Packers 2017 schedule release: Game-by-game predictions
By Kenn Korb
Week 15: @ Carolina Panthers
Things sure changed fast for the Panthers. After a 15-1 season where practically everything went right, the team struggled early and eventually found themselves at 6-10, far away from the playoffs.
They won’t be nearly as good as that 2015 team was again, but expecting the farce of 2016 to continue into 2017 is a fool’s errand. Their offense lost a ton of its running effectiveness from 2015, but they fell off to such a heavy degree that there’s almost nowhere to go but up. Their defense shouldn’t have such a dire weakness on the back end now either — or at least they won’t be relied upon as heavily.
The ceiling is definitely lower than before for both sides, however.
Even in 2015 they went with low-end talent at their tackle spots, and despite the money shelled out will do so again. Matt Kalil had about one good year before injuries and poor play forced him out of Minnesota, a team which had a dire need for offensive tackle talent; he’s now a highly-paid starter for the Panthers. We have around triple the evidence that Kalil is a terrible player than we do for him being good; that leaves at least one major spot to exploit for opponents.
On the defensive side, money has been funneled into a gigantic extension for Kawann Short and the return of Julius Peppers. The plan is to make that group as dominant as possible just like 2015, and it will help immensely even if there isn’t an improvement in the secondary. Peppers is best as a rotation guy now though, and outside of him and short there’s little else to bank on. Mario Edwards can do well, but doesn’t really have the track record of doing so for an extended period in a prominent role; meanwhile, Star Lotulelei went from being a stalwart to replaceable in 2016.
In any case, this won’t be an easy matchup for Green Bay.
Carolina’s strong line has at worst one interior guy who can completely dominate the weakest spots on Green Bay’s line (guards), and Peppers will surely want to put on a show for his former team on the edge. If the line isn’t giving Rodgers time, it will make finding space against those suspect secondary players all the more difficult.
On the other end, Green Bay has to worry about the Panthers in roughly the same way they do the Cowboys. This team will grind down the opposition with the running game, and while he doesn’t have the same accuracy of Dak Prescott, Newton has a much more dangerous deep throw arsenal; if one of his guys can burn Green Bay’s corners on play-action, that’s a quick and easy score on a worn-down group.
Just like with the Cowboys though, I believe the Packers have the sort of team which can really flip the script on what the Panthers want to do. Make the first few drives count, put the Panthers down multiple scores early, and force them away from the run. Newton is a tank to tackle, but putting pressure on him can still force a decent amount of mistakes — and his line is as exploitable as ever.
It may still get close with some comeback efforts from the Panthers, but I see the sort of staple of a win here for the Packers that proves them to yet again be one of the NFC’s best teams.
Packers 27, Panthers 20 (10-4)