Packers vs Vikings Preview: 3 Things We Bet You Didn't Know

GREEN BAY, WI — The Minnesota Vikings take their 1-0 record into Lambeau Field for a Sunday matchup against Aaron Rodgers and the 1-0 Green Bay Packers. After both teams finished 2018 without a playoff berth, they’re looking to return to glory here in 2019.

Game at a Glance

• Green Bay Packers (1-0) vs. Minnesota Vikings (1-0)
• Sunday, Sep. 15
• Noon CDT
• TV: Fox Sports
• Radio: AM 620 in the Milwaukee Market

3 Things Vikings Fans Might Not Know About The 2019 Packers

The Packer defense got a whole lot better.

The Packers addressed their defense in a big way over the off-season, spending lavishly. They picked up outside linebacker Za'Darius Smith from Baltimore, linebacker Preston Smith from Washington, and safety Adrian Amos from the Bears. They picked linebacker Rashan Gary first in the NFL draft. He’s bad. But the Packers also moved up in the draft to get safety Darnell Savage. He’s good. This unit, also led by linebacker Blake Martinez, corner Jaire Alexander and tackle Kenny Clark held the Bears to three points in week one.

Aaron Rodgers still kind of doesn’t know what he’s doing with the new offense.

Mike McCarthy’s gone, and Matt LaFleur is in at head coach. He brings a Sean McVay-inspired offensive attack to Green Bay. The new offense is predicated on a lot of pre-snap shifting and movement to show what opposing defenses are planning to do. In week one, the Bears came after Rodgers, sacking him five times and limiting him to just over 200 yards passing. As he often did in years past, Rodgers scrambled all over the place when plays broke down. After the Bear game, Rodgers said he will be “a lot better” next week.

Green Bay’s punter will make Minnesota’s field position a real problem.

The Packers drafted punter J.K. Scott in the fifth round last year, and had a solid year. This year, he’s performing event better. Scott may look like he’s always up to play a couple hours of Minecraft Story Mode, but the 6-foot-6, 208-pound punter blasted two 63-yard punts against the Bears, averaged more than 47 yards on his kicks, and stifled Chicago’s punt return efforts with high-arching punts.

3 Things Packer Fans Might Not Know About The 2019 Vikings

Anthony Barr is still on the team (and will be for a while).

After the Vikings signed quarterback Kirk Cousins to a three-year, $84 million deal that’s 100 percent guaranteed, most NFL salary cap experts expected the team’s defense to lose a number of its longtime stars, namely Anthony Barr.

Barr was drafted by the Vikings in 2014. Packer fans best know Barr as the player who literally knocked Aaron Rodgers out of the 2017-2018 season.

During the off-season, Barr was prepared to sign with the New York Jets for a lot of money (much more than the Vikings could offer him). However, Barr got cold feet and decided to take a discounted deal to stay with Mike Zimmer and the Vikings. Long story short, Barr will have more opportunities to hit Rodgers Sunday.

RB Dalvin Cook is back, and he’s ready to run downhill at Lambeau.

Dalvin Cook was scary good at Florida State University. In his two seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, we’ve seen flashes of that same brilliance, but injuries have kept him from reaching his full potential.

Back at full strength, the dynamic running back is a game-changer for the Vikings’ offense. Cook is not only an explosive runner, he’s also a pro at catching out of the backfield and blocking downfield, two things ex-Viking Adrian Peterson never learned how to do.

In the Vikings' week one home opener against the Atlanta Falcons, Cook ran for 120 yards and scored two touchdowns Keeping Cook contained is a must if the Packers want to remain undefeated Sunday.

There are still plenty of questions for the Vikings’ offensive line

Vikings fans can barely remember the last time they had a consistently good, or at least mediocre, offensive line. Even in the 2017-2018 season, when the Vikings pulled off the “Minneapolis Miracle” and made a deep playoff run, offensive line issues ultimately led to their downfall in the NFC title game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

In the off-season, general manager Rick Speilman again revamped the O-line. Minnesota spent their first-round draft pick on center Garrett Bradbury, and moved former center Pat Elflein to guard. The Vikings also signed a new guard in Josh Kline.

While the O-line looked sharp against the Falcons last week, it’s not clear how much of a test they were. With the much-improved Packers defense, one of the keys to Sunday’s game is how much protection will be afforded to Kirk Cousins, and how much running room there will be for Dalvin Cook.

Troll Job Goes Sideways For Former Governor

Former Gov. Scott Walker tried and utterly failed to troll Minnesotans and Vikings fans on Twitter Tuesday. Walker, who was apparently at the Minneapolis-Saint Paul Airport, for some reason thought it was strange that a store there would sell Green Bay Packers gear.

This is in an actual store in the airport in Minneapolis. Can you imagine selling Vikings merchandise in Green Bay?!? @packers #GoPackGo pic.twitter.com/JwusZJFdrg

— Scott Walker (@ScottWalker) September" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/ScottWalke... 10, 2019

• Stores located in international airports are smart to market their products towards visitors.
• Thousands of Wisconsin natives visit — and move to — the Twin Cities metro every year.
• There are plenty of stores near Wisconsin's borders that sell Vikings and Chicago Bears gear.
• Comparing Minneapolis to Green Bay is silly. (What Minnesotan would ever want to move to Green Bay?)

Nut Roll, Cheese Wheel On The Line

As if the political theater surrounding Sunday’s matchup wasn’t enough, congressional reps from the two bordering states have engaged in a bit of a wager. U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil of Wisconsin and Rep. and Dean Phillips of Minnesota made a friendly wager ahead of Sunday’s Packers-Vikings game at Lambeau Field.

If the Packers win, Phillips will deliver Steil a 25-pound Pearson’s salted nut roll and beer from Excelsior Brewing Company and Minnetonka’s Unmapped Brewing. If the Vikings beat the Packers, Steil will give Phillips Wisconsin cheddar cheese from Mars Cheese Castle and a case of Janesville Gray’s Honey Ale.

“While Dean and I have worked well together on combatting human trafficking and creating jobs in our communities, we simply cannot see eye to eye on which team is the best in the NFC North,” said Steil. “I am looking forward to enjoying a Minnesota salted nut roll after a Green Bay Packer victory Sunday afternoon.”

“I have fond memories of my dad taking me to the last Vikings Super Bowl in 1977,” said Phillips. “It’s been a long road with a lot of great moments and big heartbreak since then as our Vikings have pushed to make it back to the big game. But this might be our year, and it starts on Sunday. Skol!”