Packers at Vikings

[CharVike]

Looking for the sweep. I think we can run the ball against this team. Jones ran great the 1st game but our OL did the dirty work by opening big holes. They also gave Darnold plenty of time. That group looked much different than what I've seen the last couple months. The Packers are the media darling and the talk is another Dec run. The scores are impressive but they shutout some late round rookie Rattler and held some guy named Howell to a 35% comp rate and a pick after he came in. Goff had no problem and put 34 on the board. The Packers OL is one of the best in the game. We need to play a solid game with no TOs or ST mess ups and I think we will. I see 27-21 us.

[VikingLord]

There is a lot of hype around the Packers. Some of it is merited, but a lot of it is not. As CharVike pointed out, their pass defense played well against Sam Howell and Spencer Rattler the last two weeks. Of course they should play well against two pretty bad QBs and they did, but now they'll have to play against a team that has a capable starting QB and very good receivers across the board. That will be a bigger challenge for them, and we'll see how they manage.

For me, the biggest challenge the Vikings face in this upcoming game is the Packer run game. Josh Jacobs has been chewing up yardage and is a very good running back. The Packer offensive line has been solid as a run blocking unit as well. The Packers clock in as the 4th best rushing offense in the NFL and their ability to run successfully on early downs is a big reason why their offense is successful overall. This aspect of their attack also helps mask some of Jordan Love's weaknesses IMHO, so if the Vikings can keep the Packer rushing attack in check, that will go a long way towards helping them get into position to play for the #1 seed the last week of the season.

The other key for the Vikings in this game is offensive consistency. The offense is capable of moving the ball and scoring, but we're still seeing too many 3-and-outs and long stretches of games where they simply struggle to get anything going, often because of self-inflicted issues. They are capable of playing well at other times and the talent overall is there for them to be dominant, but they still haven't put a full game together and will need to show they can do that for many people (myself included) to believe they can be a true Superbowl contender. What better time and opponent to do that against than the Packers late in the season?

This is a big game. A loss here and the best the Vikings can do is the 5th seed with every playoff game they play on the road. A win and they set themselves up for the chance to not only win the division, but get a coveted first round bye and every playoff game they play at home. The motivation for the Packers is less - at best they can get the 5th seed and at worst the 6th, but I'm sure they also feel they have something to prove and want to even the score with their divisional rival. They won't roll over, but one does wonder if they've gotten a little full of themselves after beating two hobbled opponents the last two weeks.

I get the sense few still really respect the Vikings and what they've accomplished this year so far. By contrast, Packers are getting a lot of national love and respect. I'm OK with that. I'd rather the Vikings not get that respect right up until they win their first Superbowl. Better for the pressure and expectation to be on their opponents.

[psjordan]

I see this as a tight game - a lot of plusses and minuses even out on both teams. We're both prone to make mistakes as well, even the innocuous ones like dropping a sure INT. I think we have the edge on ST, so if it comes down to that I like our chances.

Both teams are dealing with injuries, we miss Darrisaw probably more than any other injured player on either team. So the OL is going to have to step up - and our offensive game plan better account for getting the ball out quickly.

I have not looked but I sure hope Redmond is available for this game, love the way that guy plays. And it looks like we may get Pace back.

No score predictions other than I think winning margin is three or less. But if it's a blowout, I only see us doing it, not them.

[KirkoChainzzzz]

Hi everyone first time posting in one of these before. The Packers are indeed being favored everywhere. National media and even the betting sports books its looking like. Minnesota Vikings opened as 2 point favorites when they came out and now its dwindled to 1 and I have even seen the Packers favored by 1.5. But I don't have that much faith in the Packers as everyone else is seeming to. They have beaten bad teams and that's great for them but they haven't really beat anyone of note in that stretch. They beat the Saints practice squad, a mix of Geno and Sam Howell who are turnover machines, put up points on a battered lions defense but still lost, dolphins on Thanksgiving=Tua can't play in the cold, a Purdy less Niners, and to top it off blocked a field goal when they were about to lose to DA BEARS. Not very impressed.

Something about the Vikings and the way they play just gives me confidence in them. They play very professional and don't seem to ever get to high or to low unless its a victory lap for them. I think that is an aspect of a great team. I have faith in the purple to pull out this win and kind of show that the packers aren't as much of a threat that people are making them to be. I used to get a feeling of when the game was over when Kirk was the quarterback. I also got the feeling of a week where we would lose before the game even started. I don't get that feeling with this team because they are trustworthy. I have a feeling it will be a close game until the very last kick when will the thrill seals it with a game winning field goal to keep the Vikings one seed hopes alive. Plus that's what the NFL wants so why not give them what they want. Vikings 31- Packers 28. Vikes lions for the 1 seed in the NFC is going to be a great finale for the regular season.

[CharVike]

Some injury good news. Full practice
Full: LB Blake Cashman (hip), FB C.J. Ham (ankle), OLB Patrick Jones (knee), TE Josh Oliver (wrist), LB Ivan Pace (hamstring; designated for return from injured reserve), DL Jalen Redmond (concussion), S Harrison Smith (foot).

[VikingLord]

Hi everyone first time posting in one of these before. The Packers are indeed being favored everywhere. National media and even the betting sports books its looking like. Minnesota Vikings opened as 2 point favorites when they came out and now its dwindled to 1 and I have even seen the Packers favored by 1.5. But I don't have that much faith in the Packers as everyone else is seeming to. They have beaten bad teams and that's great for them but they haven't really beat anyone of note in that stretch. They beat the Saints practice squad, a mix of Geno and Sam Howell who are turnover machines, put up points on a battered lions defense but still lost, dolphins on Thanksgiving=Tua can't play in the cold, a Purdy less Niners, and to top it off blocked a field goal when they were about to lose to DA BEARS. Not very impressed.

Something about the Vikings and the way they play just gives me confidence in them. They play very professional and don't seem to ever get to high or to low unless its a victory lap for them. I think that is an aspect of a great team. I have faith in the purple to pull out this win and kind of show that the packers aren't as much of a threat that people are making them to be. I used to get a feeling of when the game was over when Kirk was the quarterback. I also got the feeling of a week where we would lose before the game even started. I don't get that feeling with this team because they are trustworthy. I have a feeling it will be a close game until the very last kick when will the thrill seals it with a game winning field goal to keep the Vikings one seed hopes alive. Plus that's what the NFL wants so why not give them what they want. Vikings 31- Packers 28. Vikes lions for the 1 seed in the NFC is going to be a great finale for the regular season.

Welcome to the board Chainzzzz!

[VikingLord]

Some injury good news. Full practice
Full: LB Blake Cashman (hip), FB C.J. Ham (ankle), OLB Patrick Jones (knee), TE Josh Oliver (wrist), LB Ivan Pace (hamstring; designated for return from injured reserve), DL Jalen Redmond (concussion), S Harrison Smith (foot).

Getting Pace back is huge for the run defense. He along with Redmond will make the going much harder for the Packers.

I continue to believe the key for the Vikings defense is limiting the Packers run game on 1st and 2nd down. Do that and the Packers will find it very hard to sustain drives.

[CharVike]

Hi everyone first time posting in one of these before. The Packers are indeed being favored everywhere. National media and even the betting sports books its looking like. Minnesota Vikings opened as 2 point favorites when they came out and now its dwindled to 1 and I have even seen the Packers favored by 1.5. But I don't have that much faith in the Packers as everyone else is seeming to. They have beaten bad teams and that's great for them but they haven't really beat anyone of note in that stretch. They beat the Saints practice squad, a mix of Geno and Sam Howell who are turnover machines, put up points on a battered lions defense but still lost, dolphins on Thanksgiving=Tua can't play in the cold, a Purdy less Niners, and to top it off blocked a field goal when they were about to lose to DA BEARS. Not very impressed.

Something about the Vikings and the way they play just gives me confidence in them. They play very professional and don't seem to ever get to high or to low unless its a victory lap for them. I think that is an aspect of a great team. I have faith in the purple to pull out this win and kind of show that the packers aren't as much of a threat that people are making them to be. I used to get a feeling of when the game was over when Kirk was the quarterback. I also got the feeling of a week where we would lose before the game even started. I don't get that feeling with this team because they are trustworthy. I have a feeling it will be a close game until the very last kick when will the thrill seals it with a game winning field goal to keep the Vikings one seed hopes alive. Plus that's what the NFL wants so why not give them what they want. Vikings 31- Packers 28. Vikes lions for the 1 seed in the NFC is going to be a great finale for the regular season.

Welcome. Being a long time fan we all get the feeling of games we should lose. I thought the game out in Seattle would be a loss but I changed right before I posted my prediction. Our current team is playing well together. We might not have the most talented roster in the NFL but I do think we are well coached on both sides of the ball.

[Tark]

I love you guys and the Vikings but I see us getting blown out the next two games based on past performances. Hope I’m wrong and would gladly eat crow.

[StpViking]

I think the Packers are due for a back down to earth game since they've been living so sky high lately.

Vikings 33
Packers 17

And no that's not purple Kool aid speaking, I do believe the Pack are due. This is just not their year.

[CharVike]

We get the sweep. Almost let that one get away. 27-10 I said to myself good to see them get their #### kicked but when Will missed the game sealing FG I thought not this BS now. Having zero ground game is hard to over come. Hit yards deep in the backfield is painful. That's getting destroyed at the point. Bradbury is garbage and he better be cut once this season ends. To late to fix that now and I hope Jones is ok. I don't know why we attempted that monster FG. Try for the pin. We were celebrating and the Pack were hanging their heads and then boom a complete change. Nice game for Speedy. Smoked them on the TD and made other nice catches. The one to Addison was close and I think he should have made the TD catch. The mighty Lions are next to close it out. The title is still there for the taking.

[Tommy TarkenKapp]

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[J. Kapp 11]

Dang, y’all. I am absolutely loving this season.

Nine in a row. NINE. I don’t care how they get it done. They’re doing it, game after game. Yeah, a 17-point game got tight. But did you honestly expect the Packers to just lie down? This was a GREAT WIN, and if you can’t be happy about it, then I have to wonder if you’ll ever be happy.

And … Sam Darnold has proven himself beyond a shadow of a doubt in my eyes. He played his best when his best was required, today especially. Tell me how many of you had Sam for 4,100+ yards and 38 TDs on your Bingo card. I certainly didn’t. No matter whether the Vikings keep him long term, the man has earned my undying respect.

It’s all right in front of us. Beat the Lions, and it’s the No. 1 seed. A much-needed bye week. Home field throughout for the first time since 1998. It certainly won’t be easy. The Lions have been the class of the NFC all year. But I wouldn’t even rag never count this resilient group out.

Psyched for next week. SKOL!

[Crax]

Great win. I hate to call it a must win, but feel like this game against Detroit is. Vikings with Farve had the chance at home field and gave it away. We all know how screwed they got on the road in NO. Really feel like home field is a must for the NFC playoffs

[VikingLord]

Very tough win today. The team put itself into a great position to get HFA throughout the playoffs and this year I think that is going to be a big advantage, especially for the Vikings. A couple of comments on the game:

First, what was going on with the officials today? They call a 15 yard penalty on Harrison Smith for a low block (how a defender goes in for a low block is a little beyond me) that wasn't a low block, and then just a few plays later completely miss an actual low block by a Packer offensive player that hurt Pat Jones. Then later, they call a complete phantom PI on Murphy when he had excellent coverage to keep a Packer drive alive. And then later still they call a defensive encroachment penalty on Ward(?) when replays show he moved a little pre-snap but never moved forward? Just seemed very suspicious in terms of the calls made and not made (one replay on a throw to JJ showed the Packer DB clearly pulling JJ's jersey as he broke out in his route, and on the amazing one-handed catch by JJ they called holding on Robinson, but the TV replays never showed that either, which makes me wonder). It's sad this is the first thing I have to bring up in my post-game observations, but that was just another crapshow by the refs today. I'm not sure what it is about refs and the Vikings, and maybe it's just what I see, but it sure seems at times like they don't call it fair.

Second, what was up with KOC and the use of his timeouts to end the first half? You've got 3 timeouts and plenty of time to get into position to take a shot at the endzone there. Why not use them? They let a lot of time run off the clock that didn't have to run off the clock in that situation. Maybe he addressed it in the post-game presser, but I was honestly shocked by that clock management.

Now, let's get to the happy topics....

I thought Sam started off a little jacked up, but he settled down and once he did he was very effective. With Darnold you are going to get some bad with the good, but for the most part I thought he looked very confident and decisive most of the day. That last ball to seal the win to Akers reminded me a lot of the pass that Darren Nelson dropped late against the Redskins back in the 1987 NFC Championship game, but Akers pulled it in. Very nice to see the Vikings run some effective misdirection against the over-eager Packers in that situation. Loved it. Also, it is so nice to see Darnold pushing the ball downfield. That is a big part of what he can do and the Vikings will need him to keep doing it from here on out. The INT was a bad decision maybe but not a bad throw. The Packer DB made a really nice play on that ball and TJ would have caught it otherwise.

Defensively I felt like the Vikings were very effective at shutting down Love and the Packers for the most part. Jacobs ground it out pretty effectively on early downs but the Vikings were able to limit big gainers on the ground and forced Love to beat them and he was unable to do much until late in the game. Granted, much like in the first game the Packers roared back and nearly snuck it out, but for the most part the Vikings defense did what they had to do.

Vikes had a couple of missed field goals and a botched catch on a punt. Neither of those cost them the game but either factor could have and likely might in the postseason.

I thought the Vikings showed everyone who they are and what they're capable of today against a very hyped up Packer team. I thought they outplayed the Packers pretty convincingly and showed they are a real threat against the best the NFC has to offer. Not that it matters what anyone outside the organization thinks about this team, but for those of us who have watched this team and past Vikings teams, the 2024 Minnesota Vikings are right up there with the best teams this organization has fielded over the years. I am confident that they will go into Detroit next Sunday and give the Lions everything they can handle and then some. Even if they don't win that game, this is a team that has a real chance to do something special this year.