DENVER (AP) — Green Bay (9-3-1) at Denver (11-2)
Sunday, 4:05 p.m. EST, CBS.
Against the spread: Packers 6-7, Broncos 5-7-1.
Series record: Broncos lead 8-7-1.
Last meeting: Broncos beat Packers 19-17 at Empower Field at Mile High on Oct. 22, 2023.
Last week: Packers beat Bears 28-21; Broncos beat Raiders 24-17.
Packers offense: overall (13), rush (19), pass (12), scoring (10).
Packers defense: overall (5), rush (9), pass (7), scoring (6).
Broncos offense: overall (10), rush (14), pass (13), scoring (14).
Broncos defense: overall (3), rush (2), pass (10), scoring (4).
Turnover differential: Packers plus-4; Broncos minus-3.
QB Jordan Love. This is the time of the season when Love typically heats up and it’s happening again this year. Love has thrown seven touchdown passes with only one interception over his last two games. Love finally has two of his top wideouts — Christian Watson and Jayden Reed — healthy at the same time. That should enable Love to continue thriving late in the season but he's not faced a pass rush like this one.
QB Bo Nix. In his second season, Nix seems to be hitting his stride down the stretch just as he did in his rookie season last year before Jayden Daniels ran away with Rookie of the Year honors. Nix has fixed his footwork issues with three straight solid games in that regard. Like his counterpart with the Packers, Nix will have to deal with an excellent pass rush that could disrupt his rhythm and the progress he's made of late.
Packers edge rusher Micah Parsons, who has 12½ sacks, vs. Denver's stout offensive line led by LT Garett Bolles, who has surrendered just a single sack this season.
Packers: Packers RB Josh Jacobs (knee) missed his second straight practice Thursday. ... DL Lukas Van Ness (foot) has missed seven of Green Bay’s last eight games. ... LB Kristian Welch, who contributes primarily on special teams, left the Bears game with a concussion. ... WR Dontayvion Wicks (ankle) played just six snaps and WR Matthew Golden (shoulder) played five against Chicago due to their injuries.
Broncos: Rising rookie WR Pat Bryant (ankle) didn't practice Wednesday during the game plan installation. ... DT D.J. Jones (ankle) missed last week's game, but was back at practrice as a full participant. ... Also back practicing are TE Nate Adkins (knee) and OL Ben Powers (biceps).
Both teams have taken care of their home field throughout the series. The Broncos are 7-1 against Green Bay at home with their only loss coming in 2007 in overtime. The Packers are 6-0-1 against Denver at home. Of course, the biggest game in the series came in Super Bowl 32 when John Elway and Terrell Davis led the Broncos to a 31-24 win over the Packers, led by Brett Favre and Reggie White.
The Packers have won four straight to take over first place in the NFC North. ... This is the second straight week the Packers have faced a team that’s the projected top seed in its conference. Chicago temporarily had the No. 1 seed in the NFC before losing at Green Bay and falling to the No. 7 position. ... According to the Elias Sports Bureau, this is the fourth time the Packers have faced a team that was on at least a 10-game, single-season winning streak. The Packers have gone 2-1 in those games. They beat Detroit 3-0 on Nov. 25, 1934, beat Seattle 23-17 on Jan. 1, 2006, and lost to Detroit 34-31 on Dec. 5, 2024. ... The Packers have won nine of their last 10 against AFC teams. ... Jacobs’ 12 touchdown runs put him in a tie for third place in the NFL. He’s behind Indianapolis’ Jonathan Taylor (15) and Detroit’s Jahmyr Gibbs (13). ... WR Christian Watson has five TD catches in his last four games. He had four catches for 89 yards and two TDs against the Bears. ... DE Micah Parsons and Denver’s Nik Bonitto are tied for third in the NFL with 12½ sacks. They’re behind Cleveland’s Myles Garrett (20) and the New York Giants’ Brian Burns (13). Parsons has an NFL-leading eight sacks in the fourth quarter or overtime. He also has a league-high 87 quarterback pressures, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. ... CB Keisean Nixon is tied for second in the NFL in passes defensed with 16. He’s behind Cincinnati’s D.J. Turner (17). ... The Broncos' 10-game winning streak is tied with the New England Patriots for the longest active streak in the NFL. Denver hasn't won this many in a row since 2012, when they finished the regular season an 11-game winning streak during Peyton Manning's first season with the Broncos. ... Bo Nix is the first Broncos quarterback to record at least four rushing scores in back-to-back seasons. His eight TD runs are four shy of Tim Tebow for second place in team history. ... Evan Engram has 40 receptions this season, making him just the second tight end in NFL history with at least 40 catches in each of his first nine NFL seasons. Jeremy Shockey is the other. ... Marvin Mims Jr. had his first punt return for a touchdown last week. ... RB RJ Harvey leads NFL rookies with nine touchdowns. Harvey is the sixth rookie since 1990 with at least five TD runs and four TD receptions, joining Saquon Barkley (2018), Alvin Kamara (2017), David Johnson (2015), Matt Forte (2008) and Edgerrin James (1999). ... DT Malcolm Roach recorded his career-best third sack last week.
Watson has emerged as Green Bay’s most reliable receiver since returning from a torn ACL on Oct. 26. It also might be worth checking whether Reed landed in your league’s waiver wire when he went on IR and hasn’t been picked up yet. Reed had four catches for 31 yards and two carries for 22 yards Sunday in his first game since Sept. 11.
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