New England Patriots vs Green Bay Packers: Breaking Down Green Bay's Game ...

With only two afternoon games on Sunday, everyone in the country outside of the Atlanta market will be able to watch the New England Patriots play against the Green Bay Packers in Lambeau Field, according to 506sports.com.

A premier matchup, the AFC-leading Patriots go into the game as red hot as current number two NFC seed Green Bay, which has won seven of its last eight down the stretch. The Packers, though, haven't played a talent like New England since their 36-19 loss to the Seattle Seahawks to kickoff the year.

To come out with a win and preserve their NFC North-leading status, they'll need solid execution from both their offense and defense.

Offensive Key: Stay balanced

Against the Minnesota Vikings, second-year running back Eddie Lacy was able to put up his best performance of the season, netting 125 yards on the ground and scoring both on the ground and through the air.

For his effort, Lacy was named the NFC offensive player of the week by the National Football League.

#Packers RB @Lil_Eazy_Ana_42 is your NFC offensive player of the week. Blog: http://t.co/ZvuF4QtZxw http://ift.tt/1xKEaOR

- Jason Wilde (@jasonjwilde) November 26, 2014

Against New England, the Packers offense should involve a heavy dosage of Lacy from the jump.

Though Aaron Rodgers, an MVP candidate, is on track for 4,301 yards, 44 touchdowns and only four interceptions through the air this season, he can't do it all. He's arguably the best talent in the game, but an individual can only do so much.

In Darrelle Revis, Brandon Browner and Devin McCourty, the Patriots passing defense is made up of three Pro Bowl players. As a unit, they've been able to constrict opposing passing games. Currently, they rank sixth in the league in opposing passer rating, including an impressive performance against Peyton Manning's Denver Broncos earlier in the season.

That's not to say Rodgers can't will the team to a victory. However, it cannot be banked on. For Green Bay to attack New England efficiently through the air, they must keep a balance on offense similar to their game plan last week.

Oddly enough, the production of star receivers Jordy Nelson, who's totaled for 1,066 yards and nine touchdowns in 2014, and Randall Cobb, who has 837 and 10 touchdowns on the year, may come down to how hot Lacy is at the start of the game.

If Green Bay decides to shy away from certain members of the talented secondary-like it did against the Seahawks-the game could get ugly on offense. Bleacher Report's Matt Miller explained what went wrong when Rodgers couldn't throw to Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman's side of the field.

I understand Sherman is covering Boykin, but AR ignoring one side of field makes offense very predictable, allows SEA to roll coverage

- Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) September 5, 2014

The only way to effectively attack New England's secondary is to set them up throughout the game with play actions, which would mean a heavy emphasis on Lacy's workload. If Green Bay can establish the secondaries needed to play against the run, they'll open up more opportunities through the air.

Defensive Key: Take some aspects of the New England offense off the board

Early in the season, the Patriots took some heat for the weapons that surrounded quarterback Tom Brady. Without high-level production from a healing tight end Rob Gronkowski, Brady had a less than stellar wideout unit to lean on.

Currently, the top wide receiver targets on the team are Julian Edelman (70 receptions, 695 yards and two touchdowns in 2014), Brandon LaFell (48 receptions, 674 yards and five touchdowns in 2014) and Danny Amendola (11 receptions, 65 yards and one touchdown in 2014).

To put that into perspective, Green Bay has two receivers who total more than their combined touchdown scores each. Their yardage marks are also relatively close.

On the ground, Jonas Gray, a virtual unknown, was able to put forth a 201-yard performance two weeks ago, and newly acquired LeGarrette Blount notched 78 yards last week after being added to the team mid-season.

After a slow September, Gronkowski has been looking like the Gronkowski of old. So far in 2014, he has 812 yards and a nine touchdowns, which rank fourth-best overall in the NFL. His receiving yardage is also best for a tight end in the league.

With A.J. Hawk, who is notably poor in coverage, likely to be covering the Pro Bowl tight end, as he does on a week-to-week basis, some strong questions will be raised if Green Bay's defense matches up well against the New England offense.

Maybe the recently converted Clay Matthews, who is more fluid in space, will accept responsibility of the pass-catcher. Though he has been overcoming an injury, he was a full participant in practice as recently as Wednesday, according to Rob Demovsky of ESPN Wisconsin.

McCarthy: Clay [Matthews] was a full participant today. He looks good.

- Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) November 26, 2014

Currently, there's no obvious answer on how to stop Brady's favorite target. Aaron Nagler of CheeseheadTV seems to have given up answering questions regarding how the Packers should do so.

'Could Brad Jones help as the Packers try to contain Rob Gronkowski?' There isn't enough liquor in the world to get me through this week.

- Aaron Nagler (@AaronNagler) November 25, 2014

When it's all said and done, though, Green Bay needs to take away at least one threat to win the game. The best way for the Packers to come out of the game feeling good defensively is to force Brady to rely on his subpar wideouts.

If Green Bay can either take away the running game or Gronkowski, forcing the offense to work opposite to how they have exploited defenses in their wins this season, the discomfort of the early-season Patriots may rise again-this time in Lambeau.

For defensive coordinator Dom Capers, who has taken a lot criticism over the years, this game represents a perfect chance for him to show the world why he's worth the faith the team has placed in him. He can't allow New England to score 34 points, which they have done in their past four games. It's time for him to show the league what he has up his sleeve.

Final Thoughts

In what should be a tightly played match, the Green Bay Packers will need their A game to beat the New England Patriots. With all eyes on them on Sunday afternoon, Packers fans will be looking at this game to project just how far the team will be able to contest in the playoffs.

On offense, with a renewed recent emphasis on their run game, the Packers must feed running back Eddie Lacy early and often. With New England's strong defensive back unit possibly the best in the league, the Packers can't simply rely on quarterback Aaron Rodgers to pull the game out for them like he's already done a few times this season.

On defense, the squad simply needs to take away one of the Patriots' strengths: tight end Rob Gronkowski or their productive run game.

If Green Bay can do that, it has a solid chance of pulling through a home win against one of the NFL's top teams.

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