5 THINGS TO WATCH
IT'S A SNAP:
Long snapper Derek Hart would like to erase the memories of a nightmarish practice inside Lambeau Field on Aug. 6. The only way do it would be to get the job done as the Packers’ new long snapper. Kicker Mason Crosby missed six of his last seven attempts that night and has had Brett Goode and Taybor Pepper snapping during the season. Goode and Pepper (broken foot) are out and Hart is back. If the game comes down to a field goal, all eyes will be on Hart. “Any time you take young guys that haven't snapped in the National Football League, there's a learning curve,” special teams coach Ron Zook said. “That's kind of the way it is.”
ROLLING WITH THE OL:
Having helped produce 413 yards and three touchdowns rushing in the last three games, you can bet the offensive line wants coach Mike McCarthy to keep calling run plays. The line should be back to full strength — the starters have played only 15 snaps together, all vs. Minnesota — but you can bet Detroit will be loading the box to stop rookie Aaron Jones. “I think in every lineman’s heart somewhere in there, (it’s) ‘let’s run it one more time instead of throwing,’” line coach James Campen said. “But they don’t complain about anything. They just do their job and go.”
ASSESSING THE OPTIONS:
Don’t be surprised if the offense features more read-option with quarterback Brett Hundley as the season goes along. If teams use an extra defender in the box, the offense can even things up by adding the quarterback as a running threat. They aren’t going to want Hundley to be at risk a lot, but his size and speed make him a threat and defensive ends won’t be able to charge in from the backside if Hundley shows he’s willing to run with it. “We used to run a lot of zone read,” Jones said of his days at UTEP. “You can pick and choose (an option), even against a stacked box.”
BOTHERING BRETT:
New Orleans did not blitz Hundley much in his first start, choosing to force him to throw into coverage, but the Lions like to bring an extra defender into the box and they aren’t afraid to pressure. On the defensive line, Haloti Ngata and Kerry Hyder were lost to seasonending injuries and end Ziggy Ansah is playing with knee and ankle injuries. They may need to pressure Hundley. "It's a young quarterback, so (if) you get after a young quarterback, that’s when they really struggle," Lions DT Akeem Spence told the Detroit Free Press. "They don’t know where to go to.”
FAMILIAR FACE:
Based on the way Dom Capers moves players around, Lions guard T.J. Lang could be blocking a half dozen or more of his former teammates during the game. If the Packers are smart, they’ll focus their attention on beating center Travis Swanson and guard Graham Glasgow rather than Lang. The pair struggled against Pittsburgh last week while Lang has been his usual consistent self. “He’s had one little setback just in terms of dealing with his back but other than that, he’s done a great job for us,” Lions coach Jim Caldwell said.