Good evening, everyone. It’s crazy that the NFL season is more than halfway done. It’s now Week 11, and the Green Bay Packers are entering their lives matchup with the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium at a comfortable 8-2. A win on Sunday would all but clinch the NFC North with only a few weeks left in the regular season. I am here to give you my thoughts on what the Packers need to do to improve to 9-2 on the season.
On offense, it all depends on the performance of the offensive line. While David Bakhtiari was activated to practice a couple of weeks ago, he won’t be able to play on Sunday. Considering that he suffered the torn ACL on New Year’s Eve last season, I am not surprised that he’s been out since being reactivated from the PUP list. If I would take a guess, I would say that Bakhtiari will come back after the bye week, which is oddly in December. In the meantime, Adam Stenavich is doing his best to get the offensive line to play well. In the past couple of weeks, Royce Newman has played poorly. There were plenty of times when an opposing defender went right past Newman for a pressure or a sack. Newman has also been called for holding a few times, including a penalty that nullified a big run against Kansas City. I hope that Newman and the rest of the O-linemen (also including Elgton Jenkins and Lucas Patrick) play a great game against Minnesota. In the running game, the linemen need to create the holes for AJ Dillon and Patrick Taylor to run through (Aaron Jones is out for this game due to an MCL sprain). I have a feeling that Dillon is going to have a big game tomorrow in terms of running the ball down the defense’s throat. It’s fun watching him run through defenders, which was evident last week against the Seahawks. For example, he broke a few tackles on his 50-yard catch and run that set up his second rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter (in the snow). I can’t wait to see what Dillon does on Sunday. The passing game needs to be set up by the run, not the other way around. Speaking of the passing game, the offensive linemen need to make sure that Aaron Rodgers (who is now suffering a toe issue) is kept upright and pressured not too often by Minnesota‘s defense. I am not concerned at all about Rodgers’ performance. When he played against Seattle, he was just coming back from COVID protocols. I don’t think that he will throw an easy pick like the one to Jamal Adams again this season. As long as he is protected by the O-Line, Rodgers should be able to find an open receiver (whether that is Davante Adams, Randall Cobb, AJ Dillon, Josiah Deguara, or Marquez Valdes-Scantling) and throw to him accurately. I have no doubt that Davante Adams will have a great game against the Vikings secondary. He, along with the rest of the receivers, need to catch each pass from Rodgers (other than throwaways). The most important thing for the Packers offense to do is to sustain long drives that result in touchdowns. Converting third downs and avoiding turnovers can help the Packers accomplish this goal. It’s extremely important for Green Bay to end each “Gold Zone” trip with a touchdown. Any trip inside the 20 that doesn’t result in a touchdown (whether it be a field goal or, at worst, a turnover) could end up being the difference between a win and a loss in a tight game. It will be a tough game for the Packers offense because of the crowd noise in Minnesota (plus the pas rush at points). I am confident that they will find a way to perform well on Sunday afternoon on the road.
On defense, it all starts with stopping the Vikings rushing attack, which is led by Dalvin Cook. The Packers defense has the ability to make sure that he is kept in check throughout the game. Kenny Clark, Rashan Gary (who hopefully plays on Sunday), Dean Lowry, Krys Barnes, De’Vondre Campbell, and Preston Smith (plus the rest of the defensive front) have played well recently. I am sure that they will have no problem getting after Dalvin Cook and tackle him for minimum gain. There can’t be a situation where Cook is able to run for a long touchdown because of missed tackles, which happened last season. If the Packers are able to keep the run game in check, then the pass rush can get after Kirk Cousins and frustrate him all game long. The defensive front needs to get past the blockers and pressure Cousins to throw passes that can easily be picked off by the likes of Eric Stokes, Rasul Douglas, Adrian Amos, Kevin King, and Darnell Savage. In other cases, those 5 people (plus any other defenders) need to make sure that the receivers are covered well. Considering how well the secondary has played as of late, there should be no problem with covering Minnesota’s receivers (including Adam Thielen, Justin Jefferson, plus Dalvin Cook on screens). Most importantly, the Packers defense needs to keep the Vikings from going on long drives. Stopping them on third downs plus forcing any form of turnover can help the Packers defense accomplish this goal (plus give the offense more chances to score touchdowns). I have no doubt that the defense (led by DC Joe Barry) will play well against the Vikings on Sunday.
On Special Teams, the key for the Packers is to not make critical mistakes that could impact the outcome of the game. An example of this could be a blocked field goal, which has already happened twice this season. The line needs to make sure that no defenders are able to easily block any field goal (also any punt). Steven Wirtel needs to snap each ball accurately, and Corey Bojorquez needs to secure the hold for Mason Crosby, who needs to make each kick when he’s called upon. If Bojorquez is called upon to punt, he needs to make sure each punt is deep in Vikings territory and not returnable. If a punt is returnable for the Vikings, the coverage unit needs to tackle the returner for minimum gain. The same thing can apply to kickoffs, although I think that every kickoff on both sides will be for a touchback. Hopefully there is a chance for a long return on kickoffs or punts for Green Bay. Honestly, the most important thing for the returner to do is to not turn the ball over via a fumble or a muffed punt. As long as mistakes are kept to a minimum, the Packers should be fine on Special Teams.
Overall, I have confidence that the Packers will take care of business against the Vikings. I know that it’s in Minnesota, but I have faith in the Packers under head coach Matt LaFleur. They will be ready for anything that the Vikings throw at them (hopefully no shoes are thrown again, though that can be funny). Regardless of the outcome, I pray that neither team suffers more injuries on Sunday. I will be back on Monday or Tuesday with my postgame thoughts on the game. Have a good night, everyone. Go Pack Go!
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