Packers vs Vikings Preview: Traveling to Viking Country

 

            Although the NFC North may be locked up as far as the division champion goes, there is still important football to take place between rivals this Sunday in Minneapolis. The Packers take on the Vikings in a game with critical NFC playoff seeding implications. Both teams currently sit at 7-8, a game out of the final two wild card spots held by the Seahawks and the Rams.

            A win for the Packers wouldn’t necessarily guarantee them a playoff spot, but it would up their chances a lot, even more so with a loss from both teams holding a spot above them right now.

            But let’s talk about this matchup. The Packers and Vikings are both pretty beat up injury-wise, the Vikings’ defense especially. Their defense has played a critical role in helping them keep playoff hopes alive following the season-ending injury to starting QB Kirk Cousins. With multiple injuries in the Vikings’ secondary, they may play more conservatively than they have recently been. Defensive coordinator Brian Flores has brought tons of blitz packages this season, we will see what his plan is for Jordan Love and the Packers’ offense in this second matchup.

Aaron Jones has no injury designation, which is a great sign for this offense which will be missing Christian Watson and most likely Dontayvion Wicks in this game. As we saw last week, Jones is the perfect spark for this offense. When he’s on the field, the play-calling opens up tremendously. Jayden Reed is also slighted to return to action this week as well.

As for the Packers’ defense, they are missing some big names. After his actions last week in Carolina and who knows what else, Jaire Alexander has been suspended for one game for conduct detrimental to the team. This sucks for Jaire who is a talented player and although he has his weird moments, you still want to have him on the field regardless of what you think of him. This game especially against a stud wideout like Justin Jefferson. De’Vondre Campbell and Eric Stokes are also both ruled out for this game.

There’s no denying that the Packers struggled in their initial matchup with the Vikings. Aaron Jones wasn’t healthy nor involved heavily in the offense and Jordan Love was battling pressure from the Vikings’ defense all game long. The beauty of division matchups is that they are typically never the same game twice, teams change up their game plans and adjust from the first time. Jordan Love has molded into a completely different quarterback this second half of the season and the offense has made major strides.

There’s no doubt Matt LaFleur will come into this matchup with a much better game plan this time around against the Vikings. There is one thing though that everyone is thinking about in this game that they probably talked about at their family Christmas party this year. That my friends, is Joe Barry. The guy who can make Tommy DeVito, Baker Mayfield, and Bryce Young all look like hall-of-fame quarterbacks. That is the big negative for the Packers in this one, even with rookie quarterback Jaren Hall starting on the other side of the ball. I have no confidence whatsoever in Joe Barry calling this defense.

Will I be surprised if Jaren Hall sucks and the Packers win convincingly? No, because he’s a rookie and is the fourth option at quarterback for the Vikings this season. All the pressure is on Joe Barry, he knows he’s probably out at the end of the season, but the least he could do is try not to make people hate him for a week.

That is about the only thing that could hold the Packers back from a win this week. The playoff hopes are still alive, and with a little help from the teams in front losing, week 18 may be another win-and-get-in scenario as we saw last season. But beat Minnesota first, that is the goal! Also, that stupid horn they use at US Bank Stadium is the absolute worst.

Real Packer Fans Know🧀


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