3 matchups the Vikings should worry about in Week 2

Aaron Rodgers vs. Mike Zimmer

Throughout his career, Aaron Rodgers has solidified himself as one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. Although he has just one Super Bowl title to show for his efforts, his talent alone makes him a unicorn among some of the game’s best quarterbacks. Arm strength? Check. Mobility? Check. The complete will to sabotage his coach? OK, maybe that’s a little too far.

Despite what you might say about Rodgers’ attitude toward his head coach and his beer-chugging abilities off the field, he’s still the Packers’ biggest threat and might be even more of a concern after being hobbled by a knee injury for the majority of the 2018 season.

In his career, Rodgers has gone 12-8-1 against the Vikings, throwing for 5,050 yards (240.4 YPG) and a ridiculous 41 touchdowns to six interceptions. He has also added 362 yards and three touchdowns thanks to his scrambling ability, which makes him a complete concern for Mike Zimmer’s defense on Sunday.

While Rodgers has been tremendous against the Vikings for the majority of his career, a lot of those performances came against the regimes of Brad Childress and Leslie Frazier. When it comes to battling Mike Zimmer, he’s had much different results.

Zimmer has been a worthy adversary for Rodgers in his career the Packers lost their first two meetings with Zimmer while he was a defensive coordinator with the Cincinnati Bengals. After winning the first three meetings with Zimmer when he became head coach of the Vikings in 2014, Rodgers has had issues, going 1-4-1 in his last six meetings with Zimmer.

While Rodgers’ individual numbers against Zimmer (61.8 completion percentage, 220.9 YPG, 17 TD, 4 INT in 11 career meetings) look good, he hasn’t willed his team to victory. If Zimmer can continue to contain Rodgers on Sunday, the Vikings should have another good chance of picking up a victory.