Quick Review: Packers at Vikings – 2020 Week 1

Well, that was every bit as random and unpredictable as I would imagine Week 1 of 2020 to be.

That first drive was exactly what I thought the Packers would do with their new offense: using the run game quick rhythm passing with  lots of catches by the running backs.

Unfortunately, the first defensive series was also what I thought would happen – the Packers getting run all over.

Luckily, Jaire Alexander took over the second quarter with a safety and an interception that led to a quick touchdown and turned the game into a laugher. Jaire was my player of the game.

The offense was on point, spreading the ball around and actually scheming guys open – in some cases, wide open. This is what I hoped LaFleur’s offense would look like this year.

Still, down the stretch, for as productive as the offense was, the defense was wildly inconsistent. For the first 14:45 of the second quarter, they only allowed the Vikings to run 7 plays, for -6 yards, a safety and an interception. They held them scoreless in the 3rd quarter, but in the 4th quarter, they gave up 24 points on touchdown drives lasting 1:16, 2:07, and 1:58.

I get that Kenny Clark was out, but come on, man.

By the way, injuries are my biggest concern coming out of this game. Lane Taylor looks done. As much as I loved seeing him return to form in training camp and felt he was going to be an important member of the offensive line, I think they can live without him (especially since my draft crush Jon Runyan Jr is in town) a lot easier than replacing Kenny Clark. I think Clark might be the second most important player on the team after Rodgers.

Overall, I’m not going to make too many judgements off this game. Week 1’s are always nuts and when you don’t get an offseason, it going to be even more sloppy.

The Packers played a team starting a bunch of greenhorns at corner, missing their best pass rusher, and with no crowd noise. They should put up 40+ points. However, giving up 24 points in a quarter is something that needs to get cleaned up.

Let’s chalk up the win, hope the injuries aren’t serious, and get ready for another division battle next week.

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Quick Points

• Matt LaFleur played ball control and won
• Crowd noise matters
• Deguara’s block that took out two Vikings for Lazard was a thing of beauty
• Dalvin Cook is the real deal and the Vikings were stupid for not running the offense through him the whole game
• Ballsy call on the safety for a corner blitz that just leaves guys running free – Aaron Rodgers would have read that, snickered, and whipped out a 99 yard touchdown
• I give Adam Thielen credit for busting his a$s trying to stop Jaire from picking that ball before the half
• Terrible call on the penalty on Savage lowering his shoulder before the half
• I was shocked Rodgers kept going back to MVS – it will be interesting to watch that all year
• Lazard’s 4th quarter TD was blanket coverage by Hughes, and a physics-disproving throw by Rodgers

Now it’s on to Detroit, for another division game – this time, it’s against a foe who just blew a win with an epic 4th quarter meltdown punctuated by a rookie dropping an easy game winner in the final seconds.This should be fun.