I thought I'd make some rather detailed predictions and see how close I can get:
1) Less penalties. After a few days of fundamentals practice I expect the players to take heed of the importance of not giving up mental mistakes. Packers will make about 6 penalties, and probably half will be pass interference, mostly due to the backups (Williams, Lee, Peprah, Bush).
2) Rodgers will start. I doubt he'll finish the game. Probably plays about a quarter to a half or so in total, drives the Packers to score when necessary and letting Flynn do the major grunt work. (Or, that's what I'd probably do). If I were to guess their stats, Rodgers will probably finish with 1 or 2 TDs with an INT. Will be an efficient, but pedestrian performance. Flynn won't throw an INT but maybe a TD, but will be poor in yardage and % completion.
3) Better running game. But not from Grant, I think Brandon Jackson will get his share of reps and he'll deliver a nice game. There'll be a larger amount of run plays, with some big gains. But mostly grinding it out, keeping the injured defense off the field and not putting too much pressure on Rodgers/Flynn.
4) Falcons will play pretty well offensively from both Ryan and Turner, but turnovers and poor finishing will be their downfall. I think they'll be stopping and starting, having a few good drives with a big play or two delivering scores, but mostly some really lousy ones.
5) Atlanta defense will be decent, starting off well, tailing off a bit and coming on stronger later in the game.
6) As for ST, Frost continues to disappoint in the consistency department, shanking one for around 30 yards. But he'll generally perform a lot better this game with some nice punts. Crosby will see a few FGs his way and will perform as usual. A few nice returns by Blackmon sets up some easy FGs for the Packers. Management may look at another punter tryout after the game.
7) Another injury. When it rains, it pours unfortunately š. It'll worry people at first but later revealed to be minor, and we all breathe a sigh of relief.
End result:
Packers win a close one, around 27-24. People will again question the playcalling of Mike McCarthy after simple, uninspiring runs and passes in winning the game, but then that's the point, which they will fail to grasp.
"TheEngineer" wrote: