Packers look to clinch the NFC North with a win in Minnesota
The Green Bay Packers are playoff bound and can clinch the division with a win at US Bank Stadium vs the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football.
Both teams are coming off wins on Sunday. The Packers defeated the Chicago Bears 21-13 while the Vikings won on the road vs the Los Angeles Chargers 39-10. The Packers defeated the Vikings 21-16 in Week 2.
Kirk Cousins has really turned things around after getting off to a rough start to the season. The Vikings will need him to make plays since they likely will be without Dalvin Cook. The Packers will have their hands full with receivers Stefon Diggs, Adam Thielen, and TE Kyle Rudolph. The Packers need to have an effective pass rush. Cousins is a guy who can throw for a lot of yards but if you get to him and disrupt his timing, you can get takeaways. The Packers intercepted him twice in the first meeting, including a key INT in the endzone in the fourth quarter.
Aaron Rodgers hasn’t put up monster numbers lately but the team has been winning. Aaron Jones ran the ball effectively in their first meeting with the Vikings. The Packers are a much better team on offense when Jones gets it going both on the ground and as a receiver. Speaking of receivers, we need them to catch the ball and move the chains.
They let a few opportunities get away last week vs the Bears. It will be extremely hard to play like that and win in Minnesota. They need to keep Danielle Hunter and the other pass rushers away from Rodgers. If he has time to throw, they can move the ball on the Vikings’ secondary.
In the Week 2 matchup, the Packers scored touchdowns on their first three possessions and took a 21-0 lead, but they squandered many scoring opportunities and turned the ball over twice after that hot start. The huge play in the game was a Kevin King interception in the endzone on an errant pass by Kirk Cousins.
The Vikings started out 2-2 and many Vikings’ fans were frustrated with Cousins. Since then, both the team and Cousins turned it around, going 8-2 over their next ten games. The Packers need to be on top of their game and be ready to play a full 60 minutes of football. We have seen stretches in games where the Packers were great on both offense and defense. We need more than that on Monday night.
I mentioned in the very first paragraph that the Packers can clinch the division with a win on Monday night. If the Vikings win, the Packers can still clinch with a win at Detroit in Week 17 or a Vikings’ loss at home to the Bears. One of the reasons why the Packers are in the driver’s seat is because the Bears defeated the Vikings 16-6 in Week 4.
This will definitely not be an easy game to win. They will be going into an extremely hostile environment. As much as I don’t like the Vikings, they are a hot team. It doesn’t mean that they are unbeatable though. The 49ers were red hot but lost at home to the Falcons last Sunday just to give an example that anything can happen on any given day or night. If the Packers play the way they are capable of playing, I like their chances.
It will be a playoff atmosphere on Monday night. The Packers need to be ready for anything and everything. Let’s get the win and clinch the division right there in Minnesota. What a great feeling it would be if they celebrate winning the NFC North Division on the Vikings’ home field. Wherever you are on Monday night, let’s be ready to cheer the team to victory!
Go Pack Go!
@DieHardPackrFan #DHPF #GregGoshaw @gg901
