The Green Bay Packers are heading on the road after a mini-bye following their 27-19 win over the Carolina Panthers. On Sunday, they'll be taking on the New England Patriots, last year's representative in the Super Bowl for the AFC. The Patriots are banged up but coming off a win over Jeff Hafley's Miami Dolphins.
Both teams need a win to keep pace in a division that is either incredibly competitive in Green Bay's case or the home of one of the dominant teams in the conference in New England's case.
Who has the advantage? Let's dive in.
The Patriots' pass catching corps was a pressure point for them coming out of last season, so they addressed it in the offseason.
The problem? Their two biggest acquisitions have been out of the lineup. A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs have battled injuries this season. Doubs is on injured reserve and will miss Sunday's game. Brown has been working through lower-body injuries all season and missed Sunday's game against Miami with a knee issue. An elite player when healthy and dialed in, he has nine catches in three games.
Moreover, tight end Hunter Henry, who leads the team with 29 catches, was knocked out of the game with a foot injury.
What's holding them all together is the play of quarterback Drake Maye. He's been asked to make chicken salad over the last few weeks, and the numbers reflect it. He's thrown 15 touchdowns to eight interceptions and has been sacked 16 times. He's third in the league in yards per attempt, sixth in yards and fifth in touchdowns but has thrown the fourth-most interceptions.
"We got to do a good job of trying to contain him the best you can, because a lot of their explosive plays are when he gets loose in the pocket and can get out," Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. "And he's got a big-time arm. He's really athletic. He's a really good young quarterback in this league."
Conversely, the Packers are coming off a good performance against Carolina in which they had six sacks from six different players. Their pass rush looked as good as it has all season and may see an opportunity to tee off on Maye if the Patriots are missing their top pass catchers.
With the way Green Bay's defense is playing, the Patriots could find it difficult to gain much going through the air.
Advantage: Packers.
New England Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson runs the ball against the Green Bay Packers in 2022. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
The Patriots' ground game has been up-and-down through the first eight games. They have three players with more than 200 rushing yards, including quarterback Drake Maye.
Their leading rusher is Rhamondre Stevenson, who has a punishing running style. He's only averaging 45.9 yards per game, which is the highest on the team, though he had a season-high 82 yards against the Dolphins even with a long run of just 9 yards.
Nobody has really gained much traction as the Patriots' lead runner. While last year's second-round pick, Treyveon Henderson, has only 203 rushing yards in six games, the committee approach has worked, as the Patriots are still a top-12 rushing team. Some of that is pumped up by Maye's ability to move around, but it all has to be accounted for by Jonathan Gannon and Co.
Green Bay's defense is ranked 15th in the NFL, allowing 110.9 rushing yards per game. Realistically, they've only had one bad game against an opposing run game, when Atlanta's Bijan Robinson ran wild against them in Week 3.
This matchup is close. It could change based on who is available in the passing game for the Patriots. If Brown and Henry are sidelined, the Packers can realistically commit more resources to stopping the run, which would make things more difficult for the Patriots.
Advantage: Push
Let Jordan Love cook.
The Packers have certainly obliged. Through eight weeks, he leads the league in pass attempts and passing yards. (He's third in passing yards per game.) Of course, some of that is a byproduct of the team having a putrid run game, so everything has fallen on Love's shoulders.
Christian Watson is coming off a dynamic performance straight out of a WWE script by leaving the game in an ambulance before returning to action after being medically cleared. Matthew Golden scored another touchdown but also added two more drops to his league-leading total . Combined, they have six 100-yard games and 10 touchdowns and are on pace for 2,819 receiving yards.
Green Bay Packers wide receiver Christian Watson (9) celebrates with fans following the game against the Carolina Panthers. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Tucker Kraft started to look more like himself the further removed he is from the knee injury that knocked him out for the rest of the 2025 season. Those three men are being asked to carry Green Bay's passing game, which could get interesting on Sunday.
New England boasts one of the premier cornerbacks in football with Christian Gonzalez. For all the hoopla about the Packers passing on Jaxon Smith-Njigba with the pick they used to take Lukas Van Ness, Gonzalez was also available and has grown into a premier player. Gonzalez struggled earlier in the year with a shoulder injury, but is back in the lineup and should see plenty of both Watson and Golden.
He has not allowed a touchdown catch since 2024, according to PFF.
Up front, the Patriots have a group of talented players. Elijah Ponder is their team leader in sacks with six. He also has eight TFLs, one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries. Gabe Jacas has been a find for the Patriots on the edge as a second-round pick, as he already has three sacks and six TFLs. On the interior, Christian Barmore and Milton Williams are disruptive forces that should give the Packers' interior plenty to work around.
If the Packers have time for Love to throw, there should be some open areas to work with. This will be a good test for them, however, as the Patriots rank 13th in passing yards allowed per game and fifth in sack percentage.
Advantage: Push.
Defensively, the Patriots are sixth in rushing yards allowed per game and 10th in yards allowed per carry. Offensively, the Packers might as well be ranked 33rd in a 32-team league.
The run game has not gotten any better for Green Bay with the return of Josh Jacobs. He scored a rushing touchdown on Thursday that he probably is the only one on the roster capable of doing, but overall the results have been poor.
Can the Packers continue to survive this way by being one-dimensional as soon as the game starts? That feels like it would be unsustainable, to say the very least.
"Frustrated, yes, but not discouraged," offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said on Tuesday.
The second half is where the lack of a ground game can start to rear its ugly head. The Packers led 27-10 against the Panthers, but ultimately had to outlast them 27-19. Love cooled off after starting the game 17-of-20 passing, and the Packers could not rely on anything other than his right arm to gain yards.
That's a long-winded way to say this matchup belongs to the Patriots by total knockout.
Advantage: Patriots
The Packers have a problem at kicker. Trey Smack leads the league with eight missed kicks after adding another to his total with a missed extra point after Green Bay's first touchdown of the game.
The Packers are coming off one of their worst special teams games in terms of catastrophic mistakes. Smack missed a PAT, and Coleman Owen, who is filling in for the injured Skyy Moore, fumbled the opening kickoff to give away Green Bay's first possession of the game. They were able to weather the storm of those two mistakes, but the Patriots are a much better team than the Panthers.
The Patriots have some issues in the kicking game, as well.
Andy Borregailes has missed three field goals and one extra point. He's only made one kick from beyond 50 yards this year, which could affect how the coaches play the game strategically. In coverage, the Patriots are a well-coached group all around, with Mike Vrabel leading the charge as the head coach.
Kyle Williams and Corey Kiner have both been solid as kickoff returners. Marcus Jones is their punt returner, and he has been dynamic. He has returns of 26 and 28 yards this year and had two punt-return touchdowns last season.
"Anytime he catches the ball, he can score," Packers special teams coordinator Cam Achord said on Tuesday.
This should be a good test for the Packers special teams, which have been up and down throughout the year.
Advantage: Patriots.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/packers/onsi as Packers-Patriots Matchups: One 'Knockout' Advantage for New England .
