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The Washington Redskins are still catching their collective breath after experiencing the frenetic pace of Chip Kelly‘s offense, and now follow that 33-27 Monday night loss with a trip to Lambeau Field. While it would seem odd to take a team like the Green Bay Packers this early in survivor pools — let alone against Robert Griffin III and the reigning NFC East champs — this might be the strongest move for anyone still alive in Week 2.
Frankly, the 33-27 score featured the ‘Skins tallying the final 13 points in playing from well behind and Philly could have expanded this lead much more. The Philadelphia Eagles exposed the ‘Skins safety tandem of Bacarri Rambo and EJ Biggers in a number of ways in the run game, but left plenty of points on the board in the pass game.
Not to mention Aaron Rodgers probably won’t turn any horribly executed screen passes in long touchdowns going the other way like Michael Vick; Rodgers certainly won’t go 0-for-7 on intermediate routes as Vick did Monday night, via Pro Football Focus. You’ll see opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of accuracy at that route depth, meaning this safety tandem will be exposed even more in the pass game.
The Packers seem like a good team to hold until later in the season for a survivor pool — like a home game against the Minnesota Vikings — but I’m always wary of this squad dropping games against the league’s lowest teams and more confident coming off a loss like the one against the San Francisco 49ers Week 1. Outside of the near-perfect 2012 regular season Green Bay typically drops an odd game or two against a non-contender, as evidenced in the St. Louis Rams loss last year.
I’m much more confident in them coming out of a brutal week by laying waste; just ask the Houston Texans.
Getting away from the macro perspective, I just really liked the way Green Bay stood its ground in the front-seven against San Fran, neutralized any read-option attempts, dealt with misdirection and harassed Colin Kaepernick with Clay Matthews. Hate to say it, but RG3 at this point in his recovery looks nowhere near as a electric as Kap.
Between the defensive matchup and how excellent Jordy Nelson looked Week 1 in this fearsome receiving corps, and it feels safer here than in any other Week 2 pick.
Give me the Packers for Week 2 in survivor. Other solid candidates in a sneaky-tough week to pick: Chicago Bears hosting Minnesota (though Chicago lost the last meeting) and New England Patriots hosting New York Jets (though weird stuff tends to happen on Thursday night).
Thomas Emerick is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @ThomasEmerick, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
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