The Green Bay Packers get ready to host the Minnesota Vikings at home. Very few things have gone right for the Packers this season. The Vikings, however, are coming off an exciting prime-time win versus the 49ers. As hope is high in Minnesota, the same can’t be said for the Packers.
The Packers are currently on a three-game skid with little hope of turning things around. Getting a win against a NFC North rival could be the Golden ticket to turning this season around. Here are the three keys to beating the Minnesota Vikings.
Green Bay Packers Must Fix the Offensive Line
Something that has ailed the Packers all year is the regression of the offensive line. Packers are ranked 25th in the NFL in Run blocking, according to PFF. That number is generous. Zach Tom is the only offensive lineman having a good season so far. Tom is currently ranked 9th in the NFL. Everyone else is underachieving. If they can’t block with the unit they have on the field, then find someone who can. This offense was supposed to be built around the run game and has yet to be a substantial part of the game plan.
It’s hard to throw the ball effectively when the defense doesn’t respect your run game. Love has done his best work from play-action this season. He has thrown five touchdowns while completing 69.2 percent of his throws. He also has a 108 passer rating when throwing from play-action.
The Packers may need to mix in some early down play-action plays to get looks if they can’t get the run going early.
Be ready for the Blitz
In the Vikings sense, you only need to know one thing. Brian Flores loves to blitz. Flores blitzes a staggering 56.4 percent. That is 14 percent higher than the next closest team, New England. Luckily, Jordan Love has played the blitz well this season. When he is blitzed, he has thrown three touchdowns and zero interceptions on 56 attempts.
With the amount of blitzing Flores does Love will need to snap the ball later in the play clock. This will allow him to get a better idea of the proper alignment of the defense.
Flores also leads the league in zero blitzes. Green Bay needs to take advantage of this aggressive style of defense Minnesota likes to play. It’s up to Lafluer to dial up the right looks to take advantage and create some explosive plays.
Find a way to create Turnovers
Kirk Cousins is on pace to have one of the best seasons of his career. He has been best when Blitzed. Cousins has thrown nine touchdowns and zero interceptions when blitzed. His QB rating under pressure is 108.1 this season.
For all the great things Cousins has done this season, his Achilles heel is turnovers. He has fumbled seven times this season and thrown five interceptions. The Green Bay Packers should be able to create a turnover or two. One thing that helped when the Packers beat the Bears was the two turnovers they created in that game. Since that game, the Packers have only forced three turnovers.
The flip side of this coin is the offense-limiting turnovers. Packer’s turnovers this season have come directly off Jordan Love’s arm. If there is one thing to miss about Aaron Rodgers, it is the comfort of knowing he isn’t going to put the ball in harm’s way.
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