NFC Game Of The Week
Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers
Vikings: They looked great last week and seemed to pick up where they left off from their campaign last season but with a different quarterback under center this time. As an offense, they seem to be a bit more active with Kirk Cousins under center then they were with Case Keenum. Everything else surrounding Kirk is still the same. They still have the nice running game with Dalvin Cook and also have one of the best receiving trios in the entire league with each of them all doing something different. Tight End Kyle Rudolph is the ultimate mismatch, especially in the red area of the field and you can lob it up to him and he will come down with it, Adam Thielen has the best hands of the group in my opinion. He catches it all and makes it look effortless no matter who’s defending him and he also wins the jump ball situations and then, you have Stefan Diggs who’s the best athlete of the three. He can make acrobatic catches and uses nice body control to keep himself in bounds. Their defense also remains one of the best groups under Mike Zimmer and the crazy thing is, they looked scarier in their first game then they did last year which is shocking to me. They’ve crossed off one game on the schedule, now it’s time for a showdown with the rival Packers.
Packers: That saying really is true- It isn’t how you start, it’s how you finish and if you watched that game on Sunday night against the Bears, they looked terrible coming out of the gates in the first half against a rejuvenated Chicago defense. Here’s the beauty about this game though: you have halftime to really make adjustments and that’s what they did. We didn’t know if Aaron would even come back after injuring his knee in the second quarter, but when I saw he was back on the sideline, it was game-time. Green Bay came out more aggressive at the start of the third quarter and they did a much better job at protecting the quarterback which allowed him to get the ball out of his hands sooner and everything clicked from there. Their defense even impressed me and held a Bears offense that was really moving the ball down the field on them all first half to a single field goal in the second half. As far as the knee is concerned, Rodgers said he will be playing, but I’d be lying to you if I didn’t say I was concerned about it because he was still looking to hobble on it when he came back into the game. Sunday night was a big win to open up the season at home against a divisional opponent and they face another one on Sunday afternoon against the Minnesota Vikings.
Vikings Player To Watch– Danielle Hunter: This is such a strength of the Vikings defense and you often hear about Everson Griffen and Linval Joseph but not many really know about this guy here. He’s only in his fourth season and he’s really developed into a nice player. He’s the most athletic of the fourth and he’s so relentless in his pursuit of the quarterback. If the Bears got after Aaron Rodgers as they did, what makes you think the Vikings won’t either? I can see Hunter getting to Aaron at least twice for a pair of sacks.
Packers Player To Watch: Randall Cobb– He’s the number one receiver for the Packers offense now with Jordy Nelson gone and he’s able to be used in so many ways. He can play wide of course, in the slot, he can return punts and he can play in the backfield. When he was targeted more, the Packers offense got into more of rhythm and good things happened.
Final Analysis: This has become a nice battle to look forward too as of late and these have been the two best teams in the division hands down. How healthy is Aaron Rodgers and how 100 percent is his leg? He said he’d play after the Bears game on Sunday night. Minnesota needs to make Aaron move early. I’d test his leg out on bootlegs, allow him to move the pocket and move in the pocket. Minnesota also needs to get Dalvin Cook his touches early This is a true test for the Packers secondary because they have to account for three receivers, a dual threat at running back and Kirk Cousins.
Prediction: Vikings 31 Packers 26
