Week 3 with a hamstring injury after leaving Week 2 early
Equanimeous St. Brown, WR – placed on injured reserve with a knee injury; has not played since 2018, but is expected to return for Week 6
Josiah Deguara, TE – out for Week 3 with shin and ankle injuries after missing Week 2
Lane Taylor, OG – placed on injured reserve with a knee injury after playing 63 offensive snaps in Week 1; out for the 2020 season
Kenny Clark, NT – out for Week 3 with a groin injury after missing Week 2
Rashan Gary, LB – questionable for Week 4 with an ankle injury
Christian Kirksey, ILB – questionable for Week 4 with a shoulder injury after leaving Week 3 early
Randy Ramsey, LB – out for Week 3 with a groin injury; has yet to play an NFL game
Kamal Martin, LB – placed on injured reserve with a knee injury; expected to return for Week 4
Curtis Bolton, LB – placed on the Physically Unable to Perform List with a knee injury; expected to return for Week 8
Parry Nickerson, CB – inactive for Week 3 (coach’s decision); has to play in 2020
Kabion Ento, CB – placed on injured reserve for an undisclosed reason; expected to return for Week 4
Packers Who Have Opted Out of 2020 NFL Season
Devin Funchess, WR
Packers Offense Predictions
Unfortunately, the Packers lost 30-year-old starting offensive guard Lane Taylor for the season after playing in just one game. However, the Green Bay offense has not skipped a beat. The Packers scored 43, 42, and 37 points in the first three weeks of the season. Aaron Jones is tied for the most rushing touchdowns in the NFL with four, and he has been absorbing contact and any high-usage running back in the league.
Meanwhile, his future Hall of Fame quarterback will turn 37 years old in December but does not play like it. Rodgers has 887 passing yards and nine passing touchdowns through the first three games of the season. He also has multiple touchdowns in each of the three games, and he has been sacked just twice. Rodgers also leads the NFL in Total Quarterback Rating.
Packers Running Backs: Will Rookie A.J. Dillon Be Able to Contribute to a Team That Already Has One of the League’s Best Running Backs?
The Packers drafted running back A.J. Dillon with the No. 62 overall selection in the 2020 NFL Draft. The rookie could potentially be an essential part of the future, but for now, fourth-year running back Aaron Jones is already on his way to a career year. After Jones had 19 total touchdowns in 2019, he is on pace for more than 20 touchdowns this year.
Jones amassed 1,558 yards from scrimmage in 2019 with 5.5 yards per touch, and in 2020, he has 398 yards from scrimmage with 6.6 yards per touch. LaFleur knows that Jones is a fantastic asset in the backfield and the passing game. Meanwhile, an extreme talent in Dillon has just seven touches.
Unfortunately, the Boston College product does not seem like he will be figuring into the passing game since he had only 21 receptions in three college seasons. This year, backup running back Jamaal Williams has 26 touches, the second-highest number of the team, for 122 yards from scrimmage after having 713 yards last year.
Packers Wide Receivers: Will Allen Lazard Step up to Become the No. 2 Receiver for Green Bay in 2020?
Davante Adams, Allen Lazard, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling are the main three wide receivers for the Packers. In the first two weeks of the season, Adams caught 17 passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns. Adams’ injury then led to more targets for the rest of Green Bay’s pass-catchers.
Lazard has been an impressive receiver in terms of long passes, and he has 13 receptions for an impressive 254 yards and two touchdowns. Valdes-Scantling caught eight receptions for 165 yards and a touchdown.
Packers Tight Ends: Can Robert Tonyan Replace Jimmy Graham and Play Even Better Than the Current Bears Tight End?
Jimmy Graham, who is now with the Chicago Bears, caught just 38 passes for 447 yards and three touchdowns last season as Green Bay’s top tight end. His second season with the Packers was an underwhelming one.
With Adams missing part of Week 2 and all of Week 3, third-year pass-catcher tight end Robert Tonyan came on strong in Weeks 2 and 3. He scored a touchdown in each of those weeks. He has a total of eight targets, seven catches, and 75 yards through three games.
Read Also: Detroit Lions Predictions and Odds
Packers Defense Predictions
Although the Packers give up more points than they did last year, CB Jaire Alexander is off to a tremendous start to his 2020 season. He has been arguably one of the best players at his position and is just one of six players to tackle an offensive player for a safety through three weeks this year. Alexander also has 13 tackles, including two tackles for loss and a sack.
OLB Za’Darius Smith is another strong defensive player for Green Bay this season. The 2019 Pro Bowler is tied with DE Kingsley Keke for the team lead with two sacks. Undrafted rookie linebacker Krys Barnes has played just 47 defensive snaps through three games, but he had two tackles for loss in Week 1 and already has a total of 19 tackles.
Read Also: Minnesota Vikings Predictions and Odds
Packers Special Teams Predictions
Long-time kicker Mason Crosby was drafted in the sixth round of the 2007 draft. He has been kicking for the Packers ever since, and he arguably had the best year of his career last season. In 2019, he made a career-high 91.7 percent of his field goals. He missed just one extra point last year.
Crosby’s62.0 percent touchback percentage in 2019 also was a career-high. Through three weeks in 2020, he has made all seven of his field-goal attempts, including a 52-yard field goal to open Week 3’s 37-30 victory against the now 1-2 New Orleans Saints at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
Packers Head Coach Predictions
Matt LaFleur is off to a very strong start as a head coach. After getting a first-round bye and a playoff victory in his first season with the Packers, the former Los Angeles Rams and Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator seems ready to bring the Packers to the postseason again in 2020.
The former Packers head coach Mike McCarthy, who is now the head coach of the 1-2 Dallas Cowboys, could meet LaFleur and the Packers in the NFC Championship Game this season. The Cowboys entered the season with the higher win projection, but the Packers are tied for the best record in the NFL early in 2020.
Packers Predictions for Week 4
The 0-3 Falcons have not had much luck on their side to begin 2020, and they also have the worst fourth-quarter and second-half defense this season. The Packers opened as a five-point favorite, and the line has moved to seven points. Green Bay could score their most points of the season in this year’s first Monday Night Football game of October.
This contest has unsurprisingly the highest over/under – 58 points – of any game in Week 4. Green Bay is the league’s best offense, and the team will look to continue its unbelievable start before its Week 5 bye week. The Packers and the over are strong bets for this game.
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Packers Predictions for 2020 Season
In 2019, the Packers went 10-6 against the spread. They are already 3-0 against the spread this season; the only other team to accomplish this feat in 2020 is the Seahawks. This year’s over/under for the Packers was just 8.5 wins to open the season, and those that bet the over are in an excellent position. Green Bay’s +2200 Super Bowl futures bet seems to show that the Packers are still somewhat underrated.
While Green Bay’s defense seems average, Aaron Rodgers’ offense is scoring more than 40 points per game. Last year, only one team scored more than 30 points per game (Baltimore Ravens, 31.9 points). Therefore, for those who think that the Packers can be that team in 2020, they should be betting the futures for Green Bay.
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