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NFL Week 9: Trends which will decide each game

By Russell S. Baxter

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - NOVEMBER 01: DK Metcalf #14 of the Seattle Seahawks is tackled by Jason Verrett #22 of the San Francisco 49ers the first quarter at CenturyLink Field on November 01, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - NOVEMBER 01: DK Metcalf #14 of the Seattle Seahawks is tackled by Jason Verrett #22 of the San Francisco 49ers the first quarter at CenturyLink Field on November 01, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /
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GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN – NOVEMBER 01: Davante Adams #17 and Aaron Rodgers #12 of the Green Bay Packers celebrate after scoring a touchdown in the first quarter against the Minnesota Vikings at Lambeau Field on November 01, 2020 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN – NOVEMBER 01: Davante Adams #17 and Aaron Rodgers #12 of the Green Bay Packers celebrate after scoring a touchdown in the first quarter against the Minnesota Vikings at Lambeau Field on November 01, 2020 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /

Every team in the NFL will have played at least eight games by week’s end.

The 2020 NFL season will truly reach the halfway point by the end of Monday night’s clash between the patriots and the jets. Each club will played at least eight games and obviously, there’s still an awful lot to be solved when it comes to division titles and playoff appearances.

However, it is worth noting that many of the teams that won division titles and made playoff appearances in 2019 find themselves with some work to do when it comes to repeating those feats this year.

NOTE: All times ET

Thursday, Nov. 5

Green Bay Packers (5-2) at San Francisco 49ers (4-4), 8:20 pm

Packers: Green Bay’s running game will be short-handed for this prime time match-up as rookie A.J. Dillon is sidelined due to a positive COVID-19 test (via Ryan Wood of PackersNews.com) and that means Jamaal Williams will also be unavailable as well. Aaron Jones has missed the last two games and if he’s unable to go, the heavy load per say could fall on Tyler Ervin.

Of course, the bigger concern for head coach Matt LaFleur is his defense’s continuous failures to stop the run. In last week’s home loss to the Vikings, Mike Pettine’s unit was gashed for 173 rushing yards. Two week earlier, the Buccaneers ran for 158 yards in handing the Packers their first loss of 2020.

49ers: Kyle Shanahan’s club has been plagued by injuries since Week 2 when defensive linemen Nick Bosa and Solomon Thomas were lost for the year and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was nicked as well. Now the latter is out for a spell with a high ankle sprain and the roster is being altered a bit via a COVI-19 outbreak (via Cam Inman of the Mercury News).

A year ago, San Francisco posted a pair of wins over the Packers and put 37 points on the board in each instance. This season, the Niners have split their first eight games and the numbers are striking. They’ve outscored teams 124-44 in four victories and been outscored a combined 129-84 in just as many losses.

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