Over the years, Mike Zimmer-coached teams have had a pretty decent level of success against Rodgers and the Packers, and I think we’re going to see that continue again this evening.
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Mike McCarthy’s main job has been replenishing a roster that was depleted physically after the struggle in the sauna that was Jacksonville.
Neither player scored in week one, but both should figure in heavily to the offensive game plan this week, Peterson especially. Their elite ability has been supplemented by exceptional durability, further underscored by the devastating knee injury that knocked Minnesota quarterback Teddy Bridgewater out for the season and maybe longer. That’s a little more than 13 yards better than his career average per game. But timing, consistency and audibling capability will not be as great as they will be later. If the Vikings can keep the crowd in it, then their chances of disrupting Rodgers and the Packers offense will greatly increase, and with that, so will their chances of winning.
MORE MISSES: Blair Walsh, who infamously missed the 27-yard field goal that would’ve sent the Vikings to the next round of the playoffs last season, had an extra point in the opener sail wide right, and two field goals hook wide left. The Packers will have smoothed the communications issues that plagued them in Jacksonville, and Aaron Rodgers finds a way in the fourth quarter.
As capably as Shaun Hill performed last week in Tennessee, the truth is that there are probably quite a few things in Minnesota’s offense that Bradford can do that Hill simply can’t, the primary one being forcing the defense to not have eight and nine defenders “in the box” to focus on Adrian Peterson on every play.
Favre, the newly minted member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and Rodgers, the two-time NFL Most Valuable Player, have made the Packers the envy of the league, let alone of the Vikings, for almost 25 years.
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When Minnesota is on defense, the key is going to be keeping Aaron Rodgers from using his improv skills to extend plays and wait for the defense to break down. Quarterback play will be the difference Sunday night. The Vikings and Packers have one of the longest rivalries in the National Football League, and both teams figure to contend for the NFC North crown again this season.
