Primary job for Packers secondary is keeping Tua in check
By GERY WOELFEL
The Green Bay Packers have done a solid job of defending the pass this season.
The Packers rank 11th in the NFL, allowing 206.5 yards per game.
But the Packers defense, especially their secondary, will have to perform much better Thursday night when they host the surging Dolphins at frigid Lambeau Field. (The game-time temperature is expected to be 26 degrees).
That’s because the Packers will be facing one of the hottest quarterbacks in the league in Tua Tagovailoa.
The 26-year-old Tagovailoa is playing at a Pro Bowl level and is the person most responsible for the Dolphins’ three-game winning streak.
In that stretch, Tagovailoa completed 77 of 104 passes, an impressive 69 percent completion rate. In that same span, he’s thrown for 812 yards – or an average of 270.6 yards per game – while throwing eight touchdown passes and one interception.
Tagovailoa isn’t the only Dolphin on a heater. His two gifted receivers – Tyreke Hill and Jaylen Waddle – are also on top of their games. Hill had a combined 12 receptions in the last two games, and Waddle had 10 catches.
If the Packers intend on taking another big step toward securing a playoff berth and win for the seventh time in the last eight games, their starting secondary of Jaire Alexander (if he’s cleared to play), Evan Williams, Xavier McKinney, Keisean Nixon and Javon Bullard – will have to bring their “A’’ games or the Packers will be left out in the cold.
Prediction: Dolphins 31, Packers 27.
