Packers @ Vikings Breakdown

[BwareDWare94]

The Edge Goes to:

QB-- 

  not even close

RB-- 

  not even close

WR-- 

 The emergence of Stefon Diggs and the Vikings depth at the position wins out
 
TE-- 

 With Kyle Rudolph sucking, and MyCole Pruitt only starting to get targets, I give the edge to Quarless/Rodgers
 
OL-- 

 Their line is more proven, though I'm not sure it's playing better than Minnesota's right now, but with the outside chance that Matt Kalil doesn't play, I'm giving Green Bay the edge.
 
Defense
 
DL-- 

 Griffin, Floyd, and Joseph are great to elite at their positions, and there's depth to be had behind the front 4
 
LB-- 

 Barr is the only proven product that Minnesota has, even with Kendricks playing great (he has to sustain it) and Chad Greenway, who is not what he once was. I'm giving Green Bay the edge here because Clay Matthews.
 
Secondary-- Draw. These teams both have some great pieces in their secondaries but also some question marks (I'm looking at you, Morgan Burnett and Andrew Sendejo). 
 
ST
 
 
Kicker/Punter-- 

 I just realized I don't remember who Green Bay's punter is, but Jeff Locke sucks, so I'm going to give them the edge despite Blair Walsh's current hot streak. 

Returners-- 

 This one isn't close. Patterson and Sherels are some of the best in the league at returning kicks
 
Coaching
 
Head Coach-- 

 Look, Mike McCarthy is a proven product who has guided his team to playoff bid after playoff bid. Zimmer is great and I wouldn't want any other coach right now, but he still has some hiccups as a young coach and he has to sustain this success.

Offensive Coordinator-- 

 Norv Turner is really coming around of late after figuring out what he had early in the season and while Green Bay's OC might be handcuffed by some missing pieces, Turner is one of the better playcallers in league history.
 
Defensive Coordinator-- 

 Simply because he makes in-game adjustments, Mike Zimmer is already one of the best defensive minds in the league. You factor in the way his teams disguise blitzes or cause offenses to check out of a play by showing blitz, not to mention the way he develops defensive backs, and you have to give the edge to Zimmer.
 
 
Why We'll be Watching:
This is for the NFC North lead and a head to head tiebreaker between two teams who need momentum on their side. Minnesota needs this win because the development of a young team can easily be sidetracked by one gut-punch loss. Green Bay needs this win to stop their current three game slide. 

How Each Team Can Win:
This is a tough call. While division games are always hard fought, I can't really fathom how Green Bay could right the ship over a week's time, and I can't really fathom how Minnesota could possibly lay an egg in this game. Knock on wood. Minnesota teams have a history of saying "Watch us do it!" when fans say, "There's no way they could fuck this up." This game really is unpredictable. All things considered, I can't see Green Bay getting their passing game going without some sudden changes to how they run routes--their receivers are really slow and will absolutely have trouble with Minnesota's corners. Where Green Bay needs to establish their offense is in the running game, and that starts with simply feeding Eddie Lacy the ball. He has never excelled with 15 carries or less--he is a back that you bludgeon the opposing team with. He needs the bulk of the carries. If Green bay can get their running game going against Minnesota, they'll play well and have a chance to win. Minnesota, on the other hand, needs to continue to develop their passing game. Teddy Bridgewater needs to develop chemistry with Mike Wallace. Teddy Bridgewater needs to develop chemistry with MyCole Pruitt. All the while, Adrian Peterson NEEDS the ball so he can run roughshod and shorten the game. While this win would be great, I don't want to see it come at the expense of progress for Bridgewater.
 
Prediction:
These two offenses won't light it up against these two defenses, so I'm seeing a low scoring game that ends something like 23-17, 

 

[Fuhgeddaboudit]

23-17 is low scoring?

 

[bosoxlover12]

23-17 is low scoring?

yes?

 

[elcheato]

The Vikings receivers are not better than the Packers

 

[Pugz]

i dont like either team but seeing the vikings win would be cool.

 

[BwareDWare94]

The Vikings receivers are not better than the Packers

Diggs, Wallace, Wright, Johnson, and Thielen are definitely better than Cobb, Adams, Jones, and other trash.

 

[BwareDWare94]

23-17 is low scoring?

 
Well, for a team like Green Bay, it is. 

 

[Hurricane Season]

What the hell happened to Cordarrelle Patterson?

 

[BwareDWare94]

What the hell happened to Cordarrelle Patterson?

 
He's the WR version of AP--dumb as a fucking rock and they don't want to have to tell two guys what to do in the huddle after the play call.

 

[Hurricane Season]

Seems like a WR version of AP would be pretty fucking good, though.

 

[BwareDWare94]

Seems like a WR version of AP would be pretty fucking good, though.

 
If they were using him correctly, he probably would be, but they'd need to tell him what to do in every single huddle. He can't pick up the offense.
 
Ideally, they should give him 2 different running plays a game. Jet sweep and reverse. They should also have him on the field from the wrong side of the 50 running go routes as a decoy and in the redzone for his size. He can make jump ball catches but they don't throw him any jump balls, unfortunately.
 
He is not being utilized right--that is for sure, but his lack of retention of the playbook gets him in the doghouse before he can even get 10 offensive snaps. They have been giving him some run plays lately, so hopefully that continues. 

 

[Hurricane Season]

Does he still contribute on special teams?

 

[BwareDWare94]

He's the KR and re-swung the momentum in Minny's favor last week with a KR touchdown after Oakland had taken a 14-13 lead. General Vikings rubes think he's been struggling at KR but the truth is he still returns a lot of kicks for 30+ yards because he's got the green light to come out of the endzone. 
 
Here's a quick summation of why Minnesota's WRs are currently better than Green Bay's:
 
Comparison vs. Broncos:

Diggs 6 receptions for 87 yards
Wallace 6 receptions for 83 yards
Thielen 6 receptions for 70 yards

Cobb 6 receptions for 27 yards
Adams 1 reception for 8 yards
Jones 1 reception for 2 yards

Admittedly, this is a one game comparison but it is both teams' WRs versus two elite corners and a good slot corner in Roby. The Packers receivers disappeared because they're slow and Denver tackles well so YAC was limited. The Vikings WRs rose to the occasion with their speed and tendency to gain YAC.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the Packers' receivers when it comes to making the catch, but they are not excelling in YAC so their offense has been mostly held in check these past three weeks. Minnesota's WRs, on the other hand, utilize their speed to get open with separation and have opportunities to gain YAC.

For this week's matchup, Minnesota's DBs have a much, much more favorable matchup than Green Bay's DBs do. Minnesota is the best tackling team in the league--even Captain Munnerlyn has learned how to tackle under Mike Zimmer's tutelage. The sheer speed of Minnesota's linebackers should cause havoc in the passing game, too, because Barr and Kendricks can handle tight ends fairly easily (not that I don't expect Rodgers to find ways to pick on the rookie a little bit). Aaron Rodgers has sure-handed targets to get the ball to, but a good secondary and linebacker grouping can absolutely minimize the WRs' impact on the game. That's why I said Green Bay should force-feed Lacy. If they make Minnesota worry about the run, the YAC opportunities will open up.

 

[elcheato]

Can't argue with a one game sample size, my bad

Stefon Diggs has been good over a very small amount of games, which would be the rationale for giving the Vikings the edge over the Packers, but I'm not willing to throw that much weight on that small a sample.

 

[bosoxlover12]

What the hell happened to Cordarrelle Patterson?

They asked him to run routes, which he can't do.
 
 
When at U of Tennessee, he had Tyler Bray. In his rookie year, he had Christian Ponder. Both quarterbacks with pretty strong arms that can put the ball downfield. Patterson's fast as hell, and ran a lot of go-routes to get yardage. And when the corners played 7-10 yards off to prevent the deep, he got quick passes and became the KR, which is his best skill.
 
But he can't run routes for his life. Not aggressive enough to attack the ball for 1/2 routes, and doesn't have the footwork/intelligence for the 3-7 routes. He runs a good screen (0), and deep routes (8,9), but everything else is weak as hell. And when Teddy Bridgewater is your QB, he can't throw it deep that well, so Patterson becomes one dimensional. So there are so many better options than him on the field. Like Mike Wallace is not a good route runner either, but he's better than CP

 

[BwareDWare94]

Can't argue with a one game sample size, my bad

Stefon Diggs has been good over a very small amount of games, which would be the rationale for giving the Vikings the edge over the Packers, but I'm not willing to throw that much weight on that small a sample.

 
I acknowledged that it was one game but I used it because it was both teams' WRs versus Harris, Talib, and Roby. I'm not saying it's absolutely definitive.

 

[BwareDWare94]

They asked him to run routes, which he can't do.
 
 
When at U of Tennessee, he had Tyler Bray. In his rookie year, he had Christian Ponder. Both quarterbacks with pretty strong arms that can put the ball downfield. Patterson's fast as hell, and ran a lot of go-routes to get yardage. And when the corners played 7-10 yards off to prevent the deep, he got quick passes and became the KR, which is his best skill.
 
But he can't run routes for his life. Not aggressive enough to attack the ball for 1/2 routes, and doesn't have the footwork/intelligence for the 3-7 routes. He runs a good screen (0), and deep routes (8,9), but everything else is weak as hell. And when Teddy Bridgewater is your QB, he can't throw it deep that well, so Patterson becomes one dimensional. So there are so many better options than him on the field. Like Mike Wallace is not a good route runner either, but he's better than CP

 
The only mistake in your assessment is Christian Ponder has an even weaker arm than Bridgewater. When he had time to set up and throw deep, he was more accurate than Teddy, but his intermediate passes had no zip at all. Nevertheless, Ponder is smart and mobile. I'm very surprised that he isn't somebody's backup. 

In my opinion, Teddy Bridgewater will get better once he ditches the glove and learns how to throw without it. His tendency to have passes sail on him is related to the glove, imo.