The Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings will meet up for the first time in the 2021 season on Sunday in downtown Minneapolis.
Aaron Rodgers and Co. got a shot in the arm after a 17-0 shutout of the Seattle Seahawks in Week 10. Kirk Cousins and Minnesota took a similar dose after a much-needed win on the road against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Here are two Packers dream scenarios and one possible Vikings nightmare for Sunday’s tilt.
Green Bay’s defense keeps rolling
Minnesota’s offense will provide another big test for Joe Barry’s defense on Sunday. The Packers surely won’t be intimidated. They’ve faced the Arizona Cardinals, Kansas City Chiefs, and Seattle Seahawks in three consecutive weeks.
This doesn’t mean the Vikings won’t have success. They have plenty of playmakers with home-run ability. Continuing to ride the wave will be crucial for the Packers.
Green Bay has been able to neutralize the opposing run game in large part by just bringing four over the course of the last few weeks. Dalvin Cook will try to flip that around on Sunday.
On the back end, Eric Stokes, Kevin King, and Rasul Douglas have been extraordinary locking things down in the secondary along with safeties Adrian Amos and Darnell Savage.
In the middle, it’s been the De’Vondre Campbell show all season long. He has proved to be an absolute diamond in the rough free-agent signing for Green Bay.
Up front, Kenny Clark and Rashan Gary, along with Preston Smith, have been terrorizing opposing quarterbacks all season long.
Nobody thought in 2021 the Packers would be carried by the defense, but that’s how it has played out so far. They’ll look to do their part on Sunday against a solid Minnesota attack when things click.
Davante Adams continues to nuke the Vikings
Adams has been a problem for Minnesota defenses throughout his career. In 13 games against the Vikings, Adams has posted 75 catches for 799 yards and 10 touchdowns. Last year, he demolished Mike Zimmer’s defense in a pair of showcase performances.
In the season opener last year, Adams gobbled up 14 receptions for 156 yards and two touchdowns in Minneapolis. Adams had seven receptions and turned three of them into touchdowns in their second matchup at Lambeau Field.
Defenses have really zoned in on No. 17 this year. If Rodgers can hit Randall Cobb and Marquez Valdes-Scantling early, Minnesota will be forced to pay more attention to them and roll some coverages, opening up the door for Adams to feast again.
Even if he is blanketed with defenders, don’t expect Rodgers to shy away from Adams all afternoon. Matt LaFleur will always find ways to get Adams involved. Green Bay will hope that his successes against Minnesota continue this year as the Packers look to take an even bigger lead in the NFC North.
Harrison Smith and Patrick Peterson boost Minnesota’s defense
In a quirk of Green Bay’s schedule this year, nearly every team they play is either getting big pieces back right or acquiring new ones just as they play the Packers.
Russell Wilson missed three consecutive games and was on injured reserve after finger surgery. At the time, the diagnosis estimated he would miss around four to six weeks. He came back shockingly quickly, right in time for his first game back to be against the Packers.
Next week, the Los Angeles Rams will be coming off a bye and will have a full week to implement Von Miller and Odell Beckham Jr. into their game plan. Of course, they will face the Packers.
This week, Smith is returning for the Vikings after a stint on the shelf with COVID, and it sure sounds like Peterson will be back patrolling the secondary at cornerback after being on IR for three weeks.
The nightmare scenario for Green Bay is that the returns of Smith and Peterson boost the Vikings’ defense and give them an extra jolt against a Packers’ offense that has sputtered lately.
Yes, Green Bay has still been winning, but the offense hasn’t been nearly as dynamic as it was a year ago. They’ll hope to flip the script against the Vikings on Sunday. They’ll have to do so against a unit that continues to get healthier.
There’s nothing wrong with getting someone’s best effort. In fact, it’s probably what Green Bay prefers at this point so they get a better read and where they stack up in the NFC. Minnesota’s defense will have some major pieces back to try and tip the scales in their favor against Rodgers and the Green Bay offense.
