The final match in Week 2 of the new NFL season comes along in the Monday Night Football, which this week is a divisional clash in the NFC North as the Green Bay Packers play their home opener against the Detroit Lions at Lambeau Field.
Both these teams enter the match off the back of pretty disastrous results last week so they should both be eager to prove a point and get their season started. With the extra game this season, starting 0-2 isn’t as bad as it might have been but teams would still like to avoid it if possible.
Green Bay Packers
You could be forgiven for thinking it was doom and gloom after the Packers were absolutely destroyed by the New Orleans Saints last week. The fact the Saints didn’t do much for the form of that match on Sunday afternoon either. Aaron Rodgers was quick to call for calm after the loss though and while his summer saga has dogged the preparation of the Packers this term, the MVP has enough credit in the bank to be listened to.
The one thing Rodgers has always done in his career is come back from a loss strongly. That has always suggested that he still has the team behind him. Given all those summer questions he’ll be eager to prove that is still the case here because another loss in this one and all sorts of doubts will come along. The Green Bay defence is missing some components so Rodgers’ and his relatively strong offense will need to get the job done here. With that they’ll need to be a whole lot better than last week. The good thing is they can’t be any worse.
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Detroit Lions
If you only looked at the scoreboard from the Detroit Lions’ match last week you would think they ran the San Francisco 49ers close, only losing by eight points, but most of their good work came in garbage time so the score did flatter them a little. Nevertheless, it is something their offense can move forward with though and take some confidence into this match against a team whose defence isn’t as good as the one they faced last week.
The other good thing is that the 49ers franked the form on Sunday when they polished off the Philadelphia Eagles. One thing which is going to need to improve is the Lions’ output on defence else Rodgers will just pick them apart at will. If the Lions can get a run game established and stay close enough to keep using it then in turn it keeps the Packers offense off the field and offers up a chance of a shock upset. Jared Goff has a good record against the Packers from his Rams days but his support cast there was a whole lot stronger than it is here.
Betting
Initially I was leaning towards the Detroit Lions to cover a double digit spread here and while I still think that could well come in, I think the better bet might be to take over 48.5 points given that the Green Bay Packers are missing a key pass rusher in Za’Darius Smith. It would be a huge concern for the Packers if their offense flounders as much as it did last week. In fact I expect a huge reaction from that side of the ball and points to come fairly regularly.
There is no reason why the Lions can’t put up points against this Packers secondary though, especially if Goff gets more time to pick his passes. Rodgers has a point to prove while the Lions will look to impress under their new coach. We saw countless high scoring matches on Sunday to continue the trend of recent years that this is very much becoming a scoring league now. These two can add their weight to the amount of points scored this weekend and take us over 48.5 points.
Tips
Back Over 48.5 points for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Betfair
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