Green Bay will travel to Denver for a game against the 11-2 Broncos at 3:25 p.m. Dec. 14.
How do the two teams look against each other?
Packers’ offense vs. Broncos’ defense
The Packers have faced some good defenses this year, including their own in practice. There is a difference, however, between good and great.
The Broncos’ defense is vicious. Their front is led by linebacker Nik Bonitto, who had 10.5 sacks entering play in Week 14. Bonitto led a team that had 51 sacks on the year and makes its living getting after opposing quarterbacks.
In the secondary, they have standout cornerback Patrick Surtain Jr., who could be a candidate for defensive player of the year. In an era where cornerbacks are specialists, Surtain provides the ability to move around the formation and potentially travel with the opposing team’s best receiver.
He’s not alone in the secondary, which also boasts rookie slot cornerback Jahdae Barron, who was a potential draft target in Green Bay, as well as Riley Moss, who has had some bright moments this season.
With a secondary that tough, there are not that many holes to run through on the ground, either.
Denver entered December football in the top five in the NFL in rushing yards allowed against them.
There can be some debate as to whether Houston or Denver is the best defense in the NFL, but those are the only two teams in the discussion. This is the stiffest test that Green Bay’s offense will face between now and the postseason.
Green Bay’s offense made a habit of getting in its own way in Sunday’s game against the Bears.
Jordan Love threw an interception on the opening possession of the game. Their second possession was killed by penalties and more self-induced errors.
Once they got out of their own way, however, the Packers’ offense was dynamic. Both touchdowns in the first half were explosive plays – a 23-yard throw to Christian Watson, and a 45-yard pass to Bo Melton just before halftime to help the Packers build a 14-3 lead against the Bears.
Watson was not done there, scoring from 41 yards out to give the Packers a 21-11 lead in the second half. He has really emerged as the team’s best receiver since returning from injury.
The offense was clunky in the second half. They had two three-and-outs in the third quarter to go with the touchdown to Watson.
When they needed it the most, they put the ball in the hands of Josh Jacobs. Jacobs had 20 carries for 86 yards, but his biggest plays came on two of his final three carries.
He converted a third-and-1 where he looked like he would be bottled up. The best backs create yards that are not there. Jacobs did that, turning a loss on the play into 21 yards and first down.
Two carries, later he was in the end zone for a game winning touchdown. Green Bay’s run game is starting to find its groove at the best time of the year to do so.
Packers’ defense vs. Broncos’ offense
Denver’s offense is in the midst of building on the fly. The last time these two teams met in October 2023, Russell Wilson was the quarterback in the midst of one of the worst trades in the history of the NFL.
Wilson has since been benched and essentially banished from the NFL as the third quarterback with the New York Giants behind Jaxson Dart and Jameis Winston.
After Wilson’s benching and the season that followed, Denver spent its first round pick on Bo Nix.
Nix has been the preferred starter since stepping into Denver and was Sean Payton’s hand-picked student to try and get him back to the Super Bowl.
Nix has had his ups and downs as any young quarterback would, but has shown a knack for making big plays in the fourth quarter, highlighted by his team putting together a 33-point fourth quarter against the aforementioned Giants.
When Nix gets the ball out of his hands, Courtland Sutton and Troy Franklin have been his go-to receivers, with each surpassing 80 targets on the year.
Sutton leads the team with more than 14 yards per reception.
Their run game is a committee approach with J.K. Dobbins sidelined with an injury. R.J. Harvey and Jaleel McLaughlin are the next two leading rushers apart from Nix, who is able to create some plays with his legs.
Green Bay’s defense was largely dominant in the first half, with Caleb Williams completing just one of his first seven passes in the game. The Bears were hardly able to move the ball as the Packers outrushed them in the first half. Combine those two things together and Green Bay had only allowed three points in the first half.
The third quarter was a different story. With two full possessions, the Packers allowed 10 points.
Chicago’s Ben Johnson made his adjustments to get Caleb Williams in a better rhythm, and it worked. Williams and the Bears’ offense were able to get into scoring range twice and capped off their first possession of the second half with a touchdown.
Chicago would score on each of its first three possession, including a 17-play, 83-yard drive that took 8:32 off the clock to tie the game at 21-21 midway through the fourth quarter.
Green Bay’s defense found a way at the end of the game, however, to deliver the decisive blow.
With Chicago facing fourth-and-1 with less than 30 seconds on the clock, Williams rolled to his left and threw the ball in the direction of Cole Kmet.
The ball was underthrown and intercepted by Keisean Nixon, giving the Packers the big closing play to put them into first place in the NFC North.
Special Teams
Denver’s return game is one of the best the Packers are set to face this year with Marvin Mims handling both kickoff and punt duties. He averages more than 27 yards per kick return and 15 yards on punts.
Their kicking game is led by Will Lutz, who has made 86% of his kicks coming into Week 14, and had yet to miss an extra point.
Jeremy Crawshaw has a big leg, having unleashed a 76-yard-punt earlier this season.
Green Bay’s special teams is facing some instability in the return game, even with Jayden Reed’s return to the lineup.
Reed has returned punts in the past, and the Packers have not been up to par in the punt return game with a rotation of guys including Reed being anemic to say the least.
Romeo Doubs continued to be the team’s punt returner in Sunday’s game against Chicago.
Savion Williams has missed the last two games with a foot injury, which has put even more of a question mark on the kickoff return game. Bo Melton has been handling those duties but is not a natural player at the position.
Melton was back to help return kicks Sunday against Chicago, but return duties were also handled by reserve running back Emanuel Wilson in what was a relatively nondescript day for Green Bay’s return game.
The kick coverage game was solid Sunday but did have one hiccup when Brandon McManus kicked the ball out of bounds in the third quarter.
