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The Green Bay Packers (5-6) know it won’t be easy to defeat the Kansas City Chiefs (8-3) on Sunday Night Football.
The Packers are looking for their third straight win in Week 13 and much of their success will land on whether they can stop Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
While Kansas City’s offense has been in a rut for much of the season, they flipped the switch during their 31-17 win over the Las Vegas Raiders last week. Mahomes completed 79.4% of his passes 298 yards, two touchdowns, and zero interceptions.
Speaking to reporters on November 29, Green Bay’s defensive coordinator Joe Barry discussed his plan to prepare for Mahomes. While Barry spoke at length about how difficult it is to shut down the two-time Super Bowl MVP, his comment on using backup quarterback Sean Clifford to prepare caught fans’ attention.
“I’d be lying to you if I said it wasn’t hard,” Barry said. “Yeah, I do think Sean Clifford is giving us a great look this week, as you far as a guy that’s, you know…” — A rookie who’s doing his best to replicate Mahomes on the Packers scout team. Clifford, who’s never taken a snap in the NFL.
While it’s not clear what else Barry can do in this situation, the Cheeseheads weren’t having it. One Packers fan posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, “Sean Clifford replicating Mahomes are we serious.” Another person laid on the sarcasm, “We couldn’t be more ready,” he posted.
Barry, of course, understands what they’re up against. “I think what makes Patrick so good other than he’s got an insane arm, insane arm talent. He’s played a ton of football. You’re not going to fool him. It’s the things he can do when everything breaks down. It’s hard to create that on the practice field.
“Clifford’s done a good job of trying to create that force this week, but it’s hard.”
Patrick Mahomes & the Chiefs Must Outscore Surging Packers QB, Jordan Love
Over the past few weeks, Packers quarterback Jordan Love has been on fire. During the last two games, he’s thrown five touchdowns and zero picks. While the Chiefs are considered 6-point favorites to defeat the Packers, CBS Sports Garrett Podell boldly predicts Love forces the upset.
“Love struggled early in 2023, his first as Green Bay’s full-time starter, but since the calendar turned to November he has played like a top-five quarterback,” Podell wrote. “Yes, his 103.1 passer rating in November was the fifth-best in the NFL.”
“On the other side of the [sic] matchup, the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs are struggling by their standards. Their 23.3 points per game, 364.9 total yards per game, 5.7 yards per play and 46% third-down conversion rate are all the worst of the Patrick Mahomes era, since 2018.”
Chiefs Defense Feels Ready to Shut Down the Packers
If the offense gets shaky, the Chiefs’ defense is ready to do what they’ve done all season and bail them out. “Their offense is definitely catching fire,” Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie said of the Packers, per Arrowhead Report. “You can tell their confidence is getting back, too. So again, this is another test for this defense, but I know we’re going to be ready for it.
“As a DB on the back end, things just go back to communication and doing our job. I feel like once everybody on this team does their job and just handles what they do, we can go out there and beat any offense in this league.”
Chiefs safety Justin Reid mentioned to reporters how Love is statistically matching former Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. “It’s kind of eerie how [Love] and Rogers had the exact same stats up until this point — down to like the amount of passing yardage,” Reid said.
It is a bit wild. The Packers are 5-6 through the first 11 games. Love has thrown for 2,599 yards and scored 21 total touchdowns. During Rodgers’ first 11 games in 2008, the Packers were 5-6 and he amassed the exact same stats.
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