Green Bay will host Minnesota in a Week 10 showdown at Lambeau Field on Nov. 15.
Packers offense vs. Vikings defense
Green Bay’s offense is coming off what is arguably its best game of the season. They piled up 45 points and more than 400 yards against good New England defense.
This week, they’ll face a great Vikings defense. Jordan Love threw for 372 yards and could have easily surpassed 400 if he did not have a seat on the bench with nine minutes left in the game due to the lopsided nature of the score.
Matthew Golden and Christian Watson were both able to get over the 100-yard receiving mark against New England. They lit up Christian Gonzalez and the rest of New England’s secondary.
Watson and Golden are both on pace to surpass the 1,000 yard mark as a receivers. They’d be the first Green Bay duo to achieve that since Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb did that in 2014. That offense was very good. This passing offense at least has a chance to be as good as that one.
The Packers run game finally showed some signs of life. Kaleb Johnson became the first running back to surpass 50 yards individually for the Packers. The Packers surpassed 100 yards as a team. It’s not much, but it’s a start.
There could be more shuffling on the offensive line this week. Aaron Banks bounced in and out of the lineup with a knee injury that has plagued him all season. When he was on the field, he was not playing well. Was that because of the injury, or is that just who he is now? If he cannot go, Laken Tomlinson will play left guard while Kevin Zeitler replaced Banks on the lineup Sunday.
They’ll be facing a Minnesota defense that is one of the very best in football. Brian Flores is going to bring pressure early and often. He brought a ton of pressure against the Packers the first time these two teams met in the season opener. Green Bay was able to find some openings in their defense on the rare occasions that Love had time to throw.
That’s the million dollar question this week. Can the Packers protect better against Flores’ pressure packages? If they can, Love should be able to find some big plays in Minnesota’s secondary with his top receivers.
If he can’t, it’ll be another long day.
Packers defense vs. Vikings offense
Green Bay’s defense was excellent against Drake Maye and the New England passing game.
Xavier McKinney picked off Maye on his first pass of the game. He added another interception later in the game. Evan Williams had an acrobatic interception on the sideline that required some fancy footwork as well.
They sacked Maye four times with Karl Brooks getting two of them.
Yes, they gave up a lot of yards, but most of that came after they were already leading by two scores. The score of Sunday’s game was 42-14 at one point as Green Bay’s defense was juiced up against an undermanned New England offense.
Sunday, the Vikings will likely be starting Carson Wentz with Kyler Murray nursing a hamstring injury that kept him out of Monday’s game against Buffalo.
Wentz played most of the game the last time the Packers played the Vikings with Murray exiting the game in the first half. Wentz was excellent against Green Bay, throwing three touchdown passes with two going to Justin Jefferson.
Jefferson caught eight balls for 92 yards and two touchdowns on opening day. One came on a free play when Lukas Van Ness jumped offsides. The Packers should be better disciplined this time around against Minnesota.
On the ground, the Vikings have sniffed around acquiring another running back but had not done so as of Sunday night. Assuming nothing changes, Minnesota’s backfield will still be run by former Packer Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason.
They give Minnesota a passable run game to allow Kevin O’Connell to get into some of his play action concepts.
Despite the fanfare surrounding Minnesota’s offense, they have struggled mightily this season.
Perhaps Wentz will give them a boost.
Special teams
Trey Smack was a man the Packers stuck with after his struggles through the month of October. He rewarded their faith in Sunday’s win over the New England Patriots. Smack drilled all of his kicks including a 51-yard field goal. Furthermore, every kick essentially was center cut. Nothing looked like he was struggling, or that he hit the ball poorly.
Bo Melton also gave the Packers a boost in their return game with an explosive return.
Minnesota’s special teams are a weapon with their kicking game. Will Reichard is in field goal range when the Vikings cross midfield. That’s an exaggeration but not by much.
Minnesota’s return game has been explosive with Myles Price at the controls. Kick coverage has been a mixed bag this season for Green Bay, but they’ll need to be on their A game now.
