The Patriots and Packers meet Sunday in Foxborough with both teams sitting at 5-3, and the setup already points to a tight, ugly kind of game. New England is dealing with a long injury list, and Hunter Henry is the latest name to land there after the Dolphins game. He did not practice on Thursday or Friday.
Even with those issues, the Patriots were listed as three-point favorites as of Thursday night. Green Bay, though, is shorthanded too. The Packers are expected to be without slot receiver Jayden Reed, starting linebacker Edgerrin Cooper, and edge rusher Micah Parsons.
That makes this one feel like a game where the margins matter more than the flash. Drake Maye and Jordan Love are both franchise quarterbacks, but the conditions around them suggest points could be hard to come by.
The most likely path to that kind of afternoon starts with the passing games not quite taking over. Maye has the talent to push the ball, but New England’s receiver room is thin.
Pop Douglas, Kyle Williams, and Efton Chism have been the main options, while Mack Hollins returned to practice this week. A.J.
Brown is already ruled out, and Henry has not practiced the last two days.
Love has more than enough talent to work with, but Green Bay’s offense has its own limits. Christian Watson, Matthew Golden, and Tucker Kraft have been the most reliable pieces, yet the rest of the group has not offered much.
Chris Brooks is the only Packers running back averaging more than 4.0 yards per carry, and he has only 15 carries on the season. Marshawn Lloyd and Josh Jacobs have combined for 89 carries, 224 yards, and three touchdowns, which works out to 2.5 yards per carry.
The numbers behind the receiving corps tell a similar story. Watson, Golden, and Kraft are the only Packers with 100 receiving yards so far. New England, by comparison, has nine players who have cleared that mark.
That’s part of why this matchup has the feel of a defensive tug-of-war. The Patriots rank ninth in points allowed per game, while the Packers sit 10th.
Zak Kuhr and Jonathan Gannon both have their units playing well, and each defense should feel confident against offenses ranked 23rd and 16th. Don’t be surprised if both teams stay under 21 points.
One of the biggest individual matchups will be Christian Watson against Christian Gonzalez. Gonzalez has already shown he can take top receivers out of a game, and Watson’s size makes him a different kind of challenge. He’s 6-foot-4 and is putting together a career-best season, but the Patriots have reason to like their chances with Gonzalez and a healthy starting secondary for a second straight week.
Watson’s production matters a lot to Green Bay’s offense. The Packers average 26.7 points per game this season when he gets to 100 or more receiving yards. When he doesn’t, that number drops to 18.2.
That’s why limiting Watson should be near the top of New England’s plan. Carlton Davis should get the assignment on Golden, which also gives the Patriots a solid answer for the Packers’ second option. Golden has been excellent, but Watson’s impact is the one that changes the shape of Green Bay’s offense.
If the Patriots can slow Watson, Tucker Kraft may be the player who has to carry more of the load. That’s a dangerous proposition for New England.
Marcus Jones has had trouble with tight ends, and Kraft gives Green Bay a real edge in the middle of the field. He was on pace for more than 1,000 yards last season before tearing his ACL, and while his numbers have dipped some this year, he’s still tracking toward a strong season.
Kraft caught all six of his targets for 53 yards and a touchdown last game, marking his second straight game with a score. He also showed what can happen when Watson is contained earlier this season: in Week 4 against the Buccaneers, Watson was held to season lows in targets and catches, and Kraft responded with seven targets, six catches, and his first touchdown of the year.
So even if Watson is bottled up, Green Bay still has a path. Kraft could be the one who picks up the slack, and a yardage total around 75 would not be a disaster for the Packers if New England succeeds in taking away the top two wideouts.
In Other News...
Patriots Face A Trade Deadline Mistake They Really Can't Afford
The Patriots are heading toward the trade deadline with the same familiar problem that has followed them all season: too many places where the roster has not held up the way it needed to. Injuries and underperformance have thinned the wide receiver room, and the front office is still weighing whether the answer is to stand pat or make a move that can stabilize the offense and the line of scrimmage.
There is also some internal tension around how aggressive New England should be. Talks involving vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf are ongoing, and the team has looked at help at offensive guard and edge rusher, but the broader question is whether the Patriots should be adding or subtracting from a defense that still has pieces worth keeping intact. For a team trying to avoid a deadline misstep, the next few days could say a lot about how it views its own timeline. [Read more 🡒]
Patriots Face A Trade Deadline Choice That Could Hurt A Playoff Push
With the NFL trade deadline approaching, the Patriots are being forced to weigh short-term help against the longer view of their roster. Sports Illustrateds Albert Breer pointed to Christian Barmore and Carlton Davis as possible trade candidates, a reminder that even a team trying to build momentum can find itself pulled into deadline conversations when the market starts moving.
Mike Vrabel has tried to keep the focus elsewhere, saying he has not shared any trade plans and stressing the team is locked in on the Packers and the usual week-to-week business. Still, the possibility of moving either player would come with real consequences for a Patriots group trying to stay competitive, which is why this deadline feels less like a formality and more like a decision that could shape the rest of the season. [Read more 🡒]
Short-Handed Patriots Face A Huge Test Against Green Bay's Passing Attack
Week 9 brings a measuring-stick game for two teams sitting at 5-3, and the Patriots are walking into it with a real challenge on the perimeter. Drake Maye has helped keep New England in the mix, but the offense now has to navigate a Green Bay defense while also dealing with a receiver group that has been stretched thin, making every available target and every clean snap feel more important than usual.
On the other side, Jordan Love gives the Packers the kind of passing-game threat that can punish a secondary if New England loses discipline for even a few plays. For the Patriots, the path is pretty clear in theory: limit Green Bays explosive throws, make Love uncomfortable, and create a turnover or two to swing the game back their way. Whether they have enough healthy bodies to pull that off is the question hanging over the matchup. [Read more 🡒]