Football season is finally here! Well… preseason football, that is.
As an annual tradition of the NFL, the first preseason contest will be held at the Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio in conjuction with the induction of this year’s Hall-of-Fame class. Fans will not only get to witness Green Bay and Indy legends like Brett Favre, Tony Dungy and Marvin Harrison become immortalized in Canton, they’ll also be treated to an intriguing preseason showdown between two of the NFL’s most-storied franchises.
Let’s take a look below at how the Packers and the Colts size up against one another as they gear up for the real regular-season journey ahead.
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Green Bay Packers vs. Indianapolis Colts Preview
Where: Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, Canton, OH
When: Sunday, August 7, 8:00 PM ET
Line: Green Bay Packers vs. Indianapolis Colts – view all NFL lines
TV Broadcast: ESPN
Writer’s Pick: Green Bay Packers
Offensive Edge – Indianapolis Colts
Still, even with quarterback Aaron Rodgers likely to take little to no snaps on Sunday, perhaps fans will be treated to the return of star wideout Jordy Nelson, who suffered a season-ending knee injury last year in a preseason bout *gasp*. With that in mind, though, we may not even get to see Nelson in the huddle that often as the team would like to prevent another preseason disaster from happening.
Meanwhile, the Indianapolis Colts also have their own ailing-slash-returning superstar in Andrew Luck, whose lingering shoulder injury from last season was the main reason for his career-low numbers.
But in the case of the Colts, Luck has got to see some action to get his groove back early on. Head coach Chuck Pagano stated that he will indeed have all his starters take reps this Sunday, but the amount of action each of them will see is still uncertain.
Perhaps Indy would be more inclined giving huge minutes to their young offensive line-acquisitions instead. The team has five rookie linemen from both the main and the supplemental drafts this year, with center and first-round pick Ryan Kelly (Alabama) likely to lead the way for the young hulks along with third-round tackle Le’Raven Clark and fifth-rounder Joe Haeg.
Defensive Edge – Green Bay Packers
All things considered, the Packers had a pretty solid defensive unit last year. Their secondary, specifically, was exceptional. The same could not be said of their front seven, though, more so now that nose tackle B.J. Raji has retired.
Green Bay spent its first-round pick of this year’s draft on UCLA’s Kenny Clark to replace Raji, so the 6-foot-3, 315-pounder must get acclimated with play on the professional level right away. Clark also has fellow rookies in linebackers Kyler Fackrell and Blake Martinez set to see lots of reps at middle linebacker considering that Clay Matthews, who had a subpar 2015 campaign, is expected to shift back to his natural outside-linebacker position this season.
It’s a lot bleaker on Indianapolis’ side of things. The team did little to truly bolster its D in the offseason by choosing to draft a lot of big bodies on the O-line instead to protect Luck’s future with the franchise.
The Colts also signed just one notable defender, San Diego’s Patrick Robinson, in free agency. Robinson is an average cornerback at best, yet could flourish this year playing alongside Vontae Davis. However, most of the action on Sunday will likely fall on other newly-minted pros like safety T.J. Green (second-round pick out of Clemson) and linebacker Antonio Morrison (fourth round, Florida).
Writer’s Prediction: Green Bay wins the first preseason match of the year, 23-19.
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