Packers: 3 keys to Sunday night's game vs. Vikings

Sep 19, 2016, 00:43
Packers: 3 keys to Sunday night's game vs. Vikings

The Green Bay Packers will take on the Minnesota Vikings at 7:30 tonight in Minneapolis as the Vikings open their brand new US Bank Stadium for its first regular-season game.

The last time these teams played, the Packers lost to the Vikings 20-13 at Lambeau Field, also losing a chance to win the NFC North division to the Vikings. A soccer game, two concerts, and two exhibition games. But the Vikings have the makings of one of the NFL's best defenses with several potential Pro Bowlers, and the Packers' offense with Jordy Nelson still just back from a year layoff looks like it has a ways to go to find itself.

This game starts off with some fantastic quarterback play from Aaron Rodgers, and some relatively unknown from Sam Bradford.

The Packers excelled in bottling up Peterson in their two encounters with the Vikings last season in his return to football. In holding Peterson to a modest rushing total last week, Tennessee stacked the box with as many as eight and nine defenders early and often. They did that in last year's regular season finale and came away with a win. The Packers are too good offensively for Bradford to be turning the ball over multiple times, but the Vikings certainly have the ability to create turnovers on the other side.

"He was one step away, one fingernail away, from making those plays", Vikings nickel cornerback Captain Munnerlyn said. Rodgers torched the Vikes to a passer rating of 138.7 the first time these teams met.

All eyes will be on quarterback Sam Bradford, but make no mistake, the offense is still geared around Adrian Peterson and the ground game. The new stadium gets a proper opening on SNF and all the country will be looking in to check it out.

I do love Aaron Rodgers and think he's the best quarterback in the National Football League, but this Vikings defense will have something to say about that. The Packers had communication trouble on a few snaps against the Jaguars, a must-fix problem prior for what's sure to be a deafening debut for U.S. Bank Stadium.

Sep 11, 2016; Nashville, TN, USA; Minnesota Vikings defensive end Danielle Hunter (99) picks up a Tennessee Titans fumble and runs for a touchdown during the second half at Nissan Stadium.

#5 Rodger That: Aaron Rodgers has 35 career TD passes and only 5 interceptions against Minnesota.

Streaming video of the Green Bay Packers vs. Minnesota Vikings NFC North duel will also be available on tablet computers by downloading the NBC Sports Live Extra app, as well as on set-top devices such as the Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire TV.

STOP SIGN: The Packers' defense fared well against Peterson last season, holding him to 112 yards on 32 carries over two games with Clay Matthews playing inside linebacker.

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