Tough tasks as Packers face Jets
NEW YORK, USA (AP) — Returning from a bye and rolling with a five-game winning streak, the New York Jets are well-rested, healthy and eager to play the banged-up Green Bay Packers in the NFL today.
The Jets are tied with New England and Pittsburgh for the best record in the league at 5-1, and they’d be undefeated but for a one-point loss to Baltimore in Week 1. Coach Rex Ryan has talked for months about how his team is headed for the Super Bowl, and his bold prediction looks increasingly more like a possibility than just bluster.
The six-day break allowed two of the Jets’ top defensive players to heal from injuries that hampered them through the early part of the season. Cornerback Darrelle Revis declared that his bothersome left hamstring was 100 per cent for the first time since Week 1, and linebacker Calvin Pace appears to be close to a full go after missing the first four games with a broken right foot.
The Packers, tied for the NFC North division lead with Chicago, hope they launched a long run of success by beating Brett Favre and the archrival Minnesota Vikings last weekend. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers expects it, starting with himself.
The Super Bowl champion New Orlean Saints are struggling, and just what they don’t need is a matchup with the NFL’s most physical team, the previous Super Bowl winners the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Saints are coming off a stunning lopsided loss to the Cleveland Browns and have the kind of problems the Steelers feast on.
With Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas injured, the Saints haven’t run the ball consistently and haven’t been as effective beating pressure with screens, swing passes and check-downs. That has forced quarterback Drew Brees to be more conventional, and when a defence expects passes — in Pittsburgh’s case, it might not even matter what is expected — that spells trouble.
Also today, it’s Tennessee at San Diego, Minnesota at New England, Seattle at Oakland, Tampa Bay at Arizona, Buffalo at Kansas City, Miami at Cincinnati, Washington at Detroit, Carolina at St Louis, and Jacksonville at Dallas.
The NFL’s international series continues with a matchup the league can’t brag much about, Denver vs San Francisco at London. Off this week are Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta, Baltimore, Cleveland, and the New York Giants.
