Eddie Lacy vs. Detroit Lions front seven a matchup to watch

This week’s most enticing matchup is definitely the Super Bowl repeat between the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks, but there are plenty of division rivalries worth tuning into. Probably the most pivotal of them is the battle between the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions at 1:00 p.m. ET, with both NFC North rivals owning 1-1 records. The Packers dropped the opener to the Seahawks in a sizeable loss, but they were able to avoid going 0-2 by charging back from a 21-3 deficit against the New York Jets, thanks to big days from Aaron Rodgers and Jordy Nelson. The Lions, on the other hand, followed up a dominant Monday Night Football display in Week 1 against the New York Giants with a blowout loss to the Carolina Panthers, mustering just seven points behind a poor performance from franchise QB Matthew Stafford.

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There are plenty of individual matchups worth highlighting in this week’s contest, but the Packers running game against the Lions run defense is the one I might end up looking at the closest. We know that the Packers should have an easy time passing on the Lions thin group of cornerbacks, but it’s going to be interesting to see if they can finally generate some push for Eddie Lacy in the running game. Lacy is averaging just 3.1 yards per carry after facing two elite run defenses in the Seahawks and Jets. Even though the Lions had it easy against the DeAngelo Williams-less Panthers and an incompetent Giants offensive line, they still deserve to be commended for leading the league with just 2.5 yards per carry allowed.

Aside from Josh Sitton and Corey Linsley, the Packers offensive line has done a terrible job of blocking for both Lacy and Rodgers. Derek Sherrod looks like a walking disaster at right tackle, but the Packers can be happy that the Lions strength is also on the interior. It’s going to be a battle of strengths against strengths up the middle, but Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley are so physically gifted that they should be able to cause the Packers interior OLs, including Sitton, some headaches tomorrow.

Lacy has actually done a credible job of making defenders miss and trying to get more real estate than his blocking is giving him, but the fact of the matter is that he can’t turn total losses into significant chunks of yardage. James Starks has done a nice job as the change-of-pace guy, but seven carries is hardly much of a sample size. What gives the Packers offense the potential to be scary is their ability to run and pass at a high level, but they haven’t been able to accomplish the former through two weeks.

If the Packers can tighten things up on the line and generate some significant push against the Lions, then this could be a real turning point. And in the context of the game tomorrow, a strong Packers running game would give them a great shot at netting a victory. The issue is that the Lions defensive line isn’t even the best part of their run defense, because we haven’t even discussed the instincts of DeAndre Levy and Stephen Tulloch. These are two of the better linebackers in the league, and they’ve been beasts in the first two weeks of the regular season. So the Packers offensive line not only has to contend with Suh and Fairley up the middle, but they also have to fight two determined, smart, and disciplined linebackers at the second level.

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