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Full Fade
by Dennis Ranahan

Is that my knees shaking or the Green Bay Packers?

Tonight, Green Bay limps into Highmark Stadium with more concerns than a sixth grader at his first dance with a severe case of acne. Aaron Rodgers, the Packers future Hall of Fame quarterback, is not used to being a double-digit underdog.

Know why?

Because in his National Football League career he has never taken his Packers team on the field with such a large number of points against them. The Packers had a three game winning streak early in this season. Following an opening day drubbing at the hands of the home team winning Minnesota Vikings, 23-7, Green Bay downed the Chicago Bears, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New England Patriots in consecutive weeks.

But now, as we close in on the midpoint of the season, we can note that those three teams, the Bears, Buccaneers and Patriots, all currently own losing records. Perhaps the Packers wins were more a reflection of suspect opponents than Green Bay had retrieved their championship stride.

In support of that conclusion, the Packers have dropped three straight decisions to the New York Giants, New York Jets and Washington Commanders. Both the Giants and Jets are having one of their best seasons in years, while the Commanders loss last week has to be more evidence that the Packers are close to becoming an also-ran.

Now, given Green Bay has not beaten a team with a winning record this season, what do you think their chances are against the anointed best team in the league? That team, the Buffalo Bills, are in search of their sixth win in seven starts tonight and have had two weeks to prepare for this contest. Two weeks ago, before their open date, Josh Allen and company downed Patrick Mahomes and his Kansas City Chiefs on the loser's home field.

The chances of Green Bay rebounding with a win over the Bills tonight looks as likely as the Philadelphia Phillies recovering from a five run deficit in the World Series.

What?

They did that in their series opening win over the Houston Astros?

Yep.

Does that mean the Packers can win tonight in Buffalo?

Not likely, but stranger things have happened this year in the NFL.

When this game was first posted I jumped for the Bills like it was a sure thing. Then, numbers flowed into my office on Friday and Saturday that indicated a lot of really bright people in my business like the Packers chances in this one. Not necessarily to win, but to stay within the double-digit point spread.

I prefer to wager on teams that know they need to play their best and that still might not be enough to win. With those squads I can count on a spirited performance.

Will that be enough for Green Bay to hang with Buffalo tonight?

The talent is just too great of a gap to take the visitors side, but the wager indicators cool me on laying the points with the home team.

If Rodgers is to fade out as seemingly Tom Brady is in Tampa, then this could be a clinching blow to his season and perhaps even career. It could happen, but I’m not recommending a wager on it while Rodgers is getting the most generous point spread of his career.