It's time for the Packers to retake the North, and it starts this week.
Week 1 results always need to be well, well salted, but I wanted to look back at Minnesota's home win over the 49ers and see what we might be able to glean.
Defense:
Minnesota's D came out strong, forcing two punts and allowing only a field goal on the first three drives. From there on out, they got a little lucky.
Alfred Morris fumbled at Minnesota's 1 yard line, giving them 0 points off of a 70 yard drive.
They forced a punt on the 5th drive, and intercepted Garoppolo on the 6th. They flooded the strong side on a blitz and Garoppolo threw into it, as he should. However, his throw was a little errant and the receiver slipped trying to come back to it.
The 7th and 8th drives resulted in a field goal and a touchdown respectively.
The 9th drive resulted in another turnover-- this time Garoppolo just threw too high and Rhodes made a terrific play. The slant was open if the ball was just lower.
The 10th and 11th drives resulted in a FG and a punt respectively.
The 12th and final drive was another INT-- a horrible decision thrown into triple coverage (under pressure).
On the whole: The Vikings were helped by some unforced errors (Morris' fumble at the one and the 2nd INT) and helped to force more on their own (the 1st and 3rd INT). We all know they have a strong stop unit. However, at least in this game, the Niners moved the ball on them and were in position to score a lot more than 16 points. If Morris doesn't fumble on the one, you're talking about a 1 point final score. One of SF's field goals also came on Minnesota's 4. Chances are, Rodgers doesn't make the unforced errors, and Minnesota won't be at home. I like Aaron's odds, even against a unit this good, to score over 24 points. Finally, Garoppolo's leading receiver by a pretty big margin was TE, George Kittle.
Offense:
The first three drives for the Vikings' offense got increasingly better. They first punted, then kicked a FG, and then scored a touchdown. Their punt was from the SF 38, so that was actually a decent drive. It was short circuited by one of Deforest Buckner's 3 sacks on the day (more on that later).
Dalvin Cook fumbled the ball away on their 4th drive-- a persistent issue for him in college.
Their 5th drive ended around midfield as Buckner picked up another sack and the first half came to a close.
Their offense opened the second half, punted, and didn't see the ball for a while as Garoppolo got pick sixed and the 49ers came back out for another drive.
Their 7th drive was their second and final touchdown on the day, with the next two drives being three and outs. Their 10th drive was not a three and out, but also resulted in a punt. Their 11th and final drive was merely running out the clock.
On the whole: Only three of their ten real drives ended in points-- a total of 17. Cousins managed the game well, protected the football, and made some really good plays under pressure that aren't really evident in the stat sheet. Where I think they're vulnerable is on the offensive line. Their running backs managed a meager 2.2 YPC against the 49ers' front and a number of drives ended prematurely because their interior couldn't handle Buckner. I believe this weakness plays into Green Bay's strength. Their line, especially their interior, won't be able to handle Clark, Daniels, and Wilkerson-- especially on the road.
Conclusion: Rodgers & Co. are going to need to be on their game with the quick passing attack and hot routes, because the Vikings can apply pressure and they lived off of the errors that their pressure forced. However, their secondary can be attacked by the tight end, so I expect plenty of work for Graham in this game. SF also didn't really have the personnel to test them with passes to running backs, but Montgomery could be an important factor. On defense, I expect Pettine to get creative and attack the interior of their OL relentlessly. I would expect a lot of mug front, similar to what Zimmer himself likes to use, and a lot of confusion about who is and who isn't blitzing. If the young secondary can stick with Diggs and Thielen, I can see that game plan being a winner.
Prediction: 27-17, Packers