The Green Bay Packers, coming off of an embarrassing 23-0 home loss to the Baltimore Ravens, now face the daunting task of having to go on the road to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday Night Football. The Packers have now lost four of their past five games and are in danger of completely falling out of the NFC playoff race. Here are three Packers Keys To Victory to ensure they get back on track and stay alive this week.
Week 12 Green Bay Packers Keys To Victory
Better Quarterback Play
It may seem obvious, but it’s true. The Packers cannot win games unless they get a better performance out of Brett Hundley, who is 1-3 in four starts since Aaron Rodgers went down with a collarbone injury. Last week, in Green Bay’s 23-0 shutout loss to Baltimore, Hundley threw three disastrous interceptions that ultimately cost Green Bay the game. Even a great defensive performance (by Green Bay standards) was unable to save the Packers from their inability to score any points whatsoever.
Simply put, Hundley needs to be better. He’s consistently broke out of the pocket too early, hesitates to throw to open receivers and forces throws into coverage. He panics under pressure, which forces him into bad throws, and seems unable to step up in the pocket when he needs to. What’s more is that he’s failed to establish any sort of connection with Jordy Nelson, who almost certainly has to be heavily involved in the Packers offense in order for them to win games without Rodgers. Since Hundley became starter, Nelson has caught just 10 passes on 21 targets. This lack of production can’t continue if the Packers hope to win without Rodgers.
Force Turnovers
The Packers defense, which has often been the weakest part of the team this season, will have to face one of the NFL’s most dynamic and explosive offenses this Sunday when they face the trio of Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell. Green Bay has had a very tough time against teams with dynamic playmakers this season, so they’ll have their hands full in this game. Their one hope to stay in the game will be to force momentum-shifting turnovers that gives Green Bay short fields, which in turn will help the struggling offense.
Green Bay can’t hope to win this game without forcing at least a couple of big turnovers, especially since their offense doesn’t have the firepower to match Pittsburgh score for score without Rodgers. It will be a tall task, but this Green Bay defense needs to be up to the task in order to take home a win.
Play as if You Have Nothing to Lose
The 5-5 Packers would fall to 5-6 if they can’t pull out a victory in Pittsburgh, which would all but eliminate them from playoff contention. They’ll be on the road, under the lights and they’re currently two touchdown underdogs. Green Bay needs to come into this game with a mentality that they have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. They’re not expected to even play the Steelers close, but Pittsburgh has struggled with playing inferior teams, as evidenced by close wins over Cleveland and Indianapolis and a loss to the Bears. As much as people want to say Pittsburgh will roll them, the Packers have to tune out the critics and stick to the game plan, trusting that they can stay alive in the postseason chase.
Overall, what looked like a tough game even with Rodgers now looks terrifying without him. But the Packers shouldn’t be counted out, especially since Pittsburgh has had trouble with teams they should easily beat this season. This group is scrappy and won’t go down easy. Let’s hope for a great primetime matchup on Sunday Night and hope that the Packers can pull off the upset.
