Vikings-Packers Q&A: Game planning against Minnesota

On Sunday, the Green Bay Packers host the NFC North rival Minnesota Vikings at Lambeau Field. Ted “Grover” Glover of Daily Norseman kindly volunteered to answer our questions about the Vikings and provide some insight into their strengths and weaknesses.

APC: If you were game planning against the Vikings, how would you attack them on offense? On defense?

Neutralize the run and put the game in the hands of Kirk Cousins. I think the key to this Vikings offense will be the run/pass balance we’ve talked about, and as we saw last year, when they became a pass heavy unit, they really struggled at times. Once you eliminate Dalvin Cook as a threat on the ground, bring pressure and make Kirk Cousins uncomfortable. Historically, Cousins hasn’t played well in games where the opponent in above .500, or in big games. He played well against the Packers twice last year, but that was last year, and these are both different teams. Yes, the Vikings have what is arguably the best WR tandem in the NFL in Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen, but the Vikings interior line really struggled to protect Cousins. It’s been revamped, but there were moments last Sunday that made me question whether or not it was any better. They’re going to have a tough draw against Kenny Clark and the rest of the Packers defensive front, and it’s essential that they give the quarterback a clean pocket as much as possible. If they can’t Diggs and Thielen won’t matter.

We’d like to thank Ted for his time. Be sure to check out the rest of our Q&A session with Daily Norseman over the course of the week as well as our Q&A session over there. As always, keep your internet machines tuned to Acme Packing Company this Sunday for our comprehensive game-day coverage of Vikings versus Packers.