Know Your Enemy: Week 10 – Green Bay Packers

The Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers will face off for the second time this season. Minnesota engineered a fourth-quarter comeback to start the season with a win back in September. Now they head to Wisconsin after back-to-back defeats have rocked their season and bringing back Kirk Cousins to try and right the ship.

Know Your Enemy: Week 10 – Green Bay Packers

Head Coach: Matt LaFleur

Best Players: Jordan Love (QB), Matthew Golden (WR), Micah Parsons (OLB), Lukas Van Ness (OLB), Evan Williams (S), Xavier McKinney (S)

Current Record: 6-3

There have been a total of 132 meetings between the two teams with Green Bay leading the series 67-62-3. However, Minnesota has had the better of the most recent meetings. The win at US Bank Stadium back in Week 1 made it four wins out of the last five for the Vikings. In the battles under the current head coaches, Kevin O’Connell has the edge at 5-3 over Matt LaFleur.

The Season So Far

Green Bay is coming off a statement win over the New England Patriots last week. That result moved them to 6-3 for the season. In no other division in the league would that record put them at the bottom of the division but such is life in the NFC North. With some early losses in the season, Green Bay currently needs to keep winning just to keep pace with the rest.

The Packers are 1-2 within the division with a big win over Chicago and a loss to Detroit to go with their opening day loss to Minnesota. A heavy defeat at home to Atlanta is the one that has caused them to fall back in the division, while they also have wins over the Jets, Buccaneers, Cowboys, and Panthers. Outside of the win over the Bears, the win over the Patriots was the first one that came against a “strong” team and could be a defining moment in their season.

Players to Watch

The Packers seem to have the Week 12 game against the Los Angeles Rams circled as a return date for Micah Parsons. As a result, the Vikings will get to play both games against Green Bay without having to come up against their best player.

Josh Jacobs also missed the first game but has since returned from suspension and should have given the Packers more of a threat on the ground. After exiting last week’s game against New England early with a hand injury, it has now been revealed he fractured a finger and will be out indefinitely. The running game wasn’t much of a factor for Green Bay in Week 1 and has been a struggle for them all season. It will now be up to Kaleb Johnson to take on a lead role.

Jordan Love was a factor and his 387 passing yards are the most the Vikings have allowed this season by a huge margin. Baker Mayfield with 217 yards is the only other QB this season that has thrown for over 200 yards against Brian Flores’ defense. Matthew Golden is developing into the top-level WR the Packers hoped for when they drafted him in the first round last year. With Christian Watson and Tucker Kraft in the mix as well, this passing offense is about as good as it gets and once again will be a severe test for Flores and his unit.

Even without Parsons, this is a tough defense with third-year safety Evan Williams having a breakout season that has him on course for All-Pro honours. Along with Xavier McKinney, he forms a dynamic safety duo with a knack for taking the ball away. If the Vikings look to push the ball down the field through the air they will have to be wary of Williams and McKinney. Up front, they have Lukas Van Ness on the edge who will lead the pass rush in Parsons’ absence.

Proud UK Viking. Family Man. Enjoy writing about my team. Away from football an advocate for autism acceptance.