NFC Game Of The Week

Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings

Packers: Three straight victories for them. My biggest takeaway from each of them is they haven’t looked sharp. I get a win is a win, but let’s break this down. Against the Giants in week 13, they let New York hang around for most of the game. Then, they pulled away. In week 14 against the Washington Redskins, they looked sloppy. The offense didn’t do much outside of Aaron Jones who had the best game of his career. The defense made stops. On paper, it looked to be a blowout, but anything can happen on any given Sunday. Against the Bears this past Sunday, it was a close game as I expected it to be. Once again, the Packers grinded the game out for the win. They now sit at 11-3 in a fun yet competitive NFC. The Packers now are still sitting at the two seed in the conference which means they’d have a first-round bye if the playoffs were to begin today. It was another quiet day for Aaron Rodgers. He only threw for 203 yards with a touchdown pass. I knew Aaron Jones wouldn’t be much of a factor because the Bears are one of the best when it comes to stopping the run. Although the Packers gave up only 13 points, but they allowed 415 total yards to the Bears. The defense has been improved for sure, but they still give up too many big plays down the field for my liking. I don’t see that communication in the secondary at times. They’ve already clinched a playoff spot. Now, they’ll look to close in on winning the NFC North this Monday night in Minneapolis.

Vikings: The entire NFC has been fun to keep up with this year as I said up top. This year, there was a lot of uncertainty along with questions about the Minnesota Vikings because nobody knew which Kirk Cousins would show up. He had an interesting year in 2018. 2019, he’s been motivated. I’ve seen quite a bit of him in his career. This is by far the best I’ve ever seen him look. He’s completing 76 percent of his passes; he’s thrown 24 touchdown passes which is tied for the fifth-most in the NFL and number eight has thrown for 3,274 yards on the season. This has been a different football team in the second half of the season compared to the first. I see more aggression from the offensive standpoint. Being too conservative will always come to bite you in the you know what. Kirk has no issues with wanting to air the football out over the entire field. The offensive line has also done a great job at keeping the quarterback protected. How about this defense! On Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers, they put on a show forcing seven turnovers. It’s always great to get takeaways, but what can you do with them? Minnesota was able to turn those takeaways into 20 points. That’s always a plus. The Vikings are 10-4 looking to keep pace in the NFC. They have a big game on Monday night with a familiar division rival coming to town. This could ultimately be for the division.

Packers Player to Watch: Adrian Amos– He’s been such a gamechanger for the Packers defense this season. Adrian just knows where to be to make a play upon the football. He’s excellent when it comes to tackling in the open field. Anywhere the ball-carrier is, he is. He’s also been a force when it comes to the Packers getting those takeaways. He’ll need to bring his a-game in this one on Monday night.

Vikings Player to Watch: Kyle Rudolph– He’s the biggest weapon on this offense that nobody talks about. That’s understandable considering the names he plays with are bigger (Thielen, Cook and Diggs). There may be more tight ends that are talented, but this is a guy I want on my team. Kyle is an excellent blocker, he moves well off the line to get open and when Kirk needs to get him the ball, he comes away with it.

Final Analysis: This is a huge game not just in the NFC North, but in the NFC. Now, the Packers sit in the two seed in the NFC meaning they’d have one of the first-round byes in the playoffs if they started today. The Vikings are the sixth seed. All this could change within hours depending on the result of this game. I see the Packers taking a page out of the Chargers game-plan. Last week, the Chargers had Mike Williams running all over this Vikings secondary. Watch Aaron put Davante Adams in the best position for a one on one situation to get him the football. The Packers offensive line will need to be ready for this Vikings defensive front. For the Vikings, attack Green Bay with your tight end (which is why I said he’s the x-factor for the offense).

Prediction: Packers 26 Vikings 21