Packers: Five players key to victory in Week 11 vs. Colts
By Jesse Fry
5. Pass rush
Philip Rivers is a gamer. He is as tough as they come and loves to mix it up with the defenders. When he gets hot, he is also as good as there is in the game. The best way to shut that down is constant harassment.
As I’ve already stated, this will be a strength-on-strength matchup and this game will likely come down to if Green Bay’s defense can step up the way they did at the end of last week’s game.
Za’Darius Smith has been good all season long, Preston Smith is showing signs of waking up, while Rashan Gary is coming on strong. If all three can come together and get going, the Packers’ pass rush will be an absolute nightmare for opposing offenses.
The defense is getting healthy in the backend with Kevin King and Jaire Alexander both returning from injury. With those two back in the lineup, the Packers’ defensive backs should not have a hard time matching up against the Colts receivers.
Rivers isn’t a scrambler nor very mobile. If the secondary can takeaway the quick pass, Mike Pettine should be able to find the matchups he likes, exploit them and get his edge rushers in Rivers’ face.
This will be a good matchup. I love this time of year. Thanksgiving is just around the corner and the games will matter more from here on out.
Two first-place teams will battle and it will likely go down to the wire. I feel the difference in the game will come down to if the Colts offense can make the big play or if Green Bay’s defense can come through with a game-changer.