Friday Cheese Curds: Packers-Buccaneers will be a war in the trenches

Injuries and a suspension have impacted both teams’ wide receivers. That means a battle on the ground is probably coming.

With multiple wide receivers for both teams on yesterday’s injury report, Sunday’s game between the Green Bay Packers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will likely come down to a physical battle on the ground.

In terms of stopping Leonard Fournette, the Packers struggled last week against David Montgomery early on and missed tackles were a big part of the problem. A repeat of those mistakes will hurt even more as Fournette has been running the ball better than Montgomery plus they still have someone named Tom Brady to deal with.

Offensively, Green Bay will have their hands full with the Buccaneers’ defensive line. It’s tough to see Aaron Jones going off for 150+ yards again but unlike the last time they met Tampa Bay, they have a more experienced A.J. Dillon. Dillon was only a rookie when the two teams met in the NFC Championship and has become a much more crucial part of the backfield since then.

Get ready for what might be the most physical game for the season and hopefully the Packers can emerge victorious. A banner win over Brady and the Buccaneers should be enough to get Green Bay off and running after stumbling in Week 1.

‘They try to punk everybody’: Packers defense knows it must match Buccaneers’ physicality—PackersNews.com

The Packers also sport a vastly improved secondary from that championship game so a liability in coverage should not be among fans’ fears going into Sunday.

Barry Hasn’t Blitzed Yet, And Might Not This Week, Either—Packer Central

This seems absolutely crazy but it makes sense. Green Bay hasn’t been thrown at much and even so, Barry isn’t the most frequent blitzer anyway.

Elgton Jenkins’ return brings ‘extra juice’ to Packers’ offense—Packers.com

Elgton Jenkins’ return is timely and his presence will be a huge boost against the Buccaneers on Sunday, especially if there’s any hope Green Bay can get the running game going.

All eyes on Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady but run games may determine winner of Packers-Buccaneers—Packers Wire

A lot of attention is being paid to the quarterbacks but this will be a game won in the trenches. This will be a huge measuring stick game for Green Bay whose identity is not yet clear.

A truck collision turns a Florida highway into a silver sea of beer cans-NPR

Oh great, now we’ll be seeing headlines in a few days about all the drunken tomfoolery the highway got into.