Sunday Night Football Week 2: TV Schedule, Live Stream for Seahawks vs. Packers

It’s NFC Championship Game rematch time on Sunday Night Football when Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers play host to Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks at Lambeau Field.

The juggernauts of the NFC don’t seem able to get out of each other’s way. This is an especially important contest for the hosts, though, as the Packers lost 36-16 in Seattle to start last year and followed with a crushing 28-22 overtime loss there again in the conference title encounter.

Green Bay illustrated the importance of the matchup quite well:

Despite injuries, the Packers looked solid in a Week 1, 31-23 trip to Chicago. The same cannot be said for Seattle’s first game and road trip of the season, an awkward 34-31 loss at the hands of St. Louis.

Revenge and turnarounds on the mind, here’s everything to know about Sunday’s epic final act.

Viewing Info

When: Sunday, September 20, 8:30 p.m. ET

Where: Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wis.

Television: NBC

Live Stream: NFL Game Pass

Tickets: ScoreBig.com

Betting Lines (via Odds Shark):

• Over/Under: 48.5

• Spread: Green Bay (-3.5)

Team Injury Reports

Player	Position	Status
Kam Chancellor	S	Out

Player	Position	Status
Bryan Bulaga	OT	Out
Morgan Burnett	S	Probable
Randall Cobb	WR	Probable
Richard Rodgers	TE	Questionable

Injury reports from ESPN.com.

Rediscovering the Beast—with a Twist

Other than the bitter taste of an odd play call in the postseason last year, the Seahawks didn’t have much to worry about heading into the season with more weapons than ever.

One game in, now coach Pete Carroll and Co. have plenty to keep them up at night.

The Seahawks went to St. Louis last week and allowed the Rams to rush for two scores. Even worse, Wilson suffered six sacks on 41 attempts and Marshawn Lynch got mostly bottled up with 73 yards. While new piece Jimmy Graham caught six passes for 51 yards and a score, the line struggled and seems to miss former center Max Unger, whom the team packaged in a deal for the star tight end.

The solution to most of Seattle’s problems? Feeding Lynch, of course.

The man known as Beast Mode still averaged 4.1 yards per carry in last week’s loss. Green Bay’s defense is perhaps the farthest thing from the St. Louis unit—the Packers looked miserable against the rush last week, allowing Chicago’s Matt Forte to gain 141 yards and a score on 24 carries.

A healthier ground game means less dropbacks for Wilson, which means fewer sacks behind a somewhat struggling line. It also means more opportunities to hit an exciting new weapon such as rookie Tyler Lockett, who caught four passes and returned a punt for a touchdown in St. Louis. He figures to be a regular staple of the offense now.

ESPN.com’s Sheil Kapadia captured Carroll’s thoughts on the matter: "He’s kind of just a regular part of the offense now. I really think he’s a receiver that’s returning kicks. We thought of him probably, 'We’ll figure that other part out. Let’s get him to be the returner.' We went about it that way, and he took it over and showed us that we need to think the other way."

Seattle seems to have a blueprint in place and a better matchup this week, so if the execution goes well, it won’t be a shock to see Wilson and Co. keep pace with Rodgers’ unit.

Next Man Up

Overused football term or not, the Packers employed the above approach to dramatic effect in the team’s season opener after Jordy Nelson went down with an injury in exhibition play.

With Randall Cobb also dealing with an injury, the Packers brought back veteran James Jones to help keep the offense moving along. While Jones is a wily player who knows Rodgers and the offense well, it served as an opportunity for Rodgers to show just how great he can be no matter who lines up where.

The receiving leaders against the Bears do the talking:

	REC	YDS	TD
Davante Adams	4	59	0
James Jones	4	51	2
Randall Cobb	5	38	1

Jones wasn’t with the Packers last year but seems to have a bit of a sour taste in his mouth over Green Bay’s two losses to these Seahawks. Now it’s about making amends, as he told ESPN.com’s Rob Demovsky:

"

I'm not saying just because I'm here, we're going to win. I'm going to do my job, make the most of my opportunity when I can. I'm just here to play my role. I'm not saying if you would've had me last year, we'd have won. No, it's not like that. I'm just here to do my job and go out there and help them get a win.

"

The emergence of Jones as a viable target works wonders for the Green Bay offense, which needs to keep its defense off the field both because of Seattle’s new weapons and its struggles against the rush.

In theory, Rodgers will use Jones and Cobb to attack a secondary still missing Kam Chancellor, which should open things up for Eddie Lacy on the ground. It’s in theory, though, because now the league has film on the Packers and understands just how much damage Jones can do if neglected.

Prediction

Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press

Were this contest in Seattle, the prediction would shake out quite different.

Las Vegas seems to have the right bead on this one, though. Seattle’s struggles to protect Wilson last week are a concern heading into a matchup in which they must contain Julius Peppers and others, especially in the noisy confines of Lambeau Field.

The Packers get to return home with a better-than-expected offense and an easy weakness to target among Seattle’s starting 11 on defense, not to mention film of what worked and didn’t for the Nick Foles-led Rams.

While the Packers will struggle to contain Lynch, Rodgers will orchestrate the necessary scoring drives late to extract some semblance of revenge—for now.

Prediction: Packers 20, Seahawks 17

Statistics courtesy of ESPN unless otherwise specified.