The Minnesota Vikings have all sorts of rumors surrounding them heading into the trade deadline, but can they pull off an upset of the Green Bay Packers?
The last time the Minnesota Vikings met up with the Green Bay Packers, there was a sense they were two teams looking to compete in the NFC North. With the Vikings looking to rebuild on the fly and the Packers looking more like a paper champion in 2019, there was plenty of optimism that the two teams would be on each other’s heels and battle for one of the top spots in the conference.
Nearly two months later, the Packers have lived up to the hype while the Vikings sit at 1-5.
Coming off of a much-needed bye, the Vikings will head to Lambeau Field to renew acquaintances with their NFC North rival. While the Vikings are undoubtedly looking to pick up the win, the expectations surrounding the team have dropped dramatically. This has Viking fans split ahead of next Tuesday’s trading deadline.
With the deadline looming, several players could be suiting up for the last time for Minnesota. Names like Adam Thielen, Riley Reiff, and Anthony Harris are all suggested to be on the block as part of what many will consider a tank job to secure a top-five draft pick in next year’s draft.
But the Vikings don’t seem like they’re giving up as long as Mike Zimmer is at the controls. With Minnesota looking to play spoiler, we’ve listed our five bold predictions for Sunday’s game to see if the Vikings can come away with the victory.
Thielen will drop 150 yards on the Packers
In a 2017 meeting between the Vikings and the Packers, Minnesota had to decide whether to use Xavier Rhodes to shadow Jordy Nelson or Davante Adams. To the surprise of some, Rhodes clung onto Adams for the rest of the afternoon and it felt like that was the moment when Adams was deemed the Packers’ No. 1 receiving threat.
Fast forward to Sunday and the Packers have a similar situation. Jaire Alexander has become one of the top corners in the NFL, but he can’t guard two elite receivers at once. Green Bay defensive coordinator Mike Pettine will need to decide if Justin Jefferson or Adam Thielen poses more of a threat heading in and the decision could be an unofficial crowning of the Vikings top receiver.
With praise from Matt LeFleur earlier this week, it would seem like the Packers would choose to put Alexander across from Jefferson. This should open up more opportunities for Thielen, who would then square off with Josh Jackson if Kevin King isn’t available.
Jackson has been great for the Packers, ranking seventh among qualifiers with 0.49 yards allowed per coverage snap. But that number has been skewed with Jackson only seeing 12 targets across four games.
If Jefferson is shut down by Alexander, Kirk Cousins could latch onto Thielen, who put 110 yards and two touchdowns on the Packers back in Week 1.
Adams will finish with 200 receiving yards
While Adam Thielen could be in for a big game, so could the entire Packers offense. Green Bay would love to be a ground-and-pound team, but they would be downright stupid not to take advantage of the Vikings secondary.
While Harrison Smith and Anthony Harris remain on the Vikings roster (for now), Minnesota’s cornerbacks are in complete chaos.
Mike Hughes was recently placed on injured reserve and Holton Hill continues to be out with a foot injury. To cap it all off, the Vikings also could be without rookie cornerback Cameron Dantzler, who was placed on the COVID-19 reserve list earlier this week.
If you’re keeping score at home, that’s three top corners that could be out for the Vikings on Sunday. As bad as it was having young corners face a white-hot Aaron Rodgers in Week 1, it could be even worse when he gets to go against fourth and fifth-string corners the second time around.
The biggest beneficiary in this scenario will be Davante Adams, who had 14 catches for 156 yards and two touchdowns in the first meeting.
With Allen Lazard still recovering from core muscle surgery and Marquez Valdez-Scantling not producing at the same level, Green Bay could simplify their passing offense. But the Vikings still won’t be able to stop it.
Wonnum will overtake Holmes at defensive end
The most surprising development of the Vikings bye week was the trade that sent Yannick Ngakoue to the Baltimore Ravens.
Ngakoue was acquired just prior to the start of the season, but never really fit in with what the Vikings wanted to do. While Minnesota general manager Rick Spielman has egg on his face, the move should allow younger players to get more playing time and show what they can do.
If Minnesota is smart, they would throw out fourth-round pick D.J. Wonnum onto the field more. Labeled as co-defensive coordinator Andre Patterson’s “pet cat,” Wonnum has slowly started to find his way onto the field for the Vikings in the last few weeks.
The results haven’t been great with Wonnum only producing four pressures on 70 pass-rushing snaps. But his pass-rushing productivity grade (3.6) is still better than current projected starter Jayln Holmes.
There will be a temptation for Mike Zimmer and his staff to keep the veteran Holmes out there in an effort to preserve the pursuit for a 10-6 season, but we already know what Holmes is. At 1-5, now is the time to give younger players an opportunity to get reps and become a key contributor in 2021.
Cook will be the key to the Vikings offense
The Vikings offense has resembled the life of that old snowblower in your garage. After taking it out for the six inches of snow that fell in the Twin Cities last week, you pull repeatedly on the cord trying to get it to start and it won’t turn over. Just when you’re about to give up, you give it one last pull, the engine starts and it finally clears a path that will let you get out of the driveway.
For the Vikings, Dalvin Cook has resembled the cord that starts the engine. In Week 1, the Vikings could never get Cook going and it resulted in a nearly 2-to-1 difference in time of possession. That enabled the Packers to jump out to a big lead and when the Vikings did get going, it was too late.
Coming into Sunday’s game the Vikings will have to pull like hell on their ripcord to get going. With the dominance that the Packers’ front seven has shown against the Vikings offensive line, it would be a better idea to attack them with the run. Green Bay ranks 22nd in defensive DVOA against the ground game, so a healthy dose of Cook might be the key to an upset.
The question is, will Cook be available for a full workload? Cook missed the Week 6 loss to Atlanta with a groin injury, but he practiced Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. If he can handle the ball 20-25 times on Sunday, the Vikings have the chance to stay competitive.
Green Bay will destroy Minnesota
Believe me when I say that I’m trying to be an optimist for this game. Even with the Vikings coming in with a 1-5 record, there’s still some crazy part of me that believes that Mike Zimmer will make a tweak (no pun intended) and the defense will come around and pull out the same type of performance they had while nearly stealing a game in Seattle in Week 5.
But then I look at the first game with the Packers and wonder what has changed?
The Vikings have a quarterback in Kirk Cousins that currently leads the league in interceptions against one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL. Minnesota’s offensive line has been trying to answer the question “can he play guard?” for the past decade and they’ve had a revolving door at the position since Green Bay obliterated it last Christmas. Then there’s the emergence of Justin Jefferson, but that leaves the defense wide open.
If there’s a true advantage in this game, it’s the Packers offense against the Vikings defense. Minnesota will likely be down their top three cornerbacks and now they will have to try to pressure Aaron Rodgers without Yannick Ngakoue. The Vikings defense also goes in without Anthony Barr and it’s hard to envision Mike Zimmer having a scheme so complex that the Packers can’t figure it out.
Much like the first game, the Packers will surge out to an early lead before Cousins and the Vikings wake up for several garbage time scores.
Prediction: Packers 47, Vikings 24