The Green Bay Packers go into this game full of confidence after a big win last week against the Oakland Raiders.
Aaron Rodgers had a big day as he threw for 429 yards, five touchdowns and also ran a touchdown in himself. Packers fans will be hoping for more of the same this week against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Although Patrick Mahomes' injury is not as bad as first feared he won't be back in time to face the Packers. He is rated as an outside chance to be back next week. The game against the Tennessee Titans on November 10th is a "very realistic shot" according to sources.
Matt Moore will start tonights game for the Chiefs in Mahomes' absence. Moore replaced Mahomes in the second quarter of their last game, a 30-6 win over the Denver Broncos and gave a steady performance going 10 for 19, for 117 yards and one touchdown.
Big divisional win last time out for the Chiefs
The last time we seen the Chiefs was on Thursday Night Football last week when they beat the Broncos 30-6. The Chiefs after Mahomes' injury in that game will surely be appreciative of the extra rest and preparation time that comes with playing a Thursday night game.
The Broncos took the lead in that game on their first drive, scoring a touchdown but then failing on a two point conversion.
That would be the only time they troubled the scoreboard as the Chiefs then scored 30 unanswered points. Most of the scoring came in the first half. Once Mahomes went out with his knee injury the Chiefs relied heavily on the defense to close out the win.
The defense even put some points on the board shortly after Mahomes' injury when Reggie Ragland recovered a fumble by Joe Flacco to run in for a touchdown.
The Chiefs will be hoping for another big performance from the defense on Sunday night as they will be up against an Aaron Rodgers in rampant form after throwing five touchdowns against the Oakland Raiders.
Aaron Rodgers looks to build on his best game of the season
The Packers go into this game with star wide receiver Davante Adams listed as doubtful, he has missed th
e last three games with turf toe.
Packers Head Coach Matt LaFleur said: "I think it could go right up to game time, to be truthful."
If the Packers are to be without Adams for a fourth consecutive game then Rodgers will continue to rely on what seems like an everlasting conveyor belt of unheard of talent in the wide receiver position.
Rodgers spread the ball around in the last game as he found a different player for each of his five TD passes. Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams both scored receiving TD's from the Running Back position, with Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Jake Kumerow and Jimmy Graham also catching TD's.
Valdes-Scantling caught just two passes from Rodgers, both were big plays though as he finished the game with 133 yards, this included the 74 yard touchdown, the last of the game for the Packers.
Allen Lazard has came up with big plays in the last two games also, Rodgers will be looking for him and the rest of the receiving corps to maintain their consistency.
Keys to victory
For the Chiefs they will be hoping that their defense can keep Rodgers quiet. If he maintains the level of play that he did against the Raiders then Kansas City without Patrick Mahomes will simply not be able to keep up with the scoring.
The Chiefs are ranked 24th in total defense but 10th in passing defense so they could keep Rodgers quiet.
It is defending the run though that has been problematic for the Chiefs, ranked 29th in run defense and conceding an average of 148.9 yards per game we could see Packers RB Aaron Jones have another big game.
Kansas City will be hoping for a steady performance from Matt Moore, to manage the clock well to keep an in-form Packers offense off the field as much as possible.
This game looked a lot more appealing when we were faced with the prospect of two elite NFL quarterbacks going head to head. Even though with Mahomes missing this game it should still be an interesting watch on primetime.