The Repack: The Packers control their playoff destiny with a win over the Vikings

After the Green Bay Packers’ fortune-tilting win over the Minnesota Vikings, Acme Packing Company’s Evan “Tex” Western and Justis Mosqueda brokedown the game on The Repack. Green Bay’s defense, particularly, had a great game on Sunday and shut down Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson after he got the best of them in Week 1.

When aligned as an outside receiver, the Packers played cloud coverage toward him — meaning that a cornerback played the short zone to his side and a safety over the top covered him deep. When lined up in the slot, Green Bay ran true bracket “double coverage” to prevent him from running crossers as he did in the season-opener. The end result? One reception on five targets for Jefferson on the night.

On the other side of the ball, the Packers saw a lot of quarters coverage, which they ran the ball against. It’s one of the reasons why running back Aaron Jones was basically the only player to touch the ball on the first couple of drives. When Green Bay got man coverage, they tried to complete shot passes down the field. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to hit anyone deep outside of one reception from tight end Robert Tonyan.

Oh, and Keisean Nixon continued his historic streak this season with a 105-yard kick return touchdown. Nixon is now one of six players to ever record seven straight games of 95-plus kick return yards in NFL history. The NFL record is nine and he’s the first returner to post seven straight games at that mark in a decade and a half.

The win put the Packers in a win and in position against the Detroit Lions on Sunday, a game that will likely be the final Sunday Night Football game of the regular season. If Green Bay wins, they earn a playoff spot. If the Lions win and the Seattle Seahawks lose to the Los Angeles Rams, then Detroit will advance to the postseason.

As a bonus, the duo also touched on the rumor that Jim Harbaugh is linked to the Denver Broncos head coaching vacancy and the impact it could have on defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, who would be high on the list of potential Joe Barry replacements. Also, what do we think of a Darren Waller trade this offseason?

All that and more on this week’s edition of The Repack.

Timestamps

• 0:00: Win and in for the Packers’ playoff hopes.
• 35:00: Offensive vibe checks.
• 39:00: Defensive vibe checks.
• 50:30: Special teams vibe checks.

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