Predictions Summary Projections by Position Projection Team Boxes

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Prediction: PHI 24, GB 34 (Line: GB by 6.5)

This should be a nice shootout with some major fantasy points. The 7-2 Eagles are only 2-2 on the road but lead the NFC East by a half game. The 6-3 Packers trail the Lions by one game in the NFC North and are 4-1 at home. The Eagles won 27-13 in Green Bay last year but that was when Aaron Rodgers was out. Chances are good the Packers will remember that loss.

First game out with Mark Sanchez and the Eagles have their biggest win of the year. Not to be understated the defense of the Eagles has also made a huge difference in touchdowns, interceptions and sacks. The beauty of it all is that the secondary is not that great and allows opponents to stay in games and pump up the score board. So far, the Eagles have not faced any of the top offenses in the league until this week. That should make this even more interesting.

QUARTERBACK : First game as a starter and Mark Sanchez could not have asked for a better setting than the complete domination of a Panthers team that all but set themselves on fire. Sanchez passed for 332 yards and two scores with no turnovers. If Foles had one weakness to avoid, it was that he too often threw interceptions.

Nick Foles passed for 228 yards and three touchdowns in Green Bay last year.

RUNNING BACK : There was almost no rushing against the Panthers and even though LeSean McCoy would later score once in his 12 runs for 19 yards, fantasy owners had to groan when Darren Sproles ran in an eight yard touchdown on his only carry in the game. McCoy was on a nice four game stretch with 100 total yard games until last week but at least he scored only his second touchdown on the year and first in seven games. Sproles also scored on a punt return but his role in the offense remains minimal overall.

McCoy ran for 155 yards on 25 carries in Green Bay last season.

WIDE RECEIVER : With only one game to go by you cannot make any big assumptions. But it may be notable that Sanchez first start saw Jeremy Maclin (3-38) turn in one of his worst performances of the year and yet Jordan Matthews (7-138, 2 TD) had his best game. Matthews had been chugging along with 40 to 50 yard efforts with no scores but then notched a touchdown in Houston and then blew up this past week. Riley Cooper only managed a single catch in that game and has been less of a factor as the season progresses.

DeSean Jackson (4-80, TD) and Riley Cooper (3-102, 2 TD) both excelled against the Packers last year. No other receiver gained more than 25 yards in that game.

TIGHT END : Zach Ertz has been getting fewer plays in the recent weeks and only accounted for a single catch last Monday. The Eagles are using more three-wideout sets and without double tight ends, it is Brent Celek who remains on the field as the better blocker. That also resulted in 116 yards on five catches for Celek who only had 90 yards total on the entire year going into last week.

MATCH TO THE DEFENSE: So far the Packers have allowed only single passing scores at home but has only faced NYJ, MIN, CAR and CHI there. Most away games have them giving up much more yardage and two or three scores. The Packers have only given up one rushing touchdown to a visiting back all year and no more than 54 rush yards. They also have never allowed any scoring by a visiting tight end. This game smacks of a higher scoring affair where the Eagles are going to abandon a fruitless rushing effort and throw downfield to the three wide receivers. Maclin and Sanchez are very good starts and Matthews is a reasonable risk to take. When the Packers face a good offense, they tend to give up two scores to wide receivers.

The Packers laid down a historic beatdown of the Bears last week to make up for the loss in New Orleans that derailed their winning streak. So long as they beat the Vikes in Minnesota in week 12, they’ll be 4-1 in the division with their only loss to the Lions who they host in week 17 for what will likely be all the NFC North marbles. That slow start to the season is a dot in the rear view mirror and the offense is running like a race car.

QUARTERBACK : Vintage stuff for Aaron Rodgers who joined the six-TD club thanks to the Bears. Rodgers has scored more than one touchdown in six straight games and posts big yards in recent weeks. Almost as good as 25 passing touchdowns already is that he’s only thrown two interceptions over the last eight games. No errors and plenty of touchdowns wins lots of games.

RUNNING BACK : Eddie Lacy hasn’t run all that well or often lately but it doesn’t matter when he’s recently become a bigger part of the passing scheme. In New Orleans, Lacy ran for 59 yards but added eight catches for 123 yards. Last week it was 50 yards on 14 carries and the 68 yards and a score on three receptions. Lacy is still just as good as a runner but is getting fewer carries lately. But he’s more than made up for them with receptions.

WIDE RECEIVER : Pretty much machine-like. Randall Cobb scored in all but one game this year and has been a consistent fantasy gold mine in every week. Jordy Nelson did have three bad games but more than made up for those with Two games of multiple scores and two games with over 150 yards. Davante Adams works in occasionally but Cobb and Nelson are almost unstoppable this season even though they both only get around six to eight targets per game.

TIGHT END : No fantasy value though Andrew Quarless will occasionally catch one pass for a touchdown.

MATCH TO THE DEFENSE: The Eagles have allowed multiple touchdowns on the road to every opponent and better yet are terrible against wide receivers. No reason to over analyze this gift. Expect Rodgers, Nelson and Cobb to all have a big game and Lacy to at least turn in decent yardage with his own chance for a big game as well. This is bound to be good – the Eagles have already allowed six wideouts to top 100 receiving yards.

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