Packers won’t play against Cam Newton in Week 10

The Green Bay Packers won’t be playing against Cam Newton in Week 10.

For the second time in three weeks, the Packers‘ opponents will be starting a backup quarterback.

Panthers MVP quarterback Cam Newton has been out since Week 2. The Panthers announced on Tuesday that they have placed Newton on injured reserve, ending his season. It’s not surprising news as Newton has missed most of the season due to injury.

The Packers have gone 2-2 in games against the Panthers with Newton at QB. They lost the most recent two games.

What this means is that the Packers will face Panthers backup quarterback Kyle Allen this week. But this doesn’t mean it’ll be an easy game for the Packers. Far from it.

In six games this season, Allen has completed 60.7 percent of his passes, throwing for 1,291 yards, nine touchdowns and four interceptions. The Panthers have gone 5-1 with Allen, with their only loss coming against the undefeated 49ers.

Green Bay’s defense will also need to find an answer for MVP candidate Christian McCaffrey, who this season has 881 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns, as well as 363 receiving yards and three touchdowns.

Matt LaFleur’s team can’t worry too much about who is playing quarterback. They first need to ensure they are better prepared for Sunday’s game than they were last week. Their performance against the Chargers was embarrassing, and similar effort this week will have the same result.

Ahead of their bye week, this needs to be a bounce-back game for the Packers in all three phases. Get to the week off at 8-2 and with some momentum and they’ll be in great shape to return fresh from the bye against the 49ers.

But a loss, and suddenly the team’s hopes of securing a first-round bye could be over. That’s how important this game is for the Packers.