Monday Night Football Predictions Week 2: Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers

by Chris Vasile - 9/18/2021

Monday Night Football predictions Aaron Rodgers Green Bay Packers

I don’t think the NFL could have scripted a better Week 1 game if it hired Martin Scorsese to work on it as a feature film. The NFL made its debut in Vegas – with fans – and the place was absolutely rocking. The Ravens and Raiders traded blows, and the Raiders even prematurely celebrated what they thought was a game-winning touchdown. At the end of the night, the Raiders got their first home win in front of the home crowd, and with it kicked off another year of Monday Night Football.

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If this week’s Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers game is half as good, we are going to be in for a treat. However, I see a very one-sided affair that’ll likely be a snooze fest.

As of writing this, the Packers are currently 11.5-point favorites, with the total set at 48. This line opened up at Packers -10 and has since been bet up. I’m not entirely sure what the reason for the uptick in the line is other than the fact that the Packers can’t look as bad as they did in Week 1, and the Lions – while they had a good second half – are not as good as that 30 minutes of football would indicate.

Storylines to follow

What is wrong with Aaron Rodgers? Let me preface this by saying that I fully understand it’s Week 2 and that the Packers will (should) be okay moving forward and make the playoffs. However, as someone who got forced into drafting him in fantasy football, I have no choice but to ask the question. Rodgers looked pathetic in Week 1. He completed just 15 of 28 passes for 133 yards and two touchdowns. That’s a far cry from what he managed last year en route to winning the MVP. For those of you who have been following along with my content, I talked about Rodgers’ “EFF YOU” tour last season directed towards the management for drafting a QB instead of giving him help on either side of the football. Now, have we reached the Rodgers “I don’t give a crap” tour? It’s quite possible. He strung the Packers along all offseason and then came out and took jabs at the upper management throughout his media appearances. Without going all “tin foil hat” on you, I have to wonder if Rodgers has a plan to sabotage the Packers season and force a trade. I say we know the answer to that question after Monday’s game.

Which Lions team will we see? If we are expecting the Packers to show up and play a good football game, then we must ask ourselves which Lions’ team will we see show up at Lambeau Field? Will we see the team from the first half of the 49ers game, that was outscored 31-10? Or will we see the second-half Lions’ team that outscored the Niners 23-10 and was within a last-second drive of potentially setting up the tying score? Either way, it’s imperative for the Lions to get off to a much better start than they did in Week 1. I don’t believe the offense will manage 430 total yards on the Packers’ defense in a bounce-back spot, so it will be up to the defense to not fall too far behind in the early going.

Angles and Trends:

If you like the Packers and are going to lay the points, you are banking on the following:

Packers are 5-0 ATS in their last five games after scoring less than 15 points in their last game.
Packers are 8-1 ATS in their last nine games following an SU loss.
Packers are 7-1 ATS in their last eight games after giving up more than 30 points.

If you like the Lions and want to grab as many points as possible, there are only a few trends that favor the Lions:

Lions are 7-1 ATS in the last eight meetings vs Green Bay
Lions are 6-2 ATS in their last eight Monday Night games
Lions are 8-3 ATS in their last 11 games in September.

If you are thinking about betting the total, these are the important trends to know:

Under is 4-1 in the last five meetings
Over is 5-1 in the Lions’ last six vs the NFC North
Over is 8-3 in Lions last 11 games overall
Over is 5-1 in the Packers last six vs the NFC North
Over is 11-5 in Packers’ last 16 Week 2 games.

Prediction

If you follow my content throughout the week (thank you), you surely would have read my office pool picks and know that I will be laying the big number with the Packers here. There are a few reasons I’m doing so, and they mostly revolve around the Lions’ defense not being very good. Look, when the game was just getting started, the Niners put their foot on the gas pedal and ran the Lions out of the building. They built up a commanding lead and fell asleep at halftime and held on. Don’t let the Lions’ second half fool you into thinking they have it figured out and will be a tough team to play against. They won’t. As for the Packers, well they simply cannot play any worse than they did last week, and I don’t see them falling to 0-2 to start the season. The Packers are better than the Lions at every position, and I believe talent will win out here today.

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Monday Night Football Predictions Week 2: Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers

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