Five things to watch for in the Week 3 Sunday afternoon matchup when the Green Bay Packers (1-1) face the Detroit Lions (1-1) at Ford Field:
1. Positive carryover from Packers defense
In the first five-plus quarters of the regular season, Green Bay had allowed 57 points. In Week 1, the Seattle Seahawks had their way with the Packers and put up 36 points. Then, the New York Jets were making it look easy in Week 2 with touchdowns in each of their first three drives. There couldn't have been a much worse start for the new-look Dom Capers group.
However, it all quickly changed for Green Bay after that. The Jets' final eight drives (not including a one-snap series before halftime) resulted in five punts, one interception, one turnover on downs and one field goal. The Packers' pass rush began to give Geno Smith problems, and players like Mike Daniels, Tramon Williams and Davon House all stepped up.
It will be interesting to see if Capers does a lot of substituting to match personnel (which he often does, but which head coach Mike McCarthy stated this week he's "not a big fan of") or if he sticks with the same 11 players on most drives. Green Bay's defense will of course play a big role in determining which Lions offense shows up Sunday: the one that scored 35 points in a Week 1 win over the New York Giants or the one that scored just seven points in a Week 2 loss to the Carolina Panthers.
"This is a talented offensive team," Capers said of Detroit. "They've got a lot of tools. You just can't zero in on just one guy, I don't think, because they've got other guys who can beat you."
2. Another Calvin Johnson matchup, this time accompanied by new receiving threats
In the past, the Lions have done very little to take pressure off of star receiver Calvin Johnson in the passing game. It's been Johnson and a collection of below-average wide receivers. Last season, Detroit's second- and-third leading receivers were both running backs. The last two seasons, the Lions didn't even have another receiver with more than 500 yards through the air, with a player like Kris Durham being the second-most targeted receiver.
In an attempt to address that deficiency, Detroit gave former Seahawk Golden Tate a five-year, $31 million ($13.25 million guaranteed) contract. Tate is obviously not up to Johnson's talent level, but he's a lot closer than Durham or anyone else tag-teamed with "Megatron" ever was. Capers said that "Tate gives them their best second receiving threat that they've had."
The Lions also drafted pass-catching tight end Eric Ebron in the first round this year. While Ebron only has three catches for 38 yards in his first two NFL games, there's little doubt that he'll sooner or later force opposing defenses to game plan for him.
Green Bay could opt to match Sam Shields on Johnson. Capers has employed that type of strategy on Johnson before. But with Tramon Williams playing well and with Davon House making the most of his 30 snaps last week, the Packers have three legitimate options to throw at Johnson.
"You've got to give it your all, your best, going against a guy like this; If you don't, he'll torch you," Shields said. "He'll embarrass you. So I don't think anybody wants to get embarrassed."
"He's a beast," Shields added later. "Everybody knows Calvin Johnson. You know what you're going to get. He's going to catch balls. He's going to get his. That's just the way it is. Just keep doing our job, staying on top, not letting him get explosive plays, and we'll be all right."
3. Jordy Nelson's targets, Davante Adams' role
Even Jordy Nelson admitted that having 30 passes thrown his way through two games "is a lot." But Aaron Rodgers, who has traditionally spread the ball around quite evenly, said he hopes the rest of the team isn't worrying about pass distribution. If Nelson keeps getting open, though, there's little reason for Rodgers to look elsewhere. And, as Nelson noted this week, he and Rodgers haven't even been on the same page as well as they have in the past. If Nelson and Rodgers actually do get in sync, perhaps the NFL's current leading receiver has an even bigger statistical day than he had in the win over the Jets.
Nelson isn't the only noteworthy Packers receiver going into this game. It should be more clear as Sunday's game begins whether Davante Adams has definitively passed Jarrett Boykin on the depth chart. Boykin's red-zone drop last weekend had Rodgers less than thrilled, and it brought Adams into the game. Adams went on to earn rave reviews with his five-catch, 50-yard performance.
"I thought Davante really stepped up," McCarthy said. "You talk about a young man taking advantage of his opportunities, he made clutch catches, strong after the catch."
4. Production from Eddie Lacy and Packers running game
After winning the NFL's Offensive Rookie of the Year award, Eddie Lacy is finding out what it's like when opposing teams game plan to stop him like the Jets did. Still, only 77 rushing yards on 25 carries (3.1 average) is not exactly what many expected out of Lacy to begin this season.
It won't be much easier for Lacy and the Packers' running game in Detroit, as the Lions rank second in the NFL in rushing yards allowed. Former Wisconsin Badgers linebacker DeAndre Levy has been doing a really good job stopping the run, as has defensive linemen Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley.
Yet, McCarthy isn't worried.
"I feel good about where our running game is," McCarthy said.
5. Tight end contributions
In the win over New York, the Packers' tight ends had one catch on three targets for eight yards. According to data from ProFootballFocus, Andrew Quarless and Richard Rodgers combined to go out on receiving routes 40 times. Yet, they got just three balls sent their way.
Brandon Bostick is the closest thing that Green Bay has to a Jermichael Finley-like receiving threat from the tight end position. But after recovering from a lower leg injury, Bostick has been slowly brought back and didn't play on offense at all in Week 2. Even when Bostick is full-go, he's still an inexperienced player with only seven career catches to his name.
The Packers had to know this could be a possibility as they attempted to move on from Finley. But Green Bay's offense has thrived when having a big-body, down-the-middle tight end to throw to, and it will be interesting to see whether Bostick, Quarless or Rodgers can provide that in Detroit.
"Well, after two games I think that opportunities in the passing game have been limited (for the tight ends), but I think they've improved from Week 1 to Week 2," McCarthy said.
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