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Two of the NFC’s most disappointing teams in 2018 will square off early on Sunday when the Atlanta Falcons travel to the frozen tundra to take on the Green Bay Packers, now led by interim head coach Joe Philbin. The Falcons have lost four straight as they head into Green Bay while the Packers have lost three in a row. Surprisingly, both of these teams have losing records since they met in the 2016 NFC Championship Game. How the mighty have fallen. The Packers are -4.5 point favorites at home in this largely uninteresting affair.
Falcons Miserable in 2018
The Atlanta Falcons have lost four straight and have failed to score 20 points in any of those four losses. It is hard to pinpoint the blame for the Falcons inability to put the ball in the endzone, but it has to start with their lack of a running game. Atlanta has averaged just 3.8 yards per carry as a team in 2018, the lowest in the NFL. Due to their inability to run the ball, they are second to last in the league in rushing attempts which has led to a heavy passing attack. Matt Ryan, for his part, is having a statistically successful season as he is on pace to set a career high in yards thrown. However, when you look back upon the extremely successful Atlanta offenses in recent memory, they were a balanced attack that could run the ball between the tackles and not be so reliant on Ryan. Perhaps people in Atlanta and around the league have not given Devonta Freeman enough credit in the past.
First Game with New Coach
Green Bay is in the midst of one of their most chaotic seasons in history. They will take the field on Sunday for the first time in well over a decade with a new head coach after Mike McCarthy was fired after last week’s loss to Arizona. Like the Falcons, the Packers’ struggles are hard to pin down. Aaron Rodgers is the best quarterback in the game, but he has seemed disinterested and fatigued at times this year. However, when Rodgers is not throwing the ball, the Packers have been able to rely on a rushing attack that sits at 3rd in the league in yards per attempt. The main issue with the Packers is that they do not have anyone on defense that scares you. The defense is in the bottom half of the league in points allowed and they just have not turned opponents over very much.
Pick and Prediction
Who cares more at this point? Neither team is statistically eliminated from the playoffs yet, but face almost insurmountable odds to play football past Week 17. I give the edge to the Packers. Aaron Rodgers will want to prove that it is not him, that McCarthy was the problem. Weird things happen in these “new era” games and since it is at Lambeau, I believe the weirdness goes in Green Bay’s favor. Take Packers to cover 24-17.
