Pick-Six Preview: Packers at Vikings

Here is our first look at Monday night’s showdown between the Green Bay Packers (11-3) and Minnesota Vikings (10-4).

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Here is our first look at Monday night’s showdown between the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium, where the Vikings are 6-0 this season and 3-0 all-time against the Packers.

Green Bay Packers (11-3) and Minnesota Vikings (10-4)

The vitals: 7:15 p.m. Monday at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

TV: ESPN (Joe Tessitore, Booger McFarland, Lisa Salters).

Series: Packers lead series 60-53-3.

The last time: In Week 2 at Lambeau Field, the Packers won 21-16. Green Bay led 21-0 less than 16 minutes into the game but had to hold on for dear life. Kevin King’s end-zone interception with 5 minutes remaining preserved the lead, and the Packers squeezed out just about every drop of the final 3:14.

The quarterback

Through four games, Minnesota was 2-2. Including the Week 2 loss at Green Bay in which he threw two interceptions, Kirk Cousins was 23rd in the NFL with a passer rating of 88.6. Since then, he’s been just about the best quarterback in the league. Over the last 10 games, Cousins is second with a 118.1 passer rating, third with 8.74 yards per attempt and second with 72.3 percent accuracy. After that sluggish start, he’s thrown 22 touchdowns (second-most in the league) vs. three interceptions (third-fewest in the league). For comparison, Aaron Rodgers has a 102.6 rating with 7.30 yards per attempt and 63.7 percent accuracy with 18 touchdowns and one interception during that span.

Most importantly, the Vikings have won. Through the first quarter of this season, Cousins was 10-9 with Minnesota and 36-39-2 for his career. Over the last 10 games, Minnesota is 8-2.

“We’re definitely doing things that Kirk is really comfortable with, and it’s important as we put this thing together to have a scheme that plays to his strengths,” offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski said. “I think certainly you see with the way he has performed this is something that he does really well, our play-action game, the screen game, on third down, in the red zone, he has really taken the bit. To his credit it is a new system for him, and he has really grinded on it to get to know the ins and outs of every play.”

His top weapon

The name to watch on the injury report this week will be that of running back Dalvin Cook. He was knocked out of last week’s win at the Chargers with a shoulder injury and is questionable entering the week. On Monday, coach Mike Zimmer spoke hopefully that the extra day to get ready for this game will work in Cook’s favor.

Cook is seventh in the league with 1,135 rushing yards. That includes 154 yards against Green Bay in Week 2, though 75 of those came on a touchdown that helped jump-start Minnesota’s rally. “I hate that we gave up the big one to him in the first game,” defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery said on Monday. “You take 75 yards off the board there and it’s a pretty good day defensively. He can break one at any given time.”

Throw in his 53 receptions, which rank second on the team, Cook is third in the league with 1,654 yards from scrimmage. According to Pro Football Focus, he ranks seventh among running backs with 42 missed tackles on running plays and second with 19 missed tackles on passing plays.

Getting defensive

It would be easy to point to Pro Bowl defensive end Danielle Hunter, who ranks third in the league with 13.5 sacks and recently became the youngest player in NFL history to reach 50 career sacks. It also would be easy to point to Pro Bowl safety Harrison Smith, the do-it-all defender who’s as capable of intercepting a pass as sacking the quarterback. But how about the season of linebacker Eric Kendricks? Not only does Kendricks have a team-leading 110 tackles but he also leads the team with 12 passes defensed – the most for any linebacker in the NFL – while adding two forced fumbles and four tackles for losses. For sake of comparison, Green Bay linebacker Blake Martinez has broken up four passes the last two years combined.

Noteworthy number

0: Home losses this season for Minnesota, which is 6-0 at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Vikings are the only team to be undefeated at home this year. In those games, the average score has been 27.7-14.2. In home games, Minnesota is fifth in scoring and second in scoring defense.

The big picture