Going into the regular season, both the Green Bay Packers and Washington Redskins faced questions surrounding their teams. The Packers lost their best wide receiver, Jordy Nelson, in the preseason to a torn ACL. Many said that the team would be fine without him, but his absence is starting to affect quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ game. The Redskins named Kirk Cousins as their starting quarterback to begin the season and although he was inconsistent in the first half of the season, he has been playing lights-out as of late.
The Redskins came out on top of the NFC East, which was the most unpredictable division all year-long. They emerged as one of the hottest teams in the league, as they won the last four games of the season. The Packers have not been playing well and made the playoffs as a wild card due to their loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday night. This sets up an intriguing matchup between two teams going in opposite directions, but one team (Packers) that undoubtedly has more talent than the other.
It seems like ever since Kirk Cousins screamed “You like that!” after their comeback win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 7, the team has started to play with some purpose. The Redskins only lost three games since that, two of which came to great teams like the Carolina Panthers and New England Patriots. The team’s run accumulated in Week 16 when they traveled to Philadelphia to take on the Eagles in order to win the division. They won that game easily, which was tough for Eagle fans to watch as their former wide receiver, DeSean Jackson, basked in the glory.
As noted earlier, the Packers snuck into the playoffs as a wild card after losing at home to the surprise team of the Minnesota Vikings in the season finale. Many fans and critics thought the Packers were going to win this game easily, but once again Aaron Rodgers could not get on the same page with his receivers and could not make much of an impact. This has been the story all year long with Rodgers and his receivers and their lack of big-play ability, which Jordy Nelson was the master of. Not having this convenience could hurt the Packers even worse now that they are in the playoffs.
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Out of the other three playoff games this weekend, this may be the toughest to pick the winner of. The Redskins are a hot team, but the Packers still have one of the best quarterbacks in the league, who can get hot at any time and come up with big plays to win a game. Both teams’ run game has not been very effective all season long, as the Packers’ Eddie Lacy has been a shell of himself.
Since there is no clear answer on which offense is better between these two teams, it could be that whichever team’s defense makes the most stops could win this game. The Packers are expected to get cornerback Sam Shields back for this game after he missed some time with a concussion. He will be key for the Packers’ defense, as Cousins likes to air the ball deep to Jackson and other receivers.
Expect this game to be close throughout and for it also to be high-scoring. Both defenses tend to give up points, so whichever team can be more effective offensively will most likely come out on top. The team that wins this game would also be dangerous going forward, as the Redskins would have more momentum than ever and the Packers’ most talented players could start to play like they know how to.
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