Preview: Washington at Green Bay

This would be the marquee matchup in many weeks, with 3-1 Washington visiting the 4-1 Packers, but it is overshadowed by the big battle between 5-0 Dallas and 5-0 New England.

Mike Tanier thinks it will be a low scoring affair because Washington's defense is playing great and Washington's offense is likely to struggle with injuries. One area that Michael David Smith saw as a weakness in Washington's defense is against multiple receiver sets overloaded to one side. WRs Donald Driver, James Jones, and Greg Jennings play together a lot, not just on 3rd down, so that should be an area Mike McCarthy will exploit. He also noted that Washington struggled when Detroit ran straight at them with RB Tatum Bell, which is another thing McCarthy has been willing to do, especially last week with RB DeShawn Wynn.

The two players that the Packers have to contain are TE Chris Cooley and RB Clinton Portis. Chicago's tight ends and running backs killed the Packers on passing plays last week, and that is the area Washington will try to exploit since WRs Santana Moss and Keenan McCardell are unlikely to have any success against CBs Al Harris and Charles Woodson.

After last week's fumble clinic, turnovers have now become a major concern for the Packers. As best as I can tell, Washington only has 6 turnovers in the first 4 games, which nearly matches the Packers output of 5 turnovers last week against Chicago. It doesn't appear that Washington is creating a lot of turnovers either, but that can change at any moment.

If the Packers can shut down TE Chris Cooley, hold onto the ball, and get all their wide receivers involved in the game, they should win what should be a tough, low scoring game.