5 Keys To The Packers-Vikings Showdown

The Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings square off at Lambeau Field in a huge NFC battle at noon today.

Minnesota leads the division with a 3-0 mark, while Green Bay is 2-1.

Here are five things you need to know about today’s game.

1. The power of Love

Twenty three days after suffering a sprained MCL in Green Bay’s Week 1 loss to Philadelphia, franchise quarterback Jordan Love returns.

The Packers went 2-0 without Love, as No. 2 quarterback Malik Willis shined and led Green Bay to wins over Indianapolis and Tennessee. But Love is one of the top quarterbacks in football, and his return should be a boost in this critical early season showdown.

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“I’m trying to push it and I’ve been trying to get back as fast as I can no matter who the opponent was,” Love said earlier this week. “But definitely, you look at this week and NFC North opponent, 3-0 team, really good team, so definitely it would mean a lot to get back and push myself to get back for this game.”

2. Remember him?

Aaron Jones, who ranks third in Packers history with 5,940 yards, makes his first trip back to Green Bay with the arch-rival Vikings.

The only players in Green Bay history to rush for more yards than Jones were Ahman Green (8,322) and Jim Taylor (8,207). Jones also had 2,076 receiving yards during his seven years in Green Bay and 63 total touchdowns.

As good as Jones was on the field, he was even better off of it.

The Packers released Jones, though, on March 11, and he signed with Minnesota less than 24 hours later. Now, he faces his former teammates with first place in the division at stake.

“Man, he's a great dude. And not only was he a great teammate he was a great person,” Packers defensive end Preston Smith said. “He's a great teammate, he's a great player and of course we know he's an explosive player when he gets the ball in his hands and he can do a lot of things from receiving, running routes, and running the ball out the backfield and scoring in many multiple ways.

“We just know the type of player he is. We know what we are facing this Sunday. We know we gotta keep him contained and not let him have a good day on us.”

3. Short corner

The Packers called two practice squad cornerbacks up to the gameday roster on Saturday because No. 1 corner Jaire Alexander is questionable (groin/quadriceps) and reserve Carrington Valentine is doubtful (ankle).

That could mean trouble for a Green Bay secondary tasked with slowing down all-world wideout Justin Jefferson.

In seven career games against Green Bay, Jefferson has had mixed results.

He’s had two terrific games where he’s averaged 9.5 receptions, 176.5 yards and 2.0 touchdowns per contest.

In the other five games, though, Jefferson has 17 total receptions for 184 yards and no touchdowns. Those are pedestrian averages of 3.4 catches per game, 36.8 yards and no TDs.

If Alexander — who would have likely shadowed Jefferson — can’t play, it could mean trouble for Green Bay.

“You turn on the tape and it doesn’t take you very long to figure out how good he is,” Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley said of Jefferson. “I mean, he’s big, he can catch the ball, he’s fast, he can run all the routes, he’s good when he catches the ball in catch and run, he’s got incredible hands.

“You definitely want to pick other people’s brains, and I’ve talked to other coaches in the league about him. But all you have to do is turn on the tape. The tape speaks louder than anyone can tell me. So you’ve got to know where he is and you have to pick and choose times to scheme around him.”

4. Sack attack

Minnesota leads the league with 16 sacks and has had at least five sacks in every game.

Linebackers Pat Jones and Jonathan Greenard lead the way with four sacks each, while former University of Wisconsin standout Andrew Van Ginkel has three.

The Packers must slow down Minnesota’s pass rush — especially if Love’s mobility is slowed in his first game back.

“We’ve got to do a great job in terms of our protection calls, making sure we get a body on a body and then you’ve got to go and actually block these guys which isn’t the easiest task to do either,” Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur said. “So, I think they’ve got a lot of good rushers in there. I think they rush collectively as a unit as one as good as anybody. I mean, their pick games that they’re running, it causes a lot of carnage on the offensive line at times. And they’ve also done a great job, I mean shoot, it shows up all over the tape just getting free runners at the quarterback and sacking the quarterback.”

5. Fab four

This could be a day for Green Bay’s gifted wide receivers to shine.

Minnesota ranks 26th in the league in passing defense, allowing 239.3 yards per game.

Corners Stephon Gilmore and Shaq Griffin will be left on islands, at times, when Minnesota defensive coordinator Brian Flores employs his heavy blitz packages. And that could mean Green Bay wideouts Jayden Reed, Romeo Doubs, Christian Watson and Dontayvion Wicks could have big days.

In Green Bay’s 33-10 win at Minnesota in Week 17 last season, Love threw for 256 yards and three touchdowns, while Reed had two TDs and Bo Melton had 105 receiving yards.

“What happens when they’re blitzing, when they’re sending five, sending six, you leave holes in your defense,” Packers tight end Tucker Kraft said. “We took advantage of those. There was guys open. We had a pretty complete game. We were able to take our starters off the field in the fourth quarter.

“That was a New Year’s Eve game, so it was great to be able to get some reps off our bodies. The key to that was finding the voids. If they’re going to blitz us, which guys are blitzing, who has them backed up in coverage and where can we find the holes in their defense?”