Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers has been brilliant in the preseason so far, coming off a two-touchdown performance in a 27-24 road victory against the Seattle Seahawks last week. Rodgers completed 8-of-11 passes for 116 yards before reserves Matt Flynn and Graham Harrell connected on 11-of-21 for 153 yards, getting sacked twice with one interception. Flynn and Harrell combined for 82 yards on 12-of-22 passing the week before in a 27-24 loss to the Cleveland Browns with another interception after Rodgers hit on 12-of-13 for 159 yards and a touchdown.
Meanwhile, Indianapolis QB Peyton Manning has been solid through two games despite his team performing poorly otherwise. Manning was 8-of-10 passing for 91 yards in a 37-17 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the preseason opener and then Curtis Painter and Tom Brandstater combined to go 17-of-29 for 98 yards with one touchdown and four interceptions.
Painter was much better in limited action against the Buffalo Bills last week, going 5-of-6 passing for 97 yards and a touchdown. However, undrafted rookie Tim Hiller and Brandstater went 1-of-6 for seven yards in relief of Painter and Manning. Hiller was released by the Colts on Monday following the team’s 34-21 loss to Buffalo in Toronto.
Like nearly every team in the NFL, Indy is taking this third preseason game a lot more seriously than the others, according to head coach Jim Caldwell. The Colts are infamous for not taking the preseason seriously, going 10-20 in the preseason under former head coach Tony Dungy. However, Dungy went 5-2 in the third week with Indianapolis while Caldwell has since gone 1-5 in the preseason, with his only win coming in the second week last year.
Packers head coach Mike McCarthy has seen his team perform much better in the second week of the preseason with a 4-1 mark, going a combined 4-9 in all other weeks. Green Bay had two days to practice for the Colts following the trip to Seattle and is dealing with numerous injuries.
Defense has literally been a sore spot with linebackers A.J. Hawk (ankle), Clay Matthews (hamstring), Brad Jones (shoulder) and Nick Barnett (knees) all missing action due to injuries for the Pack, which also rested cornerback Charles Woodson and wide receiver Donald Driver against the Seahawks. Green Bay is already without safety Atari Bigby, who is expected to miss the first month of the regular season following ankle surgery.
The Colts and Packers have met three times in the last decade, with all the games taking place during the regular season. They last met in 2008 at Green Bay when Rodgers led the Pack to a 34-14 rout of Indy. Manning did not throw a touchdown in that game but tossed two interceptions.
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