For full disclosure I am a life long Vikings fan. The Bud Grant era we dominated the NFC. We got upset against KC in the Super Bowl, met a good Miami team and then had Superbowl losses to two of the first NFL steroid teams Pittsburgh and Oakland. Pittsburgh game halftime score? Make a guess.
Green Bay over the last 25 years have been lucky enough to have 2 hall of fame QB's. More by luck than anything else. Atlanta traded Favre and Rodgers sat in the draft room as all the teams passed on the opportunity to draft him. He is a smug jerk and I love seeing him take a good hit....I especially like it after he takes a hit and the camera shows his family with a concerned look hoping he is ok....oh wait they arent at the games because he doesnt talk to them. Oops never mind I was thinking of QB's that are nice guys and people like.
The Vikes are a decent but not great team. They have a 4-5 record and could easily be 6-3 or 7-2. The line opened Packer minus 3 and is down to minus 1. If the Vikes were 6-3 or 7-2 the line would be Minnesota minus 3.
So I will present the stats and you decide what you want to do.
Start on offense. I will give you Green Bay's rank and then Minnesota's
Points 19/14
Yards Per Rush Attempt 18/11
Rushing Yards 19/9
Rushing TD 7 / 4 (last in league )
Passing Yards 19/9
Completions 20/5
Sack Percentage 15/2
On turnovers Green Bay interceptions 5 fumbles 11
Minnesota interceptions 2 (best in league) fumbles 11
So both good at not turning over the ball
Surprise stat for me watching all the Vikes games is we protect Cousins way better than I thought.
Also note Minnesota is better in almost every category.
Defense side of the ball
Points 3/14
Yards Per Rush Attempt 27/30 (both very bad)
Rushing Yards 13/28
Rushing TD's 8 / 8
Passing Yards 3/12
Completions 14/11
Sack Percentage 13/1
On turnovers Green Bay interceptions 11 fumbles 5
Minnesota interceptions 8 fumbles 4
Green Bays defense seems to have improved this year.
There is one other stat that is important. Who have you played to earn these stats.
Strength of schedule. So far Green Bay has played the second easiest schedule of the teams in the NFC. Minnesota has played the 4th hardest. I think that factors into green Bay's record. They have played the 2nd easiest schedule and they won their games against easier opponents but not by much. Their point differential is the 10th best in the NFL and they are an 8-2 team.
If the teams were smart they would run the ball because that is their opponents weakness. Not sure either coach is smart enough to do that. If they do take that approach the Vikes have all-pro Delvin Cook and Green Bay will be using their surprise second round pick AJ Dillion.
I know what I am playing. Halftime score of Superbowl 9 was Pittsburgh 2 Minnesota 0 (we wont see that happen again). Enjoy the game.
Northern Star
Green Bay over the last 25 years have been lucky enough to have 2 hall of fame QB's. More by luck than anything else. Atlanta traded Favre and Rodgers sat in the draft room as all the teams passed on the opportunity to draft him. He is a smug jerk and I love seeing him take a good hit....I especially like it after he takes a hit and the camera shows his family with a concerned look hoping he is ok....oh wait they arent at the games because he doesnt talk to them. Oops never mind I was thinking of QB's that are nice guys and people like.
The Vikes are a decent but not great team. They have a 4-5 record and could easily be 6-3 or 7-2. The line opened Packer minus 3 and is down to minus 1. If the Vikes were 6-3 or 7-2 the line would be Minnesota minus 3.
So I will present the stats and you decide what you want to do.
Start on offense. I will give you Green Bay's rank and then Minnesota's
Points 19/14
Yards Per Rush Attempt 18/11
Rushing Yards 19/9
Rushing TD 7 / 4 (last in league )
Passing Yards 19/9
Completions 20/5
Sack Percentage 15/2
On turnovers Green Bay interceptions 5 fumbles 11
Minnesota interceptions 2 (best in league) fumbles 11
So both good at not turning over the ball
Surprise stat for me watching all the Vikes games is we protect Cousins way better than I thought.
Also note Minnesota is better in almost every category.
Defense side of the ball
Points 3/14
Yards Per Rush Attempt 27/30 (both very bad)
Rushing Yards 13/28
Rushing TD's 8 / 8
Passing Yards 3/12
Completions 14/11
Sack Percentage 13/1
On turnovers Green Bay interceptions 11 fumbles 5
Minnesota interceptions 8 fumbles 4
Green Bays defense seems to have improved this year.
There is one other stat that is important. Who have you played to earn these stats.
Strength of schedule. So far Green Bay has played the second easiest schedule of the teams in the NFC. Minnesota has played the 4th hardest. I think that factors into green Bay's record. They have played the 2nd easiest schedule and they won their games against easier opponents but not by much. Their point differential is the 10th best in the NFL and they are an 8-2 team.
If the teams were smart they would run the ball because that is their opponents weakness. Not sure either coach is smart enough to do that. If they do take that approach the Vikes have all-pro Delvin Cook and Green Bay will be using their surprise second round pick AJ Dillion.
I know what I am playing. Halftime score of Superbowl 9 was Pittsburgh 2 Minnesota 0 (we wont see that happen again). Enjoy the game.
Northern Star
