The Packers open the 2022 season with a bang on the road against division rival Minnesota Vikings. Last season, the Packers cruised to a 13-4 regular season record. After winning the division, the Packers’ season came to an abrupt finish after falling to the 49ers in the Divisional Round of the playoffs. The Vikings look to improve upon an 8-9 season in 2021. Despite a sub-.500 record, they were 5-3 at home and have dangerous playmakers in Dalvin Cook, Justin Jefferson, and Adam Thielen.
Last season, the Packers ranked 10th in scoring, but will have a big hole to fill with Davante Adams now with the Raiders. It’s impossible for one man to make up for the 123 receptions, over 1500 yards, and 11 touchdowns that Adams produced last season. Aaron Rodgers remains at the helm and is coming off a season in which he threw for over 4100 yards and 37 touchdowns. The Packers added receiver Sammy Watkins to help give Rodgers added targets to work with. Watkins had star potential coming out of college, but has fizzled and only caught 64 passes over the past two seasons in Kansas City and Baltimore. Allen Lazard appears to be ready to jump to the number one receiver, but he’s listed as questionable for the opener. Lazard caught 40 passes last season and scored eight touchdowns. Randall Cobb, tight end Robert Tonyan, and rookie wideout Christian Watson give Rodgers plenty to throw to against a Minnesota defense that ranked 28th in points allowed last season. Add in running back Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon, who combined for over 1600 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground and the Packers should put plenty of points on the board.
The Vikings ranked 14th in scoring last season and face a Packers’ defense that ranked 14th in points allowed last season. Green Bay’s defense is relatively healthy heading into the opener with only free safety Darnell Savage listed on the injury report as questionable. Quarterback Kirk Cousins, who threw for 4221 yards and 33 touchdowns last season, leads Minnesota. His favorite targets will be Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen, who torched opponents for 175 catches, over 2300 yards, and 20 touchdowns last season. The return of tight end Irv Smith Jr, who missed all of last season because of a torn meniscus, will further strengthen the Vikings’ passing game. Running back Dalvin Cook missed three games last season but still rushed for 1159 yards and six touchdowns. The Vikings enter the contest healthy with only right defensive end Jonathan Bullard among the starters listed as questionable.
Both teams have solid kicking games. For the Vikings, Greg Joseph hit nearly 87 percent of his field goal attempts, while Ryan Wright out of Tulane won the punting job in training camp over Jordan Berry, who averaged 46.5 yards per punt last season. Packers’ kicker Mason Crosby is coming off a poor 2021 campaign in which he hit only 73.5 percent of his field goal attempts. However, he’s been a model of consistency for most of his 15-year career.
Last season the teams split the two meeting, both teams winning at home. The Packers enter as a 1.5-point road favorite.
Most of the country will see Packers-Vikings. From @506sports: pic.twitter.com/AKjWwv7MBZ
— Zach Kruse (@zachkruse2) September 7, 2022
3 days until Packers football. Enjoy this 3 yard touchdown from John Kuhn in the 2012 Wild Card game, when the Packers got to knock the Vikings out of the playoffs 🥳 pic.twitter.com/3ai6dCZtNA
— sam. (@sammwichh) September 8, 2022
The Packers are going to mop the field with these guys.
All the doubt who will be Kings of the North for 2022 will be removed, and the Vikings annual carnival of preseason optimism and dreams of glory ends with a thud.
We’re going to find out right away if this defense is as good as adversity. With the Lazard injury, Dobbs and Watson need to show up. An upset in Minnesota wouldn’t be surprising or the end of the world for that matter. We usually split with the Vikings and sweep the Bears and Lions. If they’re going to beat us, this is their game. Still, I like our chances….
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Well! It is alive?
“Both teams have solid kicking games” That is a bold statement Ed. Something about Crosby coming off a knee injury/procedure and the way the season ended last year brings questions to mind about the Packers having a solid kicking game, or at least a solid kick protection game.
Since I may not get another chance to comment. Jason, what does “nonce verification failed” mean? Is it on my end or yours?
I think we’ve entered the next McCarthy era in Green Bay without realizing it yet. LaFleur, who has won nothing, was awarded an extension this summer, despite not making one super bowl appearance. Are the Packers going back to mediocrity? LaFleur’s team gets a few more wins than the typical McCarthy team did, and that has everyone hyping him up like some Packers legend. Sure, three wins is a big difference in the NFL. The difference between ten wins and thirteen can usually be a 1st round bye. But their playoff results are the same. Even LaFleur is getting stomped by the 49ers just like McCarthy did. He can’t beat Shanahan and I don’t see it happening again this year.
Nonce verification is a WordPress security feature, did you recieve the error more than once?
Jason, three or four times on different days.
Yea, i’m a bit more outspoken about it 🙄
Hey Kevin! Did you see Kurt Benkert got a try out with the Bears? They didn’t sign him! Don’t they know he’s so much better than Jordan Love? Which makes him just as good as Justin Fields! It’s like the NFL is purposely conspiring against the best camp arm ever! Ok, maybe not the best camp arm ever. Tim Boyle might have something to say about that! Kurt Benkert and Tim Boyle, team captains on the street FA team! That’s awesome!
Joefan, what’s the one constant between the Mike McCarthy era and the Matt LaFleur era? Aaron Rodgers. Maybe he’s got something to do with it. Mediocrity is going 8-9 or 9-8. While 10 to 13 wins gets you a trip to the SB tournament. A far cry from average. Over the past decade we’ve had two GM’s, two HC’s, multiple offensive and defensive coordinators, and countless players. Yet Aaron Rodgers can’t win in the playoffs. Many Packer fans will give you more excuses than stars in the heavens. Just so long as none of those excuses are named Aaron Rodgers. He’s running out of time. He’ll never be Tom Brady. But he still could be John Elway. If not then he’ll end up another Drew Brees. It’s up to him.
FFS… Stop trying to start shit. No one said a word to you or mentioned Benkurt/ Boyle.
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I’ve gotten the Nonce Verification many times, the last time was a decent sized post that forever disappeared, and at first I was upset. Then I realized that the less I posted in response to the community troll, and the less that they could post, equaled the less I was exposed to a bunch of negative BS. The less I was exposed to a bunch of negative BS made for happier days. And for that, I salute the Nonce Verification.
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On the other hand, Nonce keeps me from hearing interesting perspectives from respected long time commenters. So in that regard, Nonce can kick rocks.
If it wasn’t for #12 this team would be maybe 8-8 every year. It was LaFleur who made the bone head calls in the playoffs two years ago and he also switched the starting offensive line just in time for the NFC championship game last year. And they got there ass kicked all game, period.
And let’s not forget about McCarty setting on any lead he ever had in any big game.
It makes me wonder what #12’s playoff record would be if he was with a really good head coach.
You Stickman, along with Joefan and countless other Packer fans are the real reason why Aaron Rodgers never left Wisconsin. Because no matter how shitty he plays in the playoffs, it’s never going to be his fault. That was always the beauty of Rodgers staying in the NFC north. That and beating up on the Lions and Bears twice a year. Rodgers lays an egg in a Bronco playoff game, or anywhere else in the NFL, and the fans would have his head on a stick. They wouldn’t give two shits about his MVP awards or his regular season record. They wouldn’t have paid him all that money and given up all that draft capital just to make up silly excuses for him. They’d expect results. It makes me wonder how many SB’s we’d have won with Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes or even Matthew Stafford. Evidently Cheese has made himself moderator. Comments must meet his approval before being posted.
There’s a lot of unknowns about this game. The Vikings have two new coaches. Their head coach is another Kyle Shanahan prodigy. He’s never called a game in his career. Their defensive coordinator is Ed “4-26” Donatell. I remember him as being a decent, but not great defensive coordinator who got fired from the Packers for the playoff debacle in Philly. Then you have Za’darius Smith all riled up for this game, looking for revenge and now it appears neither Jenkins nor Bakhtiari are going to be playing, so he’ll likely dominate this game. I doubted either tackles would be playing as it felt like this was gamemanship on the Packers part. Bakhtiari is done, the Packers just don’t want to admit it quite yet.
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Is this one of the rare times this website is operational?
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Tom M 2 days ago
“We’re going to find out right away if this defense is as good as adversity.”
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We’re also going to find out if you can pass your GED on your soon to be…7th attempt.
WE’RE ROOTING FOR YOU!!
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Stay in school kids.
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Later, after the game, Tommi will regale us with his theory on how the Packers don’t need wide receivers and tight ends, because we have an elite defense, along with the best rb duo in the league.
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I can’t wait.
This site is over ten years old with a massive database, it’s always been the most pain in the ass site I own, but I do what I can. Don’t wanna remove the old posts so gotta deal with it
I hate to be the voice of reason Jason…..
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But saying we “gotta deal with it” can’t be the best and only option available.
Could part of the problem be all these G D ads you put up?
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Much like the Packers pass catching talent, this site is clearly broken.
I mean…can it get any worse?
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Maybe Brian Gutenkunst will tell us he has ignored the receiver group, and it has gone to shit, so Packer fans will just have to “deal with it.”