Three Days to Kickoff: 3 Reasons to Worry vs. Colts

After struggling against the speed of Tampa Bay's linebackers, the Packers must find a way to block Indianapolis linebacker Darius Leonard.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers will face one of their toughest tests of the season on Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts. The Packers range from 1.5- to 2.5-point underdogs. Here are three reasons for concern.

Good Luck with Leonard

Indianapolis’ Darius Leonard is perhaps the best linebacker in the NFL. A second-round pick in 2018, he led the NFL with 163 tackles and added seven sacks as a rookie. In 2019, he had five interceptions and five sacks. In two-and-a-half seasons, he’s produced seven interceptions and seven forced fumbles.

Green Bay couldn’t handle Tampa Bay linebackers Lavonte David and Devin White in Week 6 and paid a steep price. Aside from a 25-yard run by Jamaal Williams early and a 20-yard run by AJ Dillon in garbage time, Green Bay’s running game averaged 2.6 yards per carry. Leonard plays with a similar style, which is why Indianapolis is No. 3 in the NFL with 3.53 yards per carry and was the only defense to successfully stop Baltimore’s explosive and diverse rushing attack.

“He’s just fast and instinctive,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “He does a great job reading the quarterback in the pass game and he’s violent in the run game. He’s got a really great nose for the football and then when he arrives at the football, he does a great job of either punching it or raking it out. He’s one of the best in the business.”

Adams’ Ankle

Barring a setback at practice this week, there’s little doubt Packers receiver Davante Adams will play, considering he returned from an injured ankle last week to score the winning touchdown.

“Anytime where I feel like I can come back into a game like that, typically speaking, my mind-set going into the next week is that I’ll be able to roll,” Adams said. “We’re doing all the things right right now to make sure I’m as pain-free and not limited come Sunday .”

Ankles are finicky, though. Playing on FieldTurf won’t help matters. Against an elite defense, the Packers obviously would love to have their premier weapon playing at 100 percent. But will he start the game – or finish it – at anywhere near 100 percent?

“You guys know the way that I play, (with) very aggressive feet, so anytime my ankles are limited it’s going to be tough for me,” Adams said.

Run-Game Stampede

Green Bay’s run defense remains a chronic problem. Though it put the brakes on Jacksonville’s James Robinson in the second half last week, the Packers are 23rd with 4.55 yards allowed per carry.

On paper, this seems like it could be a decent matchup for Green Bay. Indy is 29th with 3.76 yards per carry. Despite a highly touted offensive line led by All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson and Pro Bowl center Ryan Kelly and the addition of former Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor with a second-round pick, that’s down more than three-quarters of a yard compared to last year. However, the Colts have averaged 5.0 yards per carry the last two games after failing to break 4.0 in any of the first seven games.

“That feels more like the direction we need to go and that we want to be,” Colts coach Frank Reich said in his conference call with Packers beat reporters. “We want to mix it up. We’re not trying to be a power-run football team but we don’t want to be a one-dimensional team, either. We want to have two dimensions to our offense so we want to run it effectively and still be able to throw it effectively. I feel like we’re making good progress.”

Countdown to Kickoff

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