Packers vs. Raiders: Tale of the tape for Week 7 matchup
The Green Bay Packers will host the Oakland Raiders in Week 7. Let’s take a look at how the two teams match up in this week’s tale of the tape.
The Packers are looking to get their sixth win, which would tie their win total from last season. In order to do that, they will have to beat the Jon Gruden-led Raiders this Sunday. The Packers are on a short week, coming off a controversial win on Monday night over the Detroit Lions.
The Raiders (3-2) are coming off a bye week after their Week 5 trip to London where they did the Packers a favor by beating the Bears on a fourth-quarter game-winning drive. The Raiders have also played the Vikings this season, falling 34-14 in Minnesota in Week 3.
While there were some low expectations for the Raiders this season, they have some impressive wins over the Bears and the Colts. Their two losses are to the Vikings and the Chiefs, two quality opponents.
Both teams are looking to pick up their third win in a row. With the matchup coming up quick, let’s take a look at the tale of the tape.
Quarterbacks
Aaron Rodgers
Aaron Rodgers has been playing very well, even if his stats don’t show it. He has been a great leader on this offense that has been playing well, despite losing some key players. He has been getting the ball to the playmakers and taking care of the ball too. The two interceptions in his stats should both have an asterisk on them, both coming off of deflections on passes that should have been caught or a flag should have been thrown for pass interference.
Rodgers is 13th in the league with 1,590 passing yards, on pace for 4,240 yards. He isn’t throwing a ton of passing touchdowns, but his running back Aaron Jones is leading the league with rushing touchdowns (eight). He’s also been without his top receiving target Davante Adams since he was injured against the Eagles in Week 4.
Rodgers will have his work cut out for him this week when he doesn’t have Adams, and will likely be without his next two receivers Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Geronimo Allison. He’ll have to depend on guys like Jake Kumerow, Darrius Shepherd, Allen Lazard, and the newcomer Ryan Grant.
Derek Carr
Despite playing every game this year, Derek Carr is 24th in the NFL with just 1,117 passing yards. Carr is completing 73.3 percent of his passes, the highest in the league. This offense is not a pass-heavy offense. They depend on the run to move the ball. Carr’s passing game consists of dinking and dunking down the field, completing short passes.
In fact, Carr’s longest completed pass was for just 43 yards. Carr won’t take shots down the field as Matthew Stafford did on Monday night. I don’t think Carr has receivers who have the ability to beat the Packers deep as the Lions did.
This Sunday, Carr will have to face the 14th-ranked pass defense, who are pretty aggressive at the line of scrimmage, which could force him to make some longer passes, something he really hasn’t done a whole lot of this season. I think between the Packers’ pass defense and the pass rush, Carr will be feeling some pressure this game and could have some trouble on the road.