Vikings Have One Realistic Way to Beat the Packers
Dustin Baker
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Vikings Have One Realistic Way to Beat GB
The Green Bay Packers are favored by seven points over the Minnesota Vikings in Week 8. This point spread is considered diminutive by most Vikings faithful and even some pundits. Indeed, the contest is a bitter rivalry game, but the Packers are 5-1 while the Vikings are the inverse, 1-5. The line could realistically be upward of 12 points, and most football enthusiasts would not bat an eye. Nevertheless, Las Vegas disagrees.
The last time the Packers were seven-point favorites over the Vikings was 2014 – Mike Zimmer’s rookie season. It was Week 14, and the Packers squeezed past the Vikings by a score of 24-21. The matchup was rookie Teddy Bridgewater’s first home start versus Green Bay. For more context, this was amid the Joe Banyard Era in Minnesota. If you know who he is, you are a guru. The Packers won this game en route to an NFC North title but lost a stunner to the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship a month later.
Via betting lines, this is the most lopsided Vikings-Packers spread since late in the 2017 season. In that year, Aaron Rodgers was hurt. Minnesota was seven-point favorites at Lambeau Field, and the Vikings shutout the green and gold, 16-0. It would be the final time Zimmer’s bunch blanked an opposing team to date.
This year has a wildly different outlook. The Packers are trending to capture the division once again whereas the Vikings are in flux.
If Minnesota wishes to topple the Packers in Wisconsin – something that has not occurred in three years – they will need to feed Dalvin Cook the football. And, this will need to be executed often and profitably on his part.
The Effect of Playmaking
Cook is a sure-fire playmaker. He is not a running back like the Chicago Bears’ David Montgomery, who is a nice mannequin-like to piece on a depth chart. The 25-year-old Cook is a dynamic and level-setting running back. If he is hitting on all cylinders, Minnesota seldom spirals into futility.
Unlike teams such as the Arizona Cardinals or Seattle Seahawks, Mike Zimmer still enjoys running the football. The Vikings are akin to the Baltimore Ravens, Tennessee Titans, and San Francisco 49ers with this mindset. Run to the setup the pass – that is the Zimmer-Kubiak mantra.
At times, this has worked in 2020 but not often. With a 1-5 record, very little praise can be handed out to the coaching staff. However, Minnesota did lose two heartbreaking games, one versus Tennessee and the other at Seattle.
A playmaking Dalvin Cook takes the pressure off a suspect offensive line, something the Vikings own in 2020. Offensive line coach Rick Dennison has three pieces on his line that are quite good – RT Brian O’Neill, C Garrett Bradbury, and LT Riley Reiff. The rest – two guards – are the chinks of the armor. Dakota Dozier has been average while whoever is inserted at right guard plays has been pretty bogus.
Dalvin Cook carving up defenses serves as a masking agent to a lot of the Vikings inadequacies.
A Productive Dalvin Controls Tempo
In addition to sheer playmaking, Cook has a knack for enhancing time of possession. His touches tend to move the sticks, and that keeps the defense off the field. In an ordinary season, a Mike Zimmer defense on the field is an asset. For 2020, it is a liability. The Vikings are without several pieces to its reputable defense – Danielle Hunter, Anthony Barr, Mike Hughes, and Michael Pierce. These are the men who would generally start on Sunday. Oodles of other players left via free agency including Xavier Rhodes and Everson Griffen. The defense has suffered profusely because of these injuries and departures.
The Packers murdered the Vikings in the time-of-possession bout during Week 1. Matt LeFleur’s team held the ball for 69 percent of the game when the 2020 season kicked off. The Vikings cannot and will not win football games when wholly dominated in time of possession. If Green Bay does this again in Week 8, the final score will be even more askew than early September.
Cook is the key to time of possession. Seven weeks ago, he only tabulated 50 rushing yards. This time around, he must double that amount for the Vikings to have a puncher’s chance.
This Merely Give MIN a Shot
An accumulation of 100+ yards from scrimmage by Cook is a starter kit to win this contest. It does not assure victory. If Zimmer had any of his defenses of old, a 100-yard day for Cook would probably seal the deal. The Pandemic Vikings are different. Mini-shootouts are a prerequisite for winning. The days of 21-17 wins for the Vikings are temporarily retired. The new normal is in the ballpark of 27-24.
Should Cook not get going early, the time of possession will likely be dunked in a commode. At that point, the rest is ceremonial. Green Bay will win and improve their standing to 6-1.
But if Cook can perpetrate some gashing by which he is capable, the Vikings can keep this NFC North tryst close. One of these nailbiting games against tough teams is due to break in the Vikings favor. Sunday may be that if Cook is an offensive focal point.