Sunday Night Football Week 8: TV Schedule, Live Stream for Packers vs. Broncos

On paper, the Week 8 Sunday Night Football showdown between Aaron Rodgers' Green Bay Packers and Peyton Manning's Denver Broncos looks every bit the heavyweight showdown those in charge of the schedule could have hoped.

Name recognition under center and 6-0 records hide the real story, though.

The visiting Packers get attention for Rodgers and a strong aerial assault, but it's the defense helping the team look like a Super Bowl contender. In somewhat of a same vein, an elite Denver defense masks the serious struggles of Manning and his offense.

As they say, something has to give when the undefeated teams collide, although what that something is might not be as obvious as it seems.

Game Details

When: Sunday, November 1, 8:30 p.m. ET

Where: Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver

Television: NBC

Live Stream: NFL Game Pass

Tickets: ScoreBig.com

Over/Under: 46

Spread: Green Bay (-2.5)

Team Injury Reports

Player	Position	Status
James Starks	RB	Questionable
Morgan Burnett	S	Questionable
Ty Montgomery	WR	Questionable
Davante Adams	WR	Questionable

Player	Position	Status
Emmanuel Sanders	WR	Questionable
DeMarcus Ware	DE	Questionable
Juwan Thompson	RB	Probable

Bringing the Pressure

Rodgers and his offense get the attention, which they probably should.

After all, the man's playing at an MVP level, completing 68.1 percent of his passes with 15 touchdowns to just two picks, and doing so while lead back Eddie Lacy flounders (3.9 yards per carry) and his wideout corps deals with various injuries, including missing Jordy Nelson outright.

Yet the defense might make the difference Sunday night.

Clay Matthews and the Packers have amassed 23 sacks already, 4.5 of those going to Matthews and another 5.5 Julius Peppers.

Talent aside, defensive coordinator Dom Capers said versatility and a willingness to move around are what make his unit elite and allowing a league-best 16.8 points on average, per Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

"

To me, that's one of the qualities you look for are guys who are unselfish. They understand the big picture overrides the small picture. You can't be selfish and only look through things in your eyes. Let's look at the big picture and understand we're here to win and we have to do one week to the next what we think is going to give us the best chance to win.

"

As Silverstein points out, a post-bye week game might see the defense at its healthiest, too, if tackle B.J. Raji, linebacker Nick Perry and safety Morgan Burnett can all suit up as expected.

If the healthy, dominant defense can fluster Manning, it's going to be a long night for the home crowd.

Silencing the Critics

Now's the chance for Manning and Co. to shutter criticism and make a statement.

Whispers about a quarterback change in Denver aren't uncommon with Manning struggling. His once-elite offense has scored more than 30 points once this year, riding the coattails of a strong defense.

Manning himself has completed 61.6 percent of his passes but for just 6.4 yards per attempt, with seven touchdowns to 10 interceptions. While he's not getting help from an offense that averages 3.6 yards per rush, it's not an issue that has usually held back the veteran gunslinger.

Despite his quarterback's struggles, head coach Gary Kubiak stressed the importance of winning through different avenues, per Vic Ketchman of the Packers' website.

“If you stick around long enough in this league, you understand you have to win a lot of ways. We’ll have to play well as a team,” Kubiak said. “We’ll have to play extremely well. Mike [McCarthy's] got a great football team, so there’s a lot of respect and looking forward to it.”

Maybe Kubiak is on to something. After all, his team's undefeated, and the defense has posted 26 sacks and picked off nine passes.

One can only imagine, though, Manning would like to put on a show to silence questions.

Prediction

In an unexpected battle of defenses, the advantage rests with the visitors, who have allowed north of 20 points just twice this season.

As a whole, the respective resumes for each team speak volumes. Green Bay hasn't had much of an issue this year, whereas Denver needed overtime to best a 2-5 Cleveland team and escaped 3-3 Oakland by six points.

Manning won't necessarily be the reason the Broncos lose, but Rodgers will. He's too lethal to stutter in the face of a strong rush and can control the pace of this one while his defense creates more opportunities.

Look for the Packers to lead for most of this one and make it look uglier than it is late.

Prediction: Packers win 28-17

Statistics and injury information courtesy of ESPN.com unless otherwise specified. All betting information courtesy of Odds Shark.