The Green Bay Packers face a huge early season battle Sunday night when they travel to Minnesota to christen the Vikings new stadium. After losing the division title to the Vikings last year the Packers have a score to settle, and what better way than to beat the Vikqueens in the first game in their new stadium?
The Packers did get a big win last week in the heat of Jacksonville but looking back it was kind of a ho-hum win over a team that was 5-11 last year. The Jags may be better this year but they haven’t proved it yet. The Vikings present a much different challenge. For one, the Vikings’ defense is the real deal, head coach Mike Zimmer is a defensive guru with a long history of success in the NFL. And of course they have all-world running back Adrian Peterson.
The Packers will be without cornerback Sam Shields, whose career may be jeopardy after suffering another concussion against the Jaguars. He missed four games last year because of a concussion, which is certainly an inordinate amount of time. He may be done for good.
The Packers will have to rely on Quinten Rollins to fill the gap and Rollins was up and down last week, actually up, down, then up again. He did finish strong after making some big mistakes early in the game. I think he will bounce back with a good game Sunday night, minimizing the loss of Shields.
If the Packers’ defensive line can keep Peterson somewhat in check I have no worries whatsoever about quarterback Sam Bradford. Bradford is one of the biggest busts in NFL history if you ask me, never won a thing and is always hurt. Yet somehow he manages to get big contract after big contract. Just goes to show how hard up the NFL is for good quarterbacks.
For the Packers’ offense I think Jordy Nelson will be a more confident player after getting that first game back under the belt. Nelson has been a Viking killer in the past and a return to form would greatly improve the Packers’ chances of victory. Running back Eddie Lacy has also had good success against the Vikes, which also bodes well for the Packers.
I actually think this will be an easy win for the Packers. I’ll say 27-17. Packers get a little revenge for last year’s loss in Lambeau and get a jump on the Vikes in the division race.