The Minnesota Vikings and the Green Bay Packers are on a collision course, as the two bitter rivals hook up at Lambeau Field on Sunday to fight for the early solo leadership in the NFC North standings. Will the Vikings stop Aaron Rodgers? Or will the Packers open the season 2-0 straight up (SU)?
The Vikings run the ball down the throat of the Atlanta Falcons in Week 1. That could even be taken as an understatement after Minnesota let running back Dalvin Cook rush 21 times for 111 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a dominant 28-12 home win over Matt Ryan and company last Sunday. The Vikings aren’t going to treat Cook the same way every week, but the load he had in the Falcons game spoke a lot about the great tendency of Minnesota to ran the ball in that manner. Green Bay’s defense is a lot tougher this season, so the Vikings may have to increase their activity on the air after quarterback Kirk Cousins made only 10 pass attempts and finished with just 98 passing yards with a touchdown against Atlanta. Last season, Cousins threw for 425 yards and four touchdowns with an interception on 35 of 48 completions during a draw at Lambeau Field. Defensively, the Vikings have the tools to bother and contain Aaron Rodgers. They just sacked Ryan four times and intercepted him twice.
The under is 3-0 in the Vikings’ last three road games.
Betting on the Green Bay Packers (1-0)
Granted that Mitchell Trubisky is not that good of a quarterback, the way the Packers held the Chicago Bears’ offense in last week’s 10-3 road win at Soldier Field was proof of how improved Green Bay’s defense is this season. The Packers held Chicago to only 254 yards, intercepting Trubisky once and taking him down five times for a loss of 20 yards. The Packers also had a hard time dealing with Chicago’s defense, but that was to be expected. Aaron Rodgers played the difference, as not many quarterbacks would have had a better game against Khalil Mack and company. Rodgers finished with 203 passing yards and a touchdown on 18 of 30 completions. He was also sacked five times, so the Packers will have pass protection on top of their priorities to fix heading into the second week of the regular season. The Packers are also hoping Aaron Jones will wake up after a letdown performance against the Bears. In last year’s 24-17 road loss to Minnesota, Jones had 72 rushing yards and a touchdown on 17 carries.
Minnesota is 3-2 against the spread (ATS) in its last five visits to Lambeau Field.
