5 Bold Predictions: Minnesota Vikings vs. Green Bay Packers – Week 16
By Chris Schad
Vikings offensive line will be much better against the Packers
One of the biggest weaknesses of the Packers’ defense a year ago was an inability to get to the quarterback. Relying on an often-injured Nick Perry and an aging Clay Matthews, Green Bay was in desperate need of a makeover on the inside of their defense and they needed to make defensive coordinator Mike Pettine’s job easier.
To be fair, the Packers did rank eighth in the NFL in sacks in 2018, but general manager Brian Gutenkunst went on a free-agent shopping spree that would have made Ted Thompson faint. His two biggest acquisitions were the signings of Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith, who have turned Green Bay’s front seven from solid into spectacular.
In the first meeting, this unit was a major problem for the Vikings’ offensive line. While they were able to have success on the ground, protecting Kirk Cousins was an issue for Minnesota as Green Bay generated pressure on 23 of Cousins’ 35 dropbacks.
Although this time around, the Vikings’ offensive line is much different than they were before. While Riley Reiff and Brian O’Neill have been great as book-end tackles, the interior of the line including Pat Elflein, Garrett Bradbury, and Josh Kline has jelled to help Minnesota’s offense come alive.
Although the Packers were able to get plenty of pressure on Cousins in Week 2, a lot of that had to do with the quarterback’s indecisiveness as he still had 3.22 seconds to throw, the second-largest margin in the league in Week 2. With the Vikings more comfortable in the scheme of offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski’s, this should be a better effort from everyone involved on Monday.