It’s a beautiful thing what a bye week can do to rejuvenate a team. And if any NFL team needed rejuvenating right now, it’s the 6-0 Denver Broncos.
This week, Aaron Rodgers and the 6-0 Green Bay Packers head into the Mile High City for a Sunday Night Football showdown against Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos; easily the most important game of the year for both teams to this point.
“A lot will be made about the two quarterbacks, and rightfully so. Those guys have amassed brilliant careers,” linebacker Brandon Marshall said after practice Monday. “Aaron Rodgers is still young, but the guy is having a hell of a career. I think at the end of the day, it will come down to what defense plays the best. You have two great quarterbacks that put up a lot of points. What defense plays the best; I think that’s who will win the game.”
Marshall and the rest of the league’s No. 1 defense are foaming at the mouth to face off against Rodgers and the 6-0 Packers; this is a statement game.
“The guy is extremely accurate, I’ll just say that. He’s extremely accurate,” Marshall continued on Rodgers. “He’s mobile—he’s more mobile than you think. The guy can scramble. He can get around and get away from sacks and everything like that. We have a tough challenge on our hands this weekend as far as that.”
The Packers come into Denver Sunday night averaging 364 yards per game on offense, 11th in the league thanks to Rodgers’ 68.1 completion percentage. He’s an old school gun-slinger; that percentage doesn’t drop much when he’s on the move, either. Certainly, Denver’s D will need to be at the top of their game to pull out the victory.
The bye couldn’t have come at a better time.
Team sack-leader DeMarcus Ware returns after missing two games with a lower back injury suffered early into a win at Oakland.
“He looked good,” Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak said of Ware on Monday. “I watched him specifically in individual drills today. He looked like his old self moving around. I know the extra time this week will do him so good. It was good to have him back.”
Left tackle Ty Sambrailo will also be on the field Sunday after missing three games with a shoulder injury and Kubiak expects him to start.
“I think if Ty is ready to go, he is our starter,” Kubiak said. “I think he’s earned that right to do that.”
This rematch of Suber Bowl XXXII features the top two defenses in the NFL, with a total of 49 sacks between the two teams. But, the winner will be who’s quarterback can stand upright for longer. And, it seems the Pack may have the upper hand pre game.
