Vikings

3 Things To Know About the Green Bay Packers

Photo Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

The Minnesota Vikings have only had six 12-win seasons in team history before this year. In their 12-win seasons, the Vikings were eliminated twice in the wild-card round, twice in the NFC Championship game, and twice in the Super Bowl. The Green Bay Packers have had 10 such seasons, exiting in the wild card once, the divisional round three times, the Conference Championship four times, and the Super Bowl once. Oh, and they won it all twice.

History won’t tell us how this season will end for the Vikings.

Opening this article about the playoffs rather than the upcoming game against the Green Bay Packers dovetails with the team’s attitude this week. The Vikings will almost certainly land in the No. 2 or No. 3 seed, and the difference between the two is minimal. Minnesota has elected to give many of their starters parts of the last few games off, prioritizing health and freshness over mostly meaningless victories.

The Packers could not be in a more different situation. They are gasping for life in the playoff hunt, needing two wins and help from other teams to make the postseason. With a divisional game at home and everything on the line, the Packers will throw everything they have at the Vikings.

For these reasons, the Packers are 3.5-point favorites as of the writing of this article. However, longtime Vikings players like Harrison Smith and Eric Kendricks will be reluctant to let a chance to eliminate Green Bay from contention slip away. Therefore, the team should still put in plenty of fight against their biggest rival. Let’s look at some key parts of this year’s Packers team and how they will challenge Minnesota.

Aaron Rodgers’ Regression

The drop in Aaron Rodgers’ statistical numbers is the biggest reason the Packers are fighting for a playoff spot instead of a first-round bye this year. Rodgers is sitting at 3,331 yards, 24 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. That last number is the one that really stands out; it is the most interceptions Rodgers has thrown since 2010. Rodgers hasn’t even thrown more than six interceptions in a season since 2016. Therefore, giving up nearly twice that amount with two games left in the season has had some dire effects.

It is debatable who is responsible for Rodgers’ dropoff. Rodgers must be partially at fault, and PFF, which tries to single out individual player performance, has given him his lowest grade in seven seasons this year (75.3). However, two of his top three receiving options are rookies this year, and Rodgers has been vocal when they haven’t performed as he expects them to. Vikings fans will remember second-round wideout Christian Watson dropping a home-run ball on Green Bay’s first play of the season. While Watson has picked up his production recently, drops continue to be a problem for him. (The lingering thumb injury Rogers played through is almost certainly a factor as well.)

Still, even if he isn’t the player he once was, Aaron Rodgers is still Aaron Rodgers, as he proved with a comeback victory against the Miami Dolphins last week. Rodgers and the passing attack will try their best to exploit the much-maligned Vikings secondary that has given up the most passing yards in the league.

Run Defense

In a December matchup in Lambeau, both teams may rely on their running games more than usual. This bodes well for the Vikings because Green Bay’s rush defense leaves much to be desired. The Packers have allowed the sixth-most rush yards per game (144.4) and fourth-most yards per rush (5.0). Dalvin Cook is the sixth leading rusher this season, amassing 1,109 yards so far, impressive for a team that has as lethal a passing attack as the Vikings do.

For the Packers, Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon still form one of the best backfields in the NFL, totaling 1,658 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground between the two of them. But the Vikings have been much better against running backs than the Packers. Minnesota has given up the sixth-lowest yards per attempt (3.86) and the 10th-fewest yards per game (85.4) to opposing RBs this season. The Vikings have an advantage in a game hovering around freezing temperatures, as both teams could resort to running the ball more often.

Passing Defense

On the other hand, defending the pass has been a much easier task for the Packers. Green Bay has given up the third-lowest passing yardage this season, allowing 192.4 yards per contest. Jaire Alexander has been a huge part of that. Alexander was reportedly upset that Packers defensive coordinator Joe Barry didn’t allow him to shadow Justin Jefferson in their Week 1 matchup. Understandably so, as Jefferson racked up 184 yards and two touchdowns in that game.

Jefferson is now 208 yards away from the record books. Alexander and the rest of the Packers’ D will have their hands full trying to contain him, along with any one of T.J. Hockenson, K.J. Osborn, and Adam Thielen – all of whom are a threat to reach 100 yards in a given game. This is certainly a case of strength vs. strength, and the winner of this battle can determine how the rest of the game will be played.

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Photo Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

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