Big game this week against the stinkin Packers. The defense is going to have to slow down the Packers offense. The offense should simply try to get better. Since it is a home game, the team must protect the house. I figure it will be close. Obviously, I am picking the Vikings. Who you picking?
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NFL Expert Picks: Opinions Divided for Vikings vs. Packers in Week 17 Border Battle
Another chapter in the storied Border Battle rivalry – the 129th to be exact – will be penned this weekend when Minnesota hosts Green Bay on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Not many of those chapters, however, have had stakes like this.
If Minnesota wins this week against Green Bay and in Week 18 at Detroit, the Vikings will not only claim the division crown for the second time in three seasons, but also – and more importantly – earn the coveted No. 1 seed in the NFC, a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Even though the best Green Bay can receive is the No. 5 seed if the Packers win out and the Vikings lose out, it can still play spoiler; a Minnesota loss to Green Bay + a Detroit (13-2) win at San Francisco (6-9) on Monday Night Football allows the Lions to win consecutive division titles for the first time in team history and lock up the No. 1 seed.
Of the 128 previous meetings between the Vikings and Packers, only 28 have come in the month of December, with Green Bay holding a record of 18-10 all-time, including winning the past two December matchups (23-10 in 2019 and 33-10 in 2023, both in Minnesota). Of Minnesota’s 10 victories against the Packers in December in franchise history, six have been in Minnesota, with the last one being a 37-34 final in the 2012 regular-season finale.
Vikings 30, Packers 27 – John Breech, CBS Sports
We are 17 weeks into the NFL season, and I still have no idea how good the Packers are, which seems like a crazy thing to say about an 11-4 team. Now, before you start sending me hate mail, Packers fans, let me finish my point. I know the Packers are good, and I think they might even win a playoff game, but I’m not sure if they’re good enough to beat the best teams in the NFC, and that’s mostly because they haven’t done it yet.
Every time the Packers face one of the top teams in the NFC, they completely melt down and find a way to lose the game. I’ll give them a pass for their Week 1 loss to the Eagles, because that game was in Brazil and as everyone knows, you can’t be blamed for anything you do wrong in Brazil.
They lost to the Vikings in Week 4 in a game where they were down 28-0 before halftime. In Week 9, they lost to the Lions in a game where they were trailing 24-6 before the third quarter was even over. In Week 14, they lost to the Lions again in a game where they fell behind 10-0 in the first half. I’m starting to notice a pattern here and that pattern is that they always seem to trip over their own feet to the start the game when they’re playing a good team.
If the Packers can avoid a slow start, then they can absolutely win this game, especially because Jordan Love will be going up against a Vikings defense that’s surrendering 248.7 yards per game through the air, which is the fourth-most in the NFL. I feel like these two teams are pretty even, but with the Packers coming off a short week after playing on Monday in Week 16 and being forced to the road for this game, I think I have to roll with Minnesota.
Packers 28, Vikings 26 – Staff, Bleacher Report
A couple of days ago, the Green Bay Packers shut out the New Orleans Saints 34-0. Now, they’ll focus on a critical road matchup with the Minnesota Vikings.
In the first meeting between these teams, Green Bay fell behind 28-0 by the second quarter. The Packers made a run to close the deficit, but they lost 31-29 at home.
The Packers are a different team now, though.
[Bleacher Report Betting Strategies’ Vince] Michelino focused on Green Bay’s passing game. He thinks Love will have a much better performance than his first one against the Vikings and lead his team to victory.
“It was all fireworks the last time these two met when Minnesota won at Lambeau Field after nearly blowing a 28-0 lead,” Michelino recalled. “The Vikings held on to win 31-29 in a shootout, but Jordan Love made things very interesting in the second half after shaking off the rust in his return.
Vikings 26, Packers 23 – Bill Bender, Sporting News
Packers 27, Vikings 24 – Vinnie Iyer, Sporting News
Brian Flores makes a sincere admission after watching Josh Jacobs play ahead of Packers-Vikings
“I think we’ve done a good job of tackling,” Flores said. “But Josh Jacobs makes me feel like we need to talk about tackling.”
The Vikings have had a 68.6 PFF tackling grade in 2024, the third best in the NFL, just behind the Detroit Lions and New England Patriots. On the other side, though, Josh Jacobs is eighth in yards after contact per attempt (3.42) amongst running backs with at least 100 carries this season. And nobody ahead of him has more carries.
In terms of numbers, the Vikings defense has the advantage. Minnesota is second in EPA and third in success rate in rushing defense, while the Packers’ offense is seventh in EPA and 13th in success rate.
In the first Packers-Vikings matchup in Week 4, Green Bay barely had a chance at running the football like they would like to . The game was basically out of hand fairly early (even though the Packers got back late), which forced Matt LaFleur to lean on the pass.
Josh Jacobs had only nine attempts, but was efficient, with 51 rushing yards (5.7 average per attempt). Emanuel Wilson had eight carries for 27 yards (3.4 per attempt), though, showing how Jacobs can produce more than what the offensive line and the system give him.
Josh Jacobs’ volume and effectiveness are a huge part of what the Packers have been able to do on offense. Getting that plan in action against the Vikings is a big factor, and Brian Flores knows stopping the star running back will be imperative to make everything else work.
Brady ‘doubts’ Packers can stop this Vikings player. What game he’s calling in week 17
Tom Brady and Kevin Burkhardt are back at it this weekend, this time calling the game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Green Bay Packers.
After last week’s play, Tom Brady gave one of his 3 stars of the week to Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson.
“He came up so clutch when it mattered the most,” Brady said. “Let’s see in the Packers’ secondary has any answers for JJ this week. I doubt it.”
NFC Playoff Picture: Vikings Status After Week 16
The Vikings (13-2) have won eight consecutive games for the first time since Weeks 5-13 of the 2017 season.
Minnesota secured the NFC North that year with a 13-3 mark. The league expanded to 17-game regular seasons in 2021.
The Vikings can claim the division crown again if they win this week against the Packers and in Week 18 at Detroit.
The Lions also improved to 13-2 over the weekend and have tiebreakers on the Vikings if both squads finish with the same record.
If the postseason started today, Philadelphia would host Washington in the 2-7 matchup, the Los Angeles Rams would host Green Bay in the 3-6, and Atlanta would host Minnesota in the 4-5.
Minnesota, Detroit and Philadelphia are guaranteed playoff berths, but they are continuing to vie for the No. 1 seed in the NFC Playoffs, which comes with a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout.
Vikings’ playoff hopes (and Super Bowl dreams?) may come down to these concerns
1. Defensive explosive plays
2. Interior of the offensive line
3. Run defense
4. Offensive turnovers
5. Special teams penalties
Minnesota Vikings Sign Veteran D-lineman to Practice Squad, Cut Cornerback
The cornerback room was a cause for concern coming into the season for Minnesota. They have held up well, and veteran Stephon Gilmore returned to the starting lineup last weekend. In addressing another area of the defense, the Vikings grabbed defensive lineman Jonathan Harris from the Carolina Panthers.
Harris went undrafted out of Lindenwood but has turned in a nice five-year professional career. Minnesota will be his fourth professional team, and he has played in 40 games while making nine starts.
2023 with Denver was Harris’ most productive season as a pro. In 17 games he recorded 43 tackles and his first career sack. In seven games with Carolina this season he had 10 tackles and a quarterback hit. Harris has played both defensive end as well as contributed on the interior defensive line.
Report: ‘Strong belief’ that Vikings, Sam Darnold ‘want to stay together’
Sam Darnold may not be a one-hit wonder for the Minnesota Vikings. According to CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones, “there’s leaguewide belief that Minnesota hopes it can retain Darnold for the future.”
Darnold, who has thrown for 29 touchdowns and ranks fourth in the NFL with a 104.9 passer rating, is playing on a one-year, $10 million contract and is set to become a free agent in mid-March. If he doesn’t return with the Vikings in 2025, J.J. McCarthy would be the frontrunner to start next season after missing his 2024 rookie campaign after undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus.
There is a strong belief in the league that both sides will want to stay together after this trial run,” Jones elaborated Sunday morning on NFL on CBS.
“Darnold could get a Baker Mayfield-like deal in a lot of places, but he’s going to be selective about where he goes. And the Vikings, they’ve stayed mum on their plans beyond this year. They’re focused on the now. If Darnold does stay, is it possible we see McCarthy to the bench, becoming a Jordan Love-type draft pick when that really wasn’t the intention last April?”
Matthew Coller: Sam Darnold is doing all the things elite quarterbacks do
No matter how much football has changed through the years, there have always been fundamental truths about what traits make up excellence at the quarterback position.
As the weeks have gone on, Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold has crossed off many of the boxes from the “Best Ever Quarterbacks” checklist. His imaginative play was on display against the Atlanta Falcons when he escaped the rush to produce a 52-yard touchdown. His arm strength and mutually-beneficial relationship with his receivers has been on display countless times. His resiliency within this season stood out against Arizona and Seattle, when he led game-winning drives. It shines even more against the backdrop of the early part of his career.
On Darnold’s playmaking, Phillips said:
“He’s able to keep plays alive and give guys an extra click to separate. Those things are really valuable. And then what he does, stealing us yards…he had a five- and then a nine-[yard run] to convert [against Seattle]…you’ve seen it over and over and over again. Those things add up throughout the season and within a game. It’s just a really valuable thing. Ideally, you have a good athlete back there that can both play from the pocket and then make some plays with his legs.”
On Darnold’s chemistry with superstar receiver Justin Jefferson, Phillips said:
“I think it’s practice…watching the tape back, watching practice film throughout, just seeing how he moves and kind of where he’s going to be depending on the particular route. All those things contribute and then they’re both kind of gamers out there on the field. So sometimes they’ve been able to make some plays off schedule.”
On Darnold’s leadership in big moments, Phillips said:
“Leaders can lead in a lot of different ways….I’ve seen a lot of guys over the years voted captain that you wouldn’t necessarily say they exemplify every single thing of, you know, Remember The Titans. You have to be a good football player. You have to go out and make plays…the guys understand the challenges that our quarterback has, the type of game plans we put in, the things that they have to know, changing plays from one to the next. They understand the type of work.”
While Darnold fits the NFL Films description of the best quarterbacks, he also matches up with the top players at the position from a statistical perspective. Among QBs with at least 300 attempts, Darnold is the sixth highest graded player at his position by Pro Football Focus. He has the fourth highest quarterback rating. He has the third most “Big-Time Throws” and the sixth most total yards. The Vikings QB has 22 first downs rushing to his name as well.
Darnold leads the NFL in deep passing yards (throws over 20 yards in the air). He also grades as the third best passer on short throws (0-9 yards). He has been leaned on heavily by Kevin O’Connell, throwing the 10th most passes and he has been dynamic under pressure with the third highest PFF grade under duress in the NFL. Darnold has five game-winning drives, three fourth-quarter comebacks.
As far as his future, the sample size keeps growing of Darnold playing excellent football. Since 2022, he has started 22 games and won 17 of them with 40 TD, 14 INT, 8.1 YPA and 102.2 rating.
One thing the league shows us by the teams that are in the postseason is that elite QB play is worth paying for. Teams with QBs on expensive second contracts (or more) include: Buffalo, Kansas City, Baltimore, Los Angeles Chargers, Philly, Detroit, Green Bay and Los Angeles Rams.
QB Room: Vikings keeping Sam Darnold and J.J. McCarthy together in 2025 is gaining momentum
I began my calls with a high-ranking executive with a wealth of personal insight on O’Connell, Darnold and Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. And when I challenged him to sort out the either/or scenario in Minnesota and to pick either Darnold or McCarthy, he responded with the answer I hadn’t entertained.
“Why not both?” he said. “It can be both and right now it probably should be both.”
So what makes the keep-them-both scenario possible?
The Vikings have the salary-cap space to make it happen — including if the remedy is putting the franchise tag on Darnold for nearly $40 million in 2025. As one executive pointed out, there’s a chance that at least one team will offer Darnold a deal in free agency for $50 million in annual average value. If that’s his worth on the open market, a $40 million cost for a tag and McCarthy’s salary in 2025 of $4.96 million would place the Vikings at slightly less than $45 million in quarterback costs next season. If Darnold were to replicate his 2024 season in 2025 and the Vikings got another year to work with McCarthy, it’s a very justifiable expense, if not a bit of a bargain for the franchise. Of course, the downside is that it would eat into the money the Vikings could offer to other free agents and take cash out of their cap table for extensions. This isn’t great. But between that and letting go of a potential franchise quarterback in the midst of a Super Bowl window, you lean into the centerpiece and put the onus on the personnel department to make up the difference in deft free-agent moves and the best possible draft class.
…
The flip side of this is Darnold. While it seems less likely with each passing week, there is a possibility that his free agency isn’t quite what everyone assumes it will be. There is an inherent red flag with his success in Minnesota: He’s maximizing his ceiling with O’Connell as his head coach, Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison as his top two wideouts and T.J. Hockenson as his tight end. There aren’t a plethora of places he can go in free agency with that kind of surrounding talent, so any acquiring team has to take that into account.
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There’s a chance Darnold doesn’t get offered any more than two years of guaranteed money in free agency. There’s a chance he doesn’t get offered that by any team other than one at the bottom of the barrel. And there’s a chance that making that kind of move ultimately ends up killing the jumpstart that he’s gotten with the Vikings. Remember, he’s still 27 years old. The next deal he signs should be with a team that he can envision leading for the next 10 years, not just the next four. He should be thinking in a window of his next three four-year contracts and then a retirement. And right now, it’s clear that Minnesota is his best shot at that kind of horizon.
Pro Football Focus released their top 50 free agents and the Vikings have five players who made the list.
9. QB Sam Darnold
17. LT Cam Robinson
20. RB Aaron Jones
31. S Camryn Bynum
33. CB Byron Murphy Jr.
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