The Green Bay Packers are 1-2, but they are likely to face a pair of backup quarterbacks over the next two games. This coming Sunday, they will play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who will start undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels due to Baker Mayfield’s dislocated thumb. The following Sunday, Green Bay will most likely see either Case Keenum or Tyson Bagent for the Chicago Bears as starter Caleb Williams continues to work back from a hamstring injury.
This week, we asked APC’s readers what you expected to
see in terms of results in those two games — specifically, to predict the Packers’ record after Week 5. There is understandable pessimism among the fan base, however, especially after the Bears went and dominated the Philadelphia Eagles 27-7 on Monday Night Football with Keenum under center.
As a result, a slight plurality of fans expect the Packers to go 1-1 in these two games, and this writer would bet that most of the fans who voted that way are anticipating the win to come this Sunday in Tampa. That group consists of 42 percent of Packers fans surveyed; however, a very similar number, 39 percent, expect the Packers to lose BOTH of the next two games. Here’s a look at the results of this survey:
Meanwhile, Packers fans are understandably feeling dismal about the team’s overall direction right now. That’s a reasonable reaction after a 1-2 start that could have easily seen the team go 0-3. However, most of these survey responses came in before the Packers signed Kevin Zeitler on Wednesday. Is that enough to move the needle on some of these responses? We may just have to wait and see how the team performs in Tampa this Sunday.
Here are this week’s confidence results, which predictably express a great lack of confidence:
As of now, the Packers’ odds of making the NFC playoff field are significantly worse than they were to start the season. According to FanDuel Sportsbook, Green Bay’s odds of making it to the postseason have dropped to +240, a significant fall from the -150 or so that the team sat at heading into Week 1.
The Packers absolutely need at least one win in these two games to give themselves even a plausible shot at making the postseason. Let’s see if they get one this Sunday in Tampa.
