Three things to watch when Green Bay Packers host Tennessee Titans

Listening to head coach Matt LaFleur and quarterback Aaron Rodgers (above) in the aftermath of the team’s 24-16 victory over the Carolina Panthers, you’d have thought the Packers had lost. But unlike the Los Angeles Rams (who lost at home to the previously winless New York Jets the next day) or the Pittsburgh Steelers (who lost at home to the lowly Cincinnati Bengals on Monday night), the Packers emerged with a win. Were those upsets discussed this week in meetings? “It was definitely talked about,” LaFleur said with a grin.

Not that facing a Titans team that is 10-4 and headed to the AFC playoffs is the type of game where players might get caught looking ahead, but if the Packers wanted a wake-up call before the playoffs, their putrid offensive performance after scoring touchdowns on the first three series (five straight punts, only three points) certainly delivered that — along with teaching points that the coaches harped on all week.

The Titans come into the game leading the NFL in scoring with 436 points this season — one more than the Kansas City Chiefs and two more than the Packers — so with two of the NFL’s three highest-scoring teams on the same field, it’s logical to assume this will be a high-scoring shootout. While the defenses will have something to say about that — Tennessee came into the week ranked 27th in total defense and tied for 21st in scoring defense; the Packers came in eighth in total defense and tied for 14th in scoring defense — the Packers offense understands it could need to light up the Lambeau Field scoreboard.

“I mean, I think every game we really want to outscore the opponent. We trust our defense, but we really want to score every time we get it,” Rodgers said. “I think there’s been games where we’ve been close to that. We’ve really gotten on a roll. It just comes down to us, our performance. A lot of times we’re our own biggest enemy. We’re getting in our own way, whether it’s missed assignments, mental errors, bad throws or routes.

After making a critical 51-yard field goal during the fourth quarter against the Panthers — accounting for the Packers’ only second-half points — veteran kicker Mason Crosby (above) is two games away from a perfect season on field-goal attempts. (He’s missed three extra points going 50-for-53 on the season.) The clutch kick against the Panthers came six days after he drilled a 57-yarder indoors at Detroit to keep the Lions’ comeback at bay.

“I don't know if I want to pick one,” Packers special teams coordinator Shawn Mennenga replied when asked which kick was more impressive. “They were both huge for us, especially in that situation in the game. The 57-yarder at the end there was big. (But) they were both huge for us. That 51-yarder, when it's colder like that, the ball doesn't travel as well. They were both impressive and both huge for us. Mason continues to come up big and we’ve got all the confidence in the world in him.”