NEWSLETTER
So last night, I decided to watch the Packers game instead of putting the Christmas tree — although I probably should do that soon since I leave for Vegas in a week, and I like to have it done by Thanksgiving — and I was treated to another Packers loss, sending Green Bay into what Matt LaFleur called “no margin for error” territory the rest of the way.
LaFleur: “I don’t even know what to say.”
The Packers entered Thursday night’s game as the favorites against the Titans at Lambeau Field, coming off of a massive victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday afternoon in Green Bay, one that snapped a five-game losing streak.
Christian Watson caught a pair of touchdowns, and Aaron Rodgers had one of his better performances of the season against Dallas. The stage was set for the Packers turnaround we’ve seen so many times before last night.
Except, it never came. Despite the perfect Lambeau conditions — 26 degrees with light snow flurries falling — the Packers couldn’t take advantage of the NFL’s 31st-ranked passing offense on the other side of the field. Instead, Ryan Tannehill threw for 333 yards, completing 81.5 percent of his passes for a pair of touchdowns. Even Derrick Henry got in on the fun with a touchdown pass to Austin Hooper.
The Packers blew a golden opportunity to get their season back on track last night, and head coach Matt LaFleur was left speechless by his team’s inability to stop the Titans feeble passing attack.
“I don’t even know what to say,” Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said via Packers Twitter. “This was nothing like a few days ago.”
The Packers are now 4-7, with a trip to Philadelphia up next. There’s a solid chance that the Packers could make their way to Soldier Field on December 4 at 4-8 with the playoff hopes slipping away from them, making it a must-win game for Green Bay and a perfect spoiler game for Justin Fields and the Bears.
LaFleur said after the game, the Packers have to operate the rest of the season with zero margin for error: “We’re not in a very good position right now, that’s for sure. Like I told the guys, there’s no margin for error, period.”
And for good measure, Rodgers and the offense were booed off the field at several points of yesterday’s game:
Rodgers’ reaction is very Rodgersesque:
Snowstorm Forces Bills-Browns to Detroit
With what the National Weather Service is calling a “crippling” snowstorm set to wreak havoc on the Orchard Park, N.Y. area this weekend, the Buffalo Bills and the NFL have opted to move the Bills-Browns game to Ford Field in Detroit instead.
Buffalo and the surrounding suburbs will see as much as 3-6 feet of snow by Sunday, with the heaviest wave of the storm starting late tonight. As much as we would like to see a snow game, the reality is that the absurd amounts of snow would be a logistical nightmare for everyone involved, not to mention it would be dangerous to ask tens of thousands of people to commute to and from the stadium in what will likely be horrendous road conditions.
The Lions had some fun with their “house guests” on Twitter on Thursday:
(Michael: As a fantasy owner of Josh Allen, I was very pleased with this decision.)
PFF Playoff Odds Machine
With the NFL season now past the halfway point, the folks over at PFF have fired up the playoff odds machine and dropped their first weekly story of the season featuring current and projected playoff odds. The playoff picture, as it stands now, features some new faces from last year’s field.
If the season ended today, the Vikings, Seahawks, Giants, Ravens, Jets, and Dolphins would all have a seat at the table after watching the action from home last season. The Jets, Dolphins, and Giants would all end long playoff droughts with the Jets being the longest (2010).
At this point, the Bears have a zero percent chance of making the postseason (not surprising), according to PFF. As for the rest of the NFC North, the Vikings have the highest odds, the Packers are around 20-30 percent right now, and the Lions are just above the Bears, looking like that kid who can’t swim well in the deep end of the pool with the nose just barely above water.
But the coolest thing in this story is the “teams with the most at stake in Week X” section, which illustrates a team’s playoff odds with a win and a loss this week and a leverage percentage. For example, the Jets have a huge matchup against the Patriots this week is massive for both teams. With a win, the Jets’ playoff odds would be 84 percent. With a loss, they would shrink to 51 percent. The Patriots would be 50 percent with a win and 17 percent with a loss.
There’s plenty of great information in here:
