What to Expect from Aaron Rodgers, the Green Bay Offense in Week 11

When the 6-3 Green Bay Packers take on the 7-2 Philadelphia Eagles at Lambeau Field on Sunday, one can expect a lot of scoring to occur.

Why? In terms of points per game in the NFL, the Eagles are averaging 31 while the Packers are right below them at 30.8.

Both offenses run at a fast pace, and besides wearing out the opposing defense, this also stops it from substituting players in and out.

Both the Packers and Eagles look to have favorable matchups on Sunday when they line up offensively, although the Packers looked like a completely different defense last Sunday night against the Chicago Bears when they used Clay Matthews at inside linebacker.

The defense of the Packers played fast and furiously after that change in the lineup by defensive coordinator Dom Capers.

Matthews still roamed outside at times, depending on the down and distance, but the move with Matthews seemed to really solidify the defense.

Time will tell how that new scheme will work against Chip Kelly's quick-paced offense now being run by quarterback Mark Sanchez.

The offense of the Packers, led by quarterback Aaron Rodgers, should prosper once again this Sunday versus the Philadelphia defense.

The Eagles are ranked 21st in the NFL in total defense. They especially have issues stopping the pass, as they are ranked 22nd in passing defense.

The Eagles have allowed 251.7 yards through the air each game. They have also allowed opposing quarterbacks to have a 90.4 passer rating, as they have thrown 19 touchdown passes versus seven interceptions for 2,265 yards.

Those are not good statistics to have when the next quarterback you will be facing is Rodgers.

No. 12 was white-hot against the Bears on Sunday night and is playing at an MVP-type level, which I recently wrote about. Rodgers only played a little more than half the game against Chicago, and all he did was throw for 315 yards and six touchdown passes without a pick.

For the season, Rodgers has thrown 25 touchdown passes versus just three picks for 2,407 yards and a league-leading 120.1 passer rating.

From the wide receivers to the tight ends to the running backs to the pass-blocking of the offensive line, all phases of the Packers' passing game are contributing to the the rise of the team in the NFL offensive statistics the past few weeks.

Mike Roemer/Associated Press

Randall Cobb is second in the NFL with 10 touchdown catches, while Jordy Nelson is tied for fourth with eight scores. Nelson is also tied for second in the NFL with five receptions of 40 or more yards.

The Packers' tight ends have only 28 total catches, but four have been for touchdowns, including two against the Bears on Sunday night.

The screen pass has also become a big weapon for the Packers in the passing game. In the last two weeks, Eddie Lacy has taken two of those passes for 67 yards and 56 yards, respectively, with the last one being a touchdown against Chicago.

Against the Bears, Rodgers was not sacked at all, and that was with both of his offensive guards playing with injuries.

The team stats of the Packers offense have been steadily improving as well recently.

The Packers are now 12th in total offense in the league after being ranked in the mid-20s just a few weeks ago. Green Bay is also 10th in passing offense as well as 18th in rushing offense.

The running game has not really gotten on track this year, but the team still has seven rushing touchdowns while averaging over 100 yards a game and 4.0 yards per carry.

The key ingredient in the offense's success is obviously Rodgers, and keeping him upright and clean is essential. The Eagles are second in the NFL in sacks with 32. They racked up nine on Monday night, as they were relentless with their pressure on Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers.

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The pass rush is led by Connor Barwin, who leads the NFC with 10.5 sacks.

Center Corey Linsley has to recognize what the Eagles will be doing in terms of where the pass rush will come from in the Philadelphia 3-4 front. Linsley talked about that situation with Tyler Dunne of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

"They have a lot of guys who are very good pass rushers and the scheme puts them in different areas all the time," Linsley said. "They'll have their defensive ends lining up as linebackers and rushing in the A-gap—it's anywhere and everywhere."

No. 63 knows it won't be easy to decipher the looks that the Eagles will give him.

"It's going to be challenging, but we'll prepare for it" Linsley said. Based on Linsley's play so far in his rookie season, which has been stellar overall, I believe he and his linemates will be prepared.

Another thing that could help stem the pass rush is the recent success of the screen pass in the past couple of games.

But the biggest key is the communication process: the communication between Linsley and the rest of the offensive line and the communication between Rodgers and the rest of the offense when he sees something he wants to exploit.

Case in point was the first play of the second quarter against the Bears last Sunday night.

The Packers were already up 14-0 and it was 3rd-and-11 from their own 27-yard line when Rodgers noticed that the Bears were in a single-deep safety look with 10 men near the line of scrimmage.

No. 12 signaled to Nelson the play he wanted, and he proceeded to hit No. 87 with a deep pass down the right sideline. The result was a 73-yard touchdown pass:

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

Bottom line, I expect Rodgers and the offense to continue what they have been doing at Lambeau Field so far this year. That is, score some points. A lot of them.

The Packers are 4-0 at home so far this year and have scored 31, 42, 38 and 55 points in those games. That's an average of 41.5 points per home game.

I expect similar results this upcoming Sunday afternoon versus the Eagles.