Good afternoon, everyone. On New Year’s Day 2023, the Green Bay Packers will take on the Minnesota Vikings at Lambeau Field. To put it simply, this is a must-win game for the Packers as they try to sneak their way into the playoffs. In addition to winning these last two games, the Packers need one of these two things to happen: either the Washington Commanders split their two games or the New York Giants lose both of their games. At the end of the day, the Packers can’t control what happens outside of Lambeau Field. As always, I am here to give you my thoughts on what Green Bay needs to do on all sides of the ball to win on Sunday and stay alive. Without any further delay, let’s get started.
On offense, the Packers need to “shorten the game”. What I mean by this is for the Packers to have long drives with a focus on running the ball, plus a couple of pass plays here and there. David Bakhtiari is coming back from his appendectomy to help the offensive line create the holes for Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon and keep Aaron Rodgers upright. It is up to Jones and Dillon to follow the holes and run for good chunks of yardage (preferably with a running start behind the QB). The more times the Packers run the ball, the sooner that the Vikings defense gets more tired, especially in the third and fourth quarters. That way, the pass rush can’t have enough energy to get to Aaron Rodgers. It definitely helps that Bakhtiari is back at left tackle. Rodgers should have plenty of time to throw passes to the likes of Randall Cobb, Allen Lazard, Romeo Doubs, Marcedes Lewis, Josiah Deguara, plus the running backs (hopefully Christian Watson can play on Sunday). Accurate passes need to be thrown, and the receivers need to catch each ball that isn’t a throwaway. Third downs need to be converted consistently and touchdowns need to be scored each time they get in the red zone. These two things can help the Packers sustain long drives and keep Minnesota’s offense on the bench. The Packers can’t afford to settle for field goals, especially in front of their home crowd. They also need to avoid turning the ball over via interception or fumble. I hope that the offense executes well on Sunday without any mistakes and penalties.
On defense, the Packers will have their hands full again. The Vikings have plenty of weapons, including WRs Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen, TE TJ Hockenson (who was traded by Detroit during the season), and RB Dalvin Cook. It would help if the Packers make the Vikings one-dimensional on offense. The defensive front, which has Kenny Clark, Jarran Reed, Devonte Wyatt, Preston Smith, and Kingsley Enagbare, needs to get past the blockers and tackle Cook (or anyone else that gets a rushing attempt) for minimum yardage. If the running game is kept in check, then the defense can focus on getting after Kirk Cousins. The pass rush needs to get home before Cousins has time to throw to Jefferson, Thielen, or Hockenson. Even if the play doesn’t result in a sack, pressuring Cousins can force him to throw passes that should be picked off by Jaire Alexander, Rasul Douglas, De’Vondre Campbell, or anyone else on defense. It will be inevitable that guys like Justin Jefferson will get his numbers. The key for the defense is to find a way to keep him kinda in check compared to what happened in Week 1, which was a disaster. Hopefully Jaire Alexander gets to cover him more often, if not the whole game. Third down conversions need to be kept to a minimum, tackles need to be made without any whiffs, and any turnover opportunities need to be capitalized on. Whether it be an interception of Kirk Cousins or a strip-sack, any turnover should help the Packers get more scoring opportunities (bonus points if there is a pick six). If Joe Barry’s unit can get things done in the clutch two more times in front of their home crowd, then the Packers are playoff-bound. If not, then a pink slip should be on his desk on January 9th (he’ll be let go regardless).
On Special Teams, the Packers need to avoid costly mistakes that can give the Vikings extra momentum. An example would be trying a fake punt inside the 20 yard line and failing, putting the Vikings into field goal range (hopefully that doesn’t ever happen again). From now on, the Packers should stick with not doing any fake punts from their own territory. During punts and field goals, long snapper Jack Coco needs to snap each ball accurately to Pat O’Donnell, who has two tasks: punt the ball deep into Minnesota territory and secure the hold for Mason Crosby. As long as the line protects the kicks from getting blocked, every field goal and punt attempt should go without a problem. I have total confidence in Mason Crosby making each kick at Lambeau Field. For the return game, it might lose some spark if Keisean Nixon is not able to play due to a groin injury suffered at Miami. If, indeed, Nixon is not able to play, then whoever gets the call on kickoff returns needs to make sure that the returns are good and that he doesn’t fumble the ball. On the possibility that Nixon comes back, then it should provide a spark because he is able to run it back for a touchdown. I know that he was tackled short last week, but I hope that it happens this week. On punts, the return man needs to either fair catch the ball cleanly, return it for a good chunk of yards, or just avoid the ball as it might go out of bounds. On the other side, the coverage unit needs to make sure that no long returns are given up. Ramiz Ahmed was activated to help with kickoffs on Sunday. Hopefully a lot of them are touchbacks so the Packers don’t need to worry about a return at all. I have faith in Rich Bisaccia and this Special Teams unit. I hope that they play well on Sunday in addition to offense and defense.
Overall, it will be a tough game on Sunday at Lambeau Field. The crowd will be on the Packers side (at least most of it) as they look to keep their playoff hopes alive. One more loss, and a long offseason will follow. The Packers need to play well on all sides of the ball to take care of business at home. I pray that no player gets hurt for either team on Sunday afternoon. I’ll be here on Monday or Tuesday for the recap of the game regardless of the outcome. In the meantime, I wish you all a wonderful 2023. Go Pack Go!
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