After my second straight Sunday split, my record now stands at 10-5 overall. Matt Schaub was injured on the first play from scrimmage, which largely contributed to the Texans losing outright to the Jaguars. Regardless, a loss is a loss and we will get back on track starting with this Monday night winner.

Green Bay Packers (-3.5) over Baltimore Ravens/ 8:20pm Monday
In the primetime matchup this Monday night we have two teams who are still in hot pursuit of a playoff berth. The Green Bay Packers are surging after an inconsistent start to the season and have now won three straight, after thoroughly dismantling the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving. After playing on Thanksgiving, the Packers also had an extremely long period to recuperate, having not played in almost two weeks. The Ravens on the other hand, have alternated wins and losses for the past five weeks and battled a Steelers team that had to desperately start former Oregon standout, Dennis Dixon into Overtime. While it was clear Dixon was not ready for the NFL quite yet, the Ravens still let the Steelers hang around in the football game and almost lost the game outright.

The Packers have one of the most underrated quarterbacks in the NFL, and with 22 TDs and only 5 interceptions, the Packers offense as a whole is extremely difficult to stop because of the consistency of Rodgers. The offensive line has also been protecting Rodgers much better of late, after leading the league in sacks allowed to start the season, that number has fallen back to the middle of the pack and the Packers have begun to win games. Ryan Grant does just enough on the ground to take some pressure off of Rodgers, and Donald Driver is having a career season very late into his career. Although the offense is a huge reason for the recent win streak, putting up 64 points in their last two games, their defense has also been a major contributor. During their win streak, the Packers have allowed a league-low 281.5 yards per game under new defensive coordinator Dom Capers.

For the Ravens, Joe Flacco has been much more shaky and inconsistent after surprising many last season with his poise and overall calmness, after being drafted out of the University of Delaware. He has started to stare down receivers, leading to costly interceptions and has held the ball much longer this season, leading to more sacks. He is also fighting through a mildly sprained left ankle that has bothered him for several weeks now. The defense will also be without Terrell Suggs, who reportedly did not make the trip with the team to Green Bay, and Ed Reed is questionable with an ankle injury. After watching the Ravens struggle against a Steelers team without a quarterback to throw the ball down the field, there is no way I could back this team on the road coming into Green Bay against a quarterback of Rodgers’ caliber. Take the Packers minus the points on Monday night

Tags: Baltimore Ravens, career season, Detroit Lions, donald driver, Football, Green Bay Packers, Johnny G, matt schaub, Monday Night, NFL, night winner, play from scrimmage, playoff berth, win streak