Packers vs. Vikings: Two X-Factors
GREEN BAY, Wis. – You know the big names for the Green Bay Packers, with Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams on offense and De’Vondre Campbell and Rasul Douglas on defense. Looking beyond the obvious, here are two X-factors – one on each side of the ball – who will have key roles on Sunday night against the Minnesota Vikings.
Offense: WR Allen Lazard
At 240-some pounds, second-year running back AJ Dillon should be tailor made for what could be one of the coldest regular-season games in Packers history. According to Accuweather, the Sunday evening forecast is 3 degrees.
For the same reason why it makes sense to thunder away with Dillon, it stands to reason that Lazard will have a key role, too. He’s Matt LaFleur’s playmaking goon, as adept at blocking cornerbacks and safeties to trigger the run game as he is at catching the football. This game will be all about physicality and mentality. Lazard has to impose his will in both phases of the game.
“It’s funny looking back at those times when we were back in Jacksonville together, but now being here together and just watching him grow, watching him grow as not only the goon, but as a receiver,” offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett said. “How about him catching 443? Just his work ethic, I think he's so focused, I think he's such an intelligent player. He knows what he has to do to get himself right, and he's slowly starting to get even a little bit of a leadership role, a guy that's speaking out and feeling comfortable in his own skin. The questions he asks in the installs are so awesome and guys learn from that. Every day we all get better in this profession, and he's definitely an example of that.”
Lazard has scored touchdowns in two of his last three games. In two career games against Minnesota, he caught nine passes for 108 yards and one touchdown. Maybe not coincidentally, he was inactive for last year’s home loss to Minnesota as well as this year’s loss at Minnesota.
Defense: LB Krys Barnes
It takes a village to raise a child and it takes a unit to stop a running back as good as Minnesota’s Dalvin Cook.
Cook has beaten up on the Packers at every turn. In six career games, he’s rushed for 520 yards (5.0 average) and seven touchdowns and added 15 receptions for 226 yards (15.1 average) and two more touchdowns. That equates to per-game averages of 124.3 yards and 1.5 touchdowns. In his last game in Green Bay, he rushed 20 times for 163 yards and three touchdowns and caught two passes for 63 yards and one touchdown. That’s 229 yards and four scores. Minnesota won 28-22 with Kirk Cousins needing to throw only 14 passes.
Of course, that’s 14 more passes than Cousins will throw on Sunday night. He’s out with COVID and will be replaced by Sean Mannion, a third-round pick in 2015 who’s started only two games in his career.
With the change in quarterback, the absence of receiver Adam Thielen (ankle), the weather and the Packers’ inability to handle another top back, Cleveland’s Nick Chubb, last week, it stands to reason that the Vikings’ offensive game plan will revolve around Cook. He is fourth in the NFL with 1,067 rushing yards and fifth with 45 missed tackles forced, according to Pro Football Focus.
Other than the 2019 NFC Championship Game at San Francisco, the game against Cleveland represented Green Bay’s worst game of run defense in Matt LaFleur’s three seasons. Defensive coordinator Joe Barry pointed to 10 runs that accounted for 140 yards. Everybody on Green Bay’s defensive front seven needs to play better, including inside linebackers Campbell and Barnes. Their play has really tapered off. Barnes, a part-time player most weeks, probably will be an every-down player on Sunday night. He needs to rise to the occasion.
“This group has taken pride in defending the run and stopping the run. As a whole, we’ve really played the run well this year,” Barry said. “But I want to make sure that everyone understands that we understand the urgency in every aspect of football. Right now, we’ve got to play the run better, there’s no doubt about it.”
