Based on Week 1 rosters, Thursday night's showdown between the Green Bay Packers and Miami Dolphins at Lambeau Field will be a battle between the NFL's youngest team and the NFL's oldest team.
At the start of the first week, the Packers were the youngest team in the NFL with an average age of 25.1 years. The Dolphins, on the other hand, had the oldest at 27.3 years.
Overall, the Packers have just two players age 30 or older – kicker Brandon McManus and linebacker Eric Wilson – and just five players age 29 or older (McManus, Wilson, Andre Dillard, Matt Orzech, Kenny Clark).
The Dolphins have 13 players age 30 or older and 23 players age 29 or older.
Calais Campbell is 38. Jordan Poyer is 33. Terron Armstead is 33. Kendall Lamm is 32. Emmanuel Ogbah is 31. Marcus Maye is 31. Jalen Ramsey and Tyreek Hill are both 30. All are key players for the Dolphins.
It will be interesting to see how this dichotomy plays out this week.
On one hand, the Dolphins have a big advantage in experience that could help prepare in a short week. On the other hand, the Packers are significantly younger and young people recover faster. It's also worth considering how older bodies respond to the cold that comes with an outdoor game in Wisconsin in late November.
Will the younger Packers have fresher legs in a short week? With less preparation time, will the older Dolphins be better prepared for the game?
And will the advantage of playing at home – and not having to travel – play a role in the battle between young and old?
Last year, the Packers played two Thursday night games – both against the Detroit Lions. They lost to the Lions by 14 at home in Week 4, but turned around later in the year and beat the Lions by seven on Thanksgiving Day at Ford Field.
The Dolphins played a Week 2 game on Thursday night, falling to the Buffalo Bills after losing Tua Tagovailoa to a head injury. Last year, the Dolphins defeated the New York Jets without Aaron Rodgers during the Black Friday game.
