What Happened Last Time~ Thinking back to their Week 9 matchup, Aaron Rodgers threw 3 interceptions, all at the goal line. Then, the last drive of the game, ended on a non-PI call that would’ve resulted in a 1st down near the Lions’ 1-yard line. All that being said, the defense balled out that game, shutting down the (now ranked) 4th-scoring offense in the NFL, to just 15 points. Couple that with Rodgers not throwing 3 goal line interceptions, and the Packers might roll, again.

Matchup~

	Det. D.	(rank)	vs.	GB Off.	(rank)
Rush	144.8	29		125.6	13
Pass	249.4	30		215.3	17
Total	398.7	32		340.9	16
Pts	25.7	29		22.1	14
	Det. Off.			GB D.
Rush	129.7	11		141.8	26
Pass	253.9	6		195.4	4
Total	383.6	3		337.4	18
Pts	27.1	4		21.9	17
T/O
Takeaways	20	T-16th		24	T-6th
Giveaways	15	1st		20	T-12th
Diff.	5	T-6th		4	T-8th

Like last week, the Packers are catching a team that’s outperformed their preseason expectations, but have an awful defense. If Green Bay can keep running the ball effectively, they should be able to have their way Dan Campbell’s last ranked defense. Green Bay needs to get pressure on Jared Goff and get him off his throwing spot, once that happens, he tends to get happy feet and begins throwing the opposition the ball. However, the Lions are the best team in the NFL at holding onto the football.

The mismatch the Packers have is essentially every category while they’re on offense, and Detroit is 11th in rush offense while Green Bay is 26th against the run. Aside from that, the real matchup to watch is Detroit’s passing offense vs the Packers’ 4th ranked pass defense – which has been electric during the 4-game win streak.

Potential Problems~ they come in the form of two rookies (actually 3). While Jameson Williams (#9) is coming off a torn ACL in last year’s NCAA National Championship game. Adam Hutchinson has been a terror this year, including an INT vs. Aaron Rodgers in their previous matchup this season.

• Adam Hutchinson (#97): 7.5 sacks; 3 interceptions; 2 fumble recoveries. He’s a real problem and potential game wrecker, and he was just that in the Week 9 matchup.
• Jameson Williams (#9): 1 catch; 41 yards; 1 TD. While Jameson has only 1 reception on the season, he is down right a deep threat, much like Christian Watson on the Packers. The reason I bring him up, is if he’s close to 100% healthy, he can be a mismatch for anyone.
• Amon-Ra St. Brown (#14): 100 receptions; 1,112 yards; 6TD. St. Brown is the younger brother of former Packers’ WR Equanimeous and he’s been a true #1. Look for Jaire to shadow him all game, much like last week against Justin Jefferson.
• Jamaal Williams (#30): 246 carries; 994 yards; 15 TD. Talk about a familiar face. Williams leads the NFL in rushing touchdowns, and has been a glue guy for this Lions squad that’s sum is far greater than it’s individual parts.

Prediction~ should Seattle lose to the Rams tomorrow, this becomes a true play-in game. Winner advances to the 2 seed and the loser goes home. However, if Seattle wins, Detroit could knock Green Bay out of postseason play AND get the (as of now) 6th overall pick thanks to LA trading everything for Matthew Stafford.

Lions 24
Packers 34 (-5)

Season: 7-9
Overall: 87-51

Following the play pictured above, Justin Jefferson, and the Vikings, weren’t the same. The game got out of hand after the Vikings blocked the Packers’ first punt attempt of the game and took over possession at Green Bay’s 1-yard line. Minnesota netted -1 yards in the ensuing 3 plays, leaving them to settle for a field goal. The ensuing kickoff gave the Packers – starring upstart return man, Keisean Nixon – all the momentum needed to catapult to a decisive victory over their archrival.

The key to the blog title was the Deion Sanders-like trash-talk (and more importantly, play) by Jaire Alexander. The Packers’ (and NFL’s) top cornerback held Justin Jefferson to just 1 catch for 15 yards on 5 targets. Truly amazing. Since then, Justin Jefferson went into hiding. In addition, the Minnesota faithful have gone into full “blame anything” mode instead of just admitting their team is the worst 12-win team in NFL history. Gotta love fans, it’s never their teams’ issues, obviously the refs were on the side of the Packers. You know, like Jaire should’ve been penalized for doing the Griddy, but it’s ok for Jefferson to…do the Griddy. Nevermind the fact that following Adrian Amos’ interception, Jefferson took his helmet off (unsportsmanlike), then jammed it into the back of a ref (another unsportsmanlike), all while on the field of play. Naw, it’s cool…I mean, aside from Minnesota being outplayed in literally every aspect of the game, they were the better team and should’ve won.

The best one yet, was a fan on Reddit posted about his conspiracy theory the Packers watered the middle of the field to slow down the Vikings, and obviously would…only…affect the Vikings. There’s another one, at least that I’ve been aware of…the NFL colluded with the Packers to, wait, unfairly schedule their last 2 games to be played at Lambeau Field. These are just the ones of which I’m aware.

I bring all of these up as a fan base of a 12-4 team, that’s won 11 one-score games, should be feeling great to have a shot at 2-seed and possibly host 3 playoff games. Now, they’re justifying why they’re going to lose Wild Card weekend – because the NFL isn’t fair. Hopefully Packer nation never forgets this and brings it up every single time Vikings fans make any comment about anything, ever.

Review~ the defense was amazing, at least when the starters played. They forced 4 turnovers, scoring 28 points off of them. A far cry from the 6 points off 3 Tampa Bay turnovers in the 2020 NFC title game loss. Or far more than the – stop me if you’ve heard this before – 6 points of FIVE turnovers in the OT loss to Seattle in the 2014 NFC title game. Turnovers are great, but as they’re momentum snatchers – if you don’t capitalize on them, the momentum swings back to the other team for escaping casualty.

How did Green Bay score those 4 touchdowns? By sticking to the run game, again. Out of the 61 total plays, the Green & Gold rushed 33 times for 163 yards. They won the time of possession by a wide margin, yet again. These are great signs for a team that must win the Super Bowl in order to consider this season anything better than a failure – run the ball and play great defense.

Like in Week 1, and essentially every matchup since Brett Favre took over as starting quarterback for the Packers, the Vikings have treated every game against Green Bay like its the Super Bowl. They have good reason, they’ve never won one, so they try to get themselves to experience it, much like Brewer fans (the baseball equivalent of the Minnesota Vikings).

Minnesota now has some extra motivation to win on Sunday. The fact they could knock their division rial out of the postseason wasn’t enough for Jaire Alexander. He decided to give them a bunch more material by stating that Justin Jefferson’s 9 grabs, 184 yard, and 2 touchdown performance was a “fluke.” Not a recipe for success.

	Min D.	(rank)	vs.	GB Off.	(rank)
Rush	120.8	19		123.1	14
Pass	281.5	32		219.5	17
Total	402.3	31		342.6	16
Pts	24.9	28		20.9	18
	Min Off.			GB D.
Rush	94.5	28		144.4	27
Pass	259.9	6		192.4	3
Total	354.5	12		336.8	17
Pts	25.2	7		22.3	17
T/O
Takeaways	23	8th		20	T-13th
Giveaways	17	T-6th		20	T-19th
Diff.	6	5th		0	T-13th

There’s one matchup that sticks out, like last week, and it’s the awfulness of Minnesota’s defense. While they’re the 6th passing offense and 7th scoring offense, their defense is atrocious. They’re last against the pass, 2nd-last in total yards, and 28th in points allowed. Over their last 4 games, Green Bay has averaged 27.8 points per game. Meanwhile Minnesota has surrendered 30+ in four of their last 7. A lot of that has come from turnovers, meaning Green Bay will have to have a similar game to last week if they’d like to keep their season alive.

While their record is tied for the 2nd-best in the entire league, the Vikings rank 10th in point differential, sitting at +5. They’re closest ranked to the New York Jets, which better resembles their true strength. With that being said, the Packers are still 18th in the NFL with a -21 differential, putting them in line with teams like Cleveland, New Orleans, and Carolina – losing teams.

There are 3 weapons Green Bay needs to be aware and somehow slow down, if possible, if they want to win.

• Justin Jefferson #18
• Dalvin Cook #4
• K.J. Osborn #17

Momentum is a funny thing, and it’s tough to track, but easy to feel. The Vikings have essentially had momentum all year, throughout the season, whilst Green Bay has had it for a few weeks now, it’s come to a head, and the biggest rival has a chance to end your season – this will feel like a playoff game, for both teams.

Minnesota seems to be the more complete team, yet their defense is awful, which combined with Kirk Cousins will be their eventual demise – will Green Bay have enough to pull it out?

Vikings 23
Packers 20 (-3)

Season: 7-8
Overall: 87-50