Week 1 - Packers @ Vikings Support Group

The teams meet for the 120th time in history at U.S. Bank Stadium in Week 1 of the 2020 NFL season. The Packers own the win-loss rights to the series with a 54-62-3 (.534) record.

The Minnesota Vikings released their first “unofficial” depth chart on Monday and while there were no surprises in comparison to what we saw in training camp, it was a reminder of the positions that will look vastly different this year versus previous seasons under Mike Zimmer. Namely at guard, cornerback and defensive line.

It just so happens that those three positions may determine whether the Vikings walk out of US Bank Stadium with a win on Sunday.

The offensive line struggled mightily in two contests with the Packers last year. Kirk Cousins was pressured 23 times on 35 drop backs in Week 2 and 17 of 35 drop backs in Week 16.

The Packers had the two best weeks in terms of pressure against Cousins the entire 2019 season.




New starting left guard Dakota Dozier filled in on the O-line in the Week 2 game and allowed six pressures, most on the team. He will again be tasked with playing a role in handling the combination of Kenny Clark, one of the league’s most dangerous nose tackles, and the NFL’s leader in QB pressures last year Za’Darius Smith.

Dozier talked Monday about the challenge of the Packers moving their pieces around on defense.

“It really makes you focus on who are we identifying as a down, who are we identifying as a rusher and so if he’s in a different spot,” Dozier said. “We just have to know, ‘hey he’s still a rusher, he’s still a guy that we need to focus on,’ so just being on top of who’s in what position, what number they wear really helps know how to handle it.’’

While both Dozier and right guard Pat Elflein were on the team last season, they weren’t in the same roles they will have this year. Without preseason, Sunday will be the first time they see any live action together at their new spots.

“They’re starting to settle in,” Zimmer said of the O-line. “We’re going to have to do a good job against their front. They’re a very big, physical front. They’ve got two really good edge rushers….It’ll be a good test for us.”

The other question on the O-line is how much Garrett Bradbury has improved from Year 1 to Year 2.

We will find out right away.

Last year three of the four total sacks he allowed came against Clark. The biggest issue Bradbury had was slowing down bigger, stronger interior defensive linemen. Clark, who ranked third among defensive tackles in total pressures only behind Aaron Donald and Calais Campbell, weighs in somewhere around 315 pounds.

If the Vikings can slow down Green Bay’s top rushers and force the Packers to send blitzes, they’ll have a chance to hit on big plays. Last year Cousins had a 122.2 rating when blitzed.

On the defensive side, Mike Hughes and Holton Hill are listed on the depth chart as the starting cornerbacks. Based on camp, Jeff Gladney and Cam Dantzler may rotate in when the Vikings use the nickel package. The total playing experience in the NFL between the four of them is 1,288 plays — that’s just over a season’s worth for a single starter.

Safety Harrison Smith was asked Monday about his advice for young group when going against Aaron Rodgers.

“The first thing I would mention is that the play might be longer than you’re used to,” Smith said. “Every play seems to last a little longer when you play Aaron Rodgers and the Packers. Everybody has an internal clock to some degree of how long a play is and normally it lasts a little longer, so you might get a little more fatigued, you can’t relax when you think a play’s over.”

Hughes played in Week 16 against Rodgers last year, allowing four catches on six throws his way for 35 yards.

It won’t take much to upgrade over Xavier Rhodes’s performance against Rodgers last year. The Packers’ QB completed 12 of 13 passes in his direction for 122 yards (per PFF). Davante Adams had 106 yards in the first contest and 116 in the second.

Facing Rodgers changed to some extent last year with Mike McCarthy’s exit and the hire of Matt LaFleur, who runs a similar offensive scheme to Gary Kubiak as both are disciples of Mike Shanahan. In Year 2 of the system, we could see even more comfort from Rodgers but Smith said that the familiarity of having played against him many times still helps.

“The scheme has changed… but when you’re talking about Aaron Rodgers, you’re talking about all the ability that he has, the plays he’s made and the best way to defend that, which is hard to defend, but that’s what our job is,” Smith said. “You’re used to maybe extending plays and covering longer and him getting out of the pocket and stuff like that and creating.”

One of the ways to disrupt the timing and playmaking ability of Rodgers is to create pressure with the front four.

In Week 2 last year Everson Griffen created 11 pressures by himself, which was one of the top performances in any game by any edge rusher in 2019. Under pressure Rodgers went 6-for-18 in that game with 72 yards. When he wasn’t pressured, Rodgers went 17-for-17 with 143 yards and two touchdowns.

Recreating Griffen’s performance would be a lot to ask of new defensive end Yannick Ngakoue but he’ll need to step right into the mix and battle one of the best left tackles in the NFL in David Bakhtiari.

“He’s been very, very receptive,” Zimmer said of Ngakoue. “He’s been staying long at night trying to catch up on all the different calls and defensive plays and things like that. He’s been really good.”