Rounding out a difficult three-game sequence against division rivals, the Packers host the new-face Minnesota Vikings, led by former Bengals defensive coordinator, Mike Zimmer. With a different head coach, signal caller and offensive backfield, the Vikings bring a vastly different identity to Lambeau Field, where they haven’t won since 2009. A red hot Aaron Rodgers points to an extension of Minnesota’s winning draught in Green Bay, should the Packers’ defense and running game rise to the occasion.
Even after Rodgers’s big day in Chicago last Sunday, storylines for this Thursday have revolved around Vikings rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who turned in a statistically sound performance in his NFL career debut last week. Bridgewater is listed as questionable with an ankle injury, which comes as a two-fold advantage for the Packers when one considers both the defense’s success against backup Christian Ponder as well as their general ineptitude versus rookie quarterbacks. (Under Mike McCarthy, the defense has lost to Matt Ryan, Josh Freeman, Andrew Luck, Russell Wilson and Colin Kaepernick during their respective rookie seasons)
And despite all of the focus on the two teams’ quarterback play, Thursday’s game could be won in the trenches, which would seemingly favor Minnesota. The rainy weather forecasts for Thursday do not align well with Green Bay’s pass-induced recipe for winning games in 2014. With a high chance of showers, the Packers defense will be forced to stop the run – something they have not done well through the first quarter of the season.
Shutting down the Minnesota ground game could be arguably as difficult as containing Marshawn Lynch in Seattle and Matt Forte last week. Though the Vikings are missing renowned Packer destroyer Adrian Peterson, the combination of Jerick McKinnon and Matt Asiata should be more than challenging for the league’s last-ranked run defense.
Under McCarthy, a strong passing game on offense has regularly bailed out consistently poor play in other phases of the game. The Packers will need to gradually correct this trend throughout the fall if they have any hope of playing in late January. Thursday’s game against a talented yet inexperienced opponent may present the perfect learning opportunity.
Great article with valid points.
MN pretty much had their way with the Falcons, pounding the ball all day long to keep the chains moving. They also took White and Jones out of the game for Atlanta, and kept decent pressure on Ryan. I wasn’t real impressed with Teddy, but he did keep his composure very well. “Statistically sound” is a very good description of his play.
We can’t overlook any team in the NFC North. MN has the weapons on both sides of the ball to shock us at home. Weather could help them more than us with the running and passing games. If Ponder gets the start, that’s an advantage for us, but we can’t take for granted he’ll play poorly. We need to keep the pressure and contain on their QB. On paper, we should win fairly comfortably if we stick to what worked against the Bears and Rodgers has time to throw. But this is why we play the games. If we try to force the run game, Rodgers is slightly off, or we fail to give him time to find his receivers, this could be an upset.
Lots of “ifs” for MN to beat us on Thursday night. I expect another hard fought game. Go Pack go!
Agreed that no team in the NFC North can be overlooked. It was quickly become one of the league’s most competitive divisions.
Thanks for reading!
The pleasure was all mine. Thanks for writing.
Now that it’s over, I think you were proven correct. This game was indeed won in the trenches on both sides of the ball. Constant pressure on Ponder and stuffing their run game, and time for Rodgers as well as opening some holes for our RBs were what dictated the outcome. I incorrectly) expected a much closer game. Go Pack go!
I am gonna have to disagree with one point you made and that’s this game will be won in the trenches! This game will be won with the better QB plain and simple, If Rodgers shows up and plays like himself this game then Teddy has to match it with his arm and I do not believe that is possible for him or any other QB in this division, If Rodgers puts up point with his arm on at least every other drive then it will take the Vikings run game out of the equation so the trenches as you say will be irrelevant.
This game could come down to field advantage as well which means the punters could play a big part of who wins also.
100% chance of rain might be it difficult for the Packers to rely exclusively on the passing game on offense
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/10/02/rain-forecast-for-green-bay-on-thursday-night/
The work of punter Tim Masthay was out standing in the defensive effort, as Masthay placed five of six punts inside the Minnesota 20-yard line and finished with an impressive net average of 45.8 yards. Along the way, Masthay set a new franchise record for punts inside the 20…I said this game might come down to the punters and Masthay had a great game