Packers Morning Buzz: Taking a pass on the passing game

Welcome to your game-day Morning Buzz, rounding up news and views regarding the Green Bay Packers from around the web and here at PackersNews.com.

The Packers (4-4-1) play at Seattle (4-5) at 7:20 p.m. Thursday.

We'll start with Tom Silverstein's analysis of what the Packers need to do to surprise the Seahawks and escape Seattle with an upset victory.

Tom writes:

There’s a danger McCarthy will get snookered into believing he can throw the ball against the Seahawks after watching the Rams, Lions and Broncos put up nice passing numbers. Everyone thinks they can pass against the Seahawks because they play the same coverage down after down, have young cornerbacks and are missing all-world safety Earl Thomas.

But even with the Seahawks consistently playing a safety in the box and possessing one of the best inside linebackers in the game in Bobby Wagner, teams have been successful running on them.

They rank tied for 18th in rushing yards allowed, which isn’t horrible, but they’ve allowed 140 or more yards rushing in five games this season. They rank 29th in the NFL in yards allowed per carry (5.0) and are allowing an average of 5.39 yards per carry on first and 10.

More so, this is about the Packers building on their 195-yard, two-touchdown rushing performance against Miami. It was the sixth time this season they’ve topped the 100-yard mark rushing but remarkably the backs finished with fewer than 20 carries, the sixth time this season that has occurred.

It’s almost unfathomable that the Packers rank first in the NFL in yards per carry (5.2) and 27th in average rushes per game (22.3).

You can read the entire column here.

How has first-year general manager Brian Gutekunst fared with his free-agent decisions? Pete Dougherty weighs in:

Silverstein lists his "5 things to watch" and our experts make their predictions:

As expected, the Packers have ruled out the four players who didn't travel with the team to Seattle (the Seahawks listed linebacker K.J. Wright as doubtful):

Questions about tight end Jimmy Graham's future were part of Dougherty's live chat. Pete answered a wide range of questions:

The gang at "Good Morning Football" has climbed aboard the Aaron Jones bandwagon:

A look at where Jones has found the most production on his carries:

Much like the Packers before Ty Montgomery was traded, the Seahawks are trying to find playing time for a trio of running backs:

If you think the Packers have a quick turnaround, how about the Bears next week? They will host the Vikings on Sunday evening (after having that game flexed from a noon start) and then play at Detroit with a kickoff of 11:30 a.m. CT on Thanksgiving:

More prime-time Bears: Their Dec. 2 home game against the Rams also has been flexed to Sunday night. That's the week before they host the Packers (meaning that noon start likely won't be flexed into a night game):

The Bears' Twitter feed is getting cocky (but then, it has been a while since they've been able to get excited):

Looks like former Packers guard T.J. Lang's stint with the Lions could be short-lived:

Packers fans will want to set the DVR for this Friday night:

ESPN's Rob Demovsky writes about Davante Adams' proficiency in the red zone:

Former Packers executive Andrew Brandt weighs in on the NFL's top business stories for The MMQB:

Peter Bukowski at Acme Packing Co. says it's time for Packers fans to stop complaining about the outside linebackers:

And finally, what's this? Our pal Aaron Nagler admitting he was wrong?!?