Packers-Vikings: Five Big Differences For Round 2 on Sunday Night
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers' first meeting against the Minnesota Vikings was their “lowest point of the season,” offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said this week.
They lost 24-10, and their offense could not put anything together.
Jordan Love was their leading rusher with 34 yards. They finished with 196 net passing yards on 45 dropbacks, and Love was sacked four times.
Kirk Cousins helped Minnesota's offense roll to 24 points before exiting with a season-ending Achilles injury.
A lot has changed for both teams over the past couple months. Here’s what to look for when the Packers try to save their season at U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday night.
Returning Stars
The biggest return to the lineup since the first matchup will belong to the Vikings. During the first matchup, their all-world receiver, Justin Jefferson, missed the game with a hamstring injury that sidelined him for more than a month.
Two of his three career games of 150-plus yards and two touchdowns have come in home games against Green Bay.
Jefferson will not be flanked by Jaire Alexander, who will miss the game due to a suspension for his actions before last week's game against Carolina.
Green Bay had Aaron Jones for the first matchup, but he was still getting all the way back from a hamstring injury that ruined his first half of the season.
Jones carried the ball just seven times that day. This time around, Jones is coming off his best game of the season with 127 yards on 21 attempts in the win at the Carolina Panthers.
Jones is ready for a full workload, and with the Packers potentially perilously thin at wide receiver, they'll need him.
Jordan Love
While there are players returning to the lineup who didn't play the first time around, perhaps the biggest change is with someone who did play in the first matchup.
Jordan Love was struggling going into the first meeting between these two teams, with three touchdowns, six interceptions and 608 yards during a three-game losing streak. Those struggles would continue as Love threw an interception and was able to muster only 229 passing yards on 24-of-41 passing.
His QBR was 19.9. It was a bad day for the offense.
Since then, however, Love has found his groove.
Love helped lead the team to a 20-3 win over the Los Angeles Rams a week later, before losing 23-19 in Pittsburgh. Love's first 300-yard passing game followed against the Los Angeles Chargers, helping the Packers win 23-20.
Love has thrown for 1,578 yards the past six games. He's thrown 14 touchdowns to just one interception.
“Yeah, it’s been awesome” Love said this week. “I think that’s one thing we knew coming into the season, that it was going to be a process and it’s all about developing, getting better every week and just trusting it.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. There was going to be highs and lows to it, but everybody stuck together and just continued to find ways to get better every week.”
That's a different quarterback, and overall offense, from the one that faced this tough Vikings defense the first time around.
How different? The answer to that might determine whether Green Bay has playoff hopes after Sunday's game.
Defensive Decline
Green Bay's defense was flirting with the top 10 in points allowed per ame earlier in the season.
Joe Barry even boasted about it. When asked about what stat was the most important to him, he stated the one on the scoreboard.
Those numbers have declined dramatically.
The defense had arguably its best stretch of the season during a winning streak that saw it hold Justin Herbert, Jared Goff and Patrick Mahomes to 22 points or fewer.
Since then, the Packers allowed Tommy DeVito and Baker Mayfield to win NFC Offensive Player of the Week. Last week, they allowed Bryce Young to have his best game as a pro.
DeVito has been benched. Mayfield is a relative journeyman who holds the distinction of being the only visiting passer to post a perfect passer rating at Lambeau Field. Young entered the game ranked last in passer rating.
In short, the defense has been embarrassed the last three weeks.
The defense was not good the first time these two teams met, but it feels like it’s hit rock bottom.
Per Aaron Schatz of the FTN Network, the Packers would have the worst defense in football by DVOA if not for its performance against Rams backup Brett Rypien.
Perhaps Vikings rookie Jaren Hall could be the medicine that cures the ills in Green Bay, but what have they done to inspire any confidence in that?
The Wall of Green Bay
One of the biggest issues coming out of Green Bay's 24-10 loss to Minnesota was the play of its offensive line, which allowed four sacks and had Jordan Love under duress for most of the game.
Rasheed Walker was struggling as he tried to replace left tackle David Bakhtiari; Yosh Njiman began rotating with Walker shortly thereafter.
Since that day, however, the line has found its footing, specifically Walker.
“I think Sheed’s done an awesome job," offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said. "Obviously, every play there’s always things we want to clean up. We know it’s not going to be perfect.
“But I think that’s the thing; He’s been able to clean up a lot of the mistakes we were making early on, some of those penalties, things like that. Obviously, when he’s out there in pass pro he’s been doing a really good job just handling that left side. I think he’s playing at a high level,”
It's tough to do anything on offense when a team cannot block.
Earlier in the year, the Packers struggled mightily against teams that could get after opposing quarterbacks, but the first meeting between these teams became a bit of a turning point.
"Man, watching that last game, against the Vikings, the first game this year, that was a pretty ugly game for us." Stenavich said.
"It was probably our lowest point, to be honest with you, and in the long run it was kind of a good game for us as a gut check. Like, these young guys seeing we have to step up, we have to make plays for Jordan, we have to do better, and Jordan, too."
The offense has played better, and that starts up front.
Minnesota Quarterback Conundrum
Kirk Cousins, who has tormented the Packers since signing in Minnesota, will not be suiting up on Sunday night due to the torn Achilles sustained at Lambeua Field.
Since then, the Vikings have played three different quarterbacks, and this week landed on rookie Jaren Hall after coach Kevin O'Connell spun the wheel.
Green Bay has struggled against quarterbacks of all different abilities this year, so facing Hall is not exactly a reprieve. His athletic ability is something that could cause problems for Green Bay's defense.
Hall did play sparingly in the first matchup, and the Packers did get him for a strip/sack deep in Minnesota territory.
This time around will be different as he's not being thrown in the fire, but preparing the entire week as the starter.
