news;A must-win matchup between the Packers and Vikings follows months of promise and suffering.
According to the players we do have available for that specific week, we’ve worked through it as a staff, trying to kind of adapt and modify to what we think will give us the greatest chance to win games, and that’s been different at different times, Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said. “It is our responsibility as coaches to keep looking for methods to win football games and to be competitive.”
The injuries have built up around Love, despite the fact that his play over the last eight games has given the Packers new life after their record was lowered to 2-5 on October 29 against the Vikings, 24-10. The defense has also made serious mistakes.
Love remarked, “I don’t know how long it will take, but I think the exciting part is that we’ve fixed some of the mistakes we made early in the season and we’re turning them into big-time plays.A division title has often been at stake in these late-season meetings between the longstanding border-state rivals, but the Detroit Lions took care of that last week when they defeated the Vikings 30-24 to secure the NFC North.”
While both the Packers and Vikings are 7-8 and one win away from a wild-card berth, the team that loses on Sunday night at U.S. Bank Stadium is probably not going to make the postseason. Only in the third season in the last seventeen years has the division not been won by the Vikings or Packers.
Left guard Dalton Risner stated, “I’m still very proud to be a Minnesota Viking, and it’s still really awesome to be in December playing an important football game. It’s always a rollercoaster when you have different quarterbacks like this and the injuries we’ve had on this football team.”
A LOVE STORY
Against the Vikings earlier this year, Love completed just 58.5% of his throws for 229 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. In the eight games since, he has thrown 16 touchdown passes and three interceptions.
They’re really good at keeping you guessing and changing things around,” Love remarked. “We’ll have a better plan going into it because that was our first time seeing it.”
After allowing just 49 points in their previous four games, the Vikings have given up 57 points in their last two games. Outside linebacker D.J. Wonnum, who tied his career best this year with eight sacks, including two on Love on October 29, suffered a season-ending quadriceps tear. This was their most recent setback. The Vikings are without two of their top three pass rushers as a result of Marcus Davenport’s ankle injury, which has kept him out of action for the past nine games.
“There will be a significant loss. We must look for a means to succeed,” O’Connell remarked. “D.J. is one of those guys whose impact and improvement have been crucial.”
SLUMPY DEFENSE
Over their last three games, the Packers have allowed around 30 points per game on average. Following their respective performances against the New York Giants’ Tommy DeVito and the Tampa Bay Bucs’ Baker Mayfield, who were both awarded NFC Offensive Player of the Week, the Packers let rookie quarterback Bryce Young of Carolina throw for a career-high 312 yards.
Leading cornerback Jaire Alexander will serve a one-game ban for behavior the Packers deemed detrimental to the team, so they will be without him when they play the Vikings. Last season, in a 41-17 victory, Alexander was a major factor in holding 2022 NFL Offensive Player of the Year Justin Jefferson to a career-low one reception for 15 yards. On that day in Green Bay, the last time the two teams faced up, Alexander regularly teased Jefferson. Jefferson’s hamstring issue kept him out of the first game of the season.