GREEN & GOLD EXPRESS

WOLF RIVER MEDIA

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2015

Pieces all in place for a Mile High rumble

How to improve your
standing by doing absolutely nothing, and other
notes from a bye week.
The idle Green Bay
Packers defense got a lift
into the No.1 spot for points
allowed this past week,
leapfrogging the New York
Jets, who had the leagues
stingiest defense until New
England laid 30 points on
them in last weeks sevenpoint loss.
This weeks showdown
between the 6-0 Packers
and the 6-0 Denver Broncos is rightly being hailed
as a showdown between
Hall of Fame quarterbacks
Peyton Manning and
Aaron Rodgers.
But the reality is that
defense and maybe a
nice 60-yard field goal
into the accommodating
mountain air will decide

Gary Seymour
this one. Denvers defense
is comparable to the Packers, and the home field
advantage in a nationally
televised game can be
daunting.
If youre looking for
trends, the signs are
encouraging that the
Packers will leave the Mile
High city with their perfect
mark intact.
For starters, there is
this: Throughout Mike Mc-

Carthys reign the Packers are 8-1 following a bye

week. Last years 55-14
bludgeoning of Chicago
after the bye week sent the
Packers on their way to a
five-game winning streak,
included in which was the
26-21 win over eventual
Super Bowl champion New
England.
The Packers under
McCarthy have come well
prepared after the week
off.
It will be just the second
time that Rodgers and
Manning have faced each
other. In their only other
meeting, in 2008, the Packers defeated Mannings
Indianapolis Colts by 20
points.
Wide receiver James
Jones is averaging more
than 20 yards per reception and has hauled in six

touchdown passes through

the first six games. Jones
has performed admirably
in the absence of Jordy
Nelson, and will continue
to be heavily relied on as
the Packers wide receiver
crew mends.
One of the injured
receivers due back is
Davante Adams, who is
listed as probable for the
Denver game. It will be
his first time playing since
the win over Kansas City
in the third week when
he sustained an ankle
injury. Ty Montgomery,
meanwhile, is questionable to play Sunday with
his injured left ankle still
an issue. Waiting in the
wings is Jeff Janis, whose
two pass receptions this
season have gone for 46
and 33 yards, giving him a
per-reception average al-

most twice that of Jones.

Randall Cobb has caught a
pass in 46 straight regularseason games.
It will be only the fourth
time in league history that
two undefeated teams
with at least six wins have
played against each other.
As it turns out, Manning
was involved in one of
those. His 7-0 Colts met
the 8-0 Patriots in 2007,
and lost 24-20.
The Packers havent
lost during Halloween
week since the Limburgerscented, 4-12 season of
2005. They have won six
games over that stretch,
and in three of those past
nine seasons their bye
week has come during the
week of Halloween.
Sunday marks the first
of three final prime-time
regular-season appear-

Keep up on all your Packers news at www.shawanoleader.com

ances for the Packers, who

will perform a Thanksgiving night basting of the
Bears the week before
their Thursday night game
against Detroit at Lambeau Field on Dec. 3.
And so, after what
seemed like an interminable wait, the hour draws
nigh for the marquee
showdown. Green Bay and
Denver two perfect records, two great defenses
going about their smashmouth business on the day
after Halloween. May the
Packers candy bags all
be filled with Crunch bars,
and all the Butterfingers
go to the Broncos.
Veteran sportswriter Gary Seymours column appears weekly in
the Leader. To contact him, send
an email to sports@wolfrivermedia.
com.