Washington vs Green Bay Week 7: 5 Questions with Acme Packing Company

It’s Week 7 of the NFL season and the 2-4 Washington Commanders will be facing a 3-3 Packers team in Raljon.

Washington was able to get right - just barely - against the Bears last week, and the Packers have lost their last two in a row, to the Giants and Jets. Taylor Heinicke will start for the good guys this week, with Carson Wentz lost for several weeks to a finger injury that required surgery this week. Meanwhile, Aaron Rodgers and the Packers offense looks as vulnerable as they have in years. Have the stars aligned properly for Washington to steal one at home?

To learn more about these and other issues, I asked Justis Mosqueda of Acme Packing Company five questions about the state of the Packers and what to look for in this game.

1) Generally speaking, the Packers haven’t accumulated their third loss until November over the past several years. They currently stand at 3-3, and just lost to the Jets at Lambeau. What do you think accounts most for their struggles so far?

The offense not being able to score enough points. The defense is built around playing split high safeties, so they’re kind of assuming a lead. Last week, the defense held up for a good amount of time but got worn down by the ground game when the Packers weren’t able to score. The offensive line has been playing as poorly as Aaron Rodgers has seen in probably a decade.

Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images

2) Aaron Rodgers has been arguably the best quarterback in the NFL for most of his career, and it’s hard to imagine a day when that won’t be the case, but it looks like he may be winding down. What are your thoughts on his future in the league?

His mobility seems to be dwindling and it has been a topic of conversation among the beat reporters. Rodgers’ contract carries such a high dead cap, even if he retires, that it’s assumed that the team will do anything it can to keep him playing football, though.

Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images

3) It looks like the Packers pass defense has been one of the best in the league - even though they’ve allowed a very high completion percentage - but it appears their rush defense has struggled. Is that an accurate characterization? Do you think Washington would be wise to test the Packers’ rush defense?

That is 100% accurate. The Packers’ defense is talented outside of the defensive end position, but their scheme is fairly vanilla and can be worn down if the offense commits to the ground game. Quarterbacks have almost been non-factors against Green Bay. The team got taken into overtime by Bailey Zappe and lost to Daniel Jones and Zach Wilson in back-to-back games. There’s no reason to think that a Taylor Heinicke-led offense couldn’t replicate the “success” of those three quarterbacks.

Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images

4) The Packers drafted a couple of wide receivers this year - Watson and Doubs - in an attempt to try to fill the void left by losing Davante Adams and other receiving options. What are your thoughts on the rookies, and do you think not making a stronger play for Adams was the right move?

Watson missed most of camp with a knee injury and is now dealing with his second hamstring injury of the regular season, so it’s hard to tell where he’s even at in terms of development. Doubs has been playing great, relative to the expectations for a Day 3 rookie. Adams was offered a larger contract than he received by the Raiders, so I don’t think money was the problem there. In the end, I’m not sure the Packers truly had the option to keep Adams on the franchise tag with the salary cap situation the team was in and Adams knew that. It seems as though he really did want to move closer to home where some of his west coast family that was unable to travel could see him play live. His former college quarterback playing for the franchise didn’t hurt, either.

Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images

5) What are you expecting the final score of the game to be this week? DraftKings Sportsbook has the over/under set at 41.5. How many points do you expect to be scored overall?

The Packers desperately need a get right game before they play the Buffalo Bills on the road. I don’t think it’ll be a high-scoring game, maybe 17-14, but I do expect they’ll win.

Thanks again to Justis Mosqueda for taking time out of his day to answer our questions about the Packers.