5 Vikings players to watch vs. the Packers in Week 16

Anthony Barr – LB

Anthony Barr is quietly putting together a very good season with the Vikings. This year, he’s got 73 tackles and 1.5 sacks with a forced fumble.

Barr also has some history with Aaron Rodgers, being the one who hit him and caused him to fall and break his collarbone in 2017. That led to the NFL being even more overprotective of quarterbacks and ticky-tack roughing the passer calls are now the norm.

Barr has to be on his game this Monday for a couple of reasons. The first is in coverage as the Packers will throw plenty of screens to running backs Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams.

Barr could find himself in coverage on these targets out of the backfield and needs to stay fundamentally sound. His running mate, Eric Kendricks, has been elite in coverage this season, so Green Bay may try to isolate Barr on one of their backs and see if he’s up to the task.

Barr will also need to help spy on Rodgers. There is nothing worse than shutting down the Packers receivers, only to see Rodgers run for a first down on third and long. It happens almost every game. If Barr gets tasked with spying Rodgers, he needs to do just that and pop him hard whenever he gets a chance.