Cam Newton vs. Clay Matthews: Cam Newton is finally looking good after coming back from his surgeries this offseason. Newton sucked his first few weeks back, but he has put up over 30-points per game each of the last two weeks including 37 last week against a very good Cincinnati defense. Newton also had 107 yards rushing this past week, showing that even an ankle surgery can’t slow him down. Newton brings his hot streak into Green Bay where he will face a Packers team that loves to put on a show for their fans. Newton will have to compete with the excellent pass rush of Clay Matthews. Matthews will have a lot of help containing Newton this week with Julius Peppers lining up with him. Look for Matthews and Peppers to try containing Newton and forcing him to throw downfield—a task that will be much more difficult for him without Kelvin Benjamin on the field this week.
Drew Brees vs. the Lions Defensive Line: The Detroit Lions have the number one defense in the NFL this season led by the outstanding play of Ndamukong Suh. Suh, along with Ezekiel Ansah, has been causing absolute havoc in the backfield of opponents this season, destroying the rhythm and timing of quarterbacks. The New Orleans Saints haven’t been able to do anything this season on offense or defense, especially on the road. The Saints need to start winning soon if they want to keep up in the NFC South, and Drew Brees will have his work cut out for him this week against the number one defense. Brees will need to be able to get rid of the ball fast. Look for Brees to go to Jimmy Graham a lot if he’s back in the lineup, because if he holds the ball to long it’ll be a long, painful night for Saints fans.
Peyton Manning Chases History: Peyton Manning is going into Sunday Night’s game sitting on 505 career touchdown passes—only three behind Brett Favre’s all-time NFL career touchdown record of 508. Playing at home against a struggling San Francisco 49ers defense, Manning could very easily tie the record this Sunday, if not break it. With another 10 games to go after this one, Manning will absolutely shatter this record; so it will probably be a very long time before we get to watch it broken again. It’s always fun to see a long-standing record fall, so you may want to tune in Sunday Night to watch.