I can’t wait for Monday. Win or lose at least the Packers can get on with their season and focus on the task at hand. While I first wished the schedule makers would have brought the Vikings to Green Bay in late December, putting the hype to bed with nine games to go is much better in the long run.
The Packers are focusing on their team goals which hopefully won’t be played out until January. One has to wonder how focused Brett Favre will be after Sunday, especially if the Vikings beat the Packers again. In Favre’s mind, no matter what he says, it would be mission accomplished with half the season to play. The Devil made me do it, but the thought crossed my mind that a loss by the Packers would be almost as good as a win. Thankfully, righteousness quickly returned and I dismissed that thought. Good over evil again.
The fact is this game is as even as they get. Both teams have played almost the same schedule and are separated by only one game in the loss column. The Packers rank higher in on both sides of the ball but have weaknesses on the offensive line. The Vikings have the veteran QB who has injected life into a once one-sided offense, but defensively the Vikings are very one-sided.
All the Packers need to do is give quarterback Aaron Rodgers time to pass and even if the running game struggles, he should pick apart the Vikings secondary, much like he did four weeks ago when he threw for his career high 384 yards against the Queens. I hope T.J. Lang starts at left tackle only because Cliffy has only played much football the last six weeks and hasn’t looked all that good when he did play. A healthy Lang is better at this point.
On the right side I would start Barbre but get Tauscher in for a series or two, or if need be, more. Even coming off a year out of football I feel better about Tausch than I do Cliffy. Why is that? I don’t know.
The Packers will miss Finley if he can’t play but Rodgers has confidence in Havner, so it might not be as bad first thought. With the home field, the crowd screaming every time Favre steps under center, the Packers have a great chance to knock off the division leaders.
I just can’t wait until it is over.