The Green Bay Packers had the perfect gameplan to beat the Vikings and it was to attack their weak pass defense.  Brett Favre was outstanding again as he completed 32 of 45 passes for 344 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 interceptions.  He snapped Dan Marino’s all-time record for TD passes as he now has 422 and counting.  TE Donald Lee (4 rec, 66 yards) and Donald Driver (7 rec, 58 yards) got the most yards for the Packers in receiving.  But, Greg Jennings (4 rec, 49 yards, TD) and James Jones (3 rec, 43 yards, TD) made the big catches.  The running game could get anywhere for the Packers as rookie DeShawn Wynn led the way with 20 yards rushing on 10 carries (2.0 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 10 yards.  The Packers finished up the game with only 46 yards rushing on 20 carries (2.3 ypc).  But, they completed 32 of 45 passes for 338 yards.

The Packers defense had issues with rookie running back Adrian Peterson who rushed for 112 yards on 12 carries (9.3 ypc) but the Vikings were too dumb to keep feeding him the rock.  Linebackers Nick Barnett (8 tackles) and A.J. Hawk (8 tackles) led the way for the Packers defense.  DE Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila had another outstanding game with 3 tackles and 2 sacks.  The Packers played bend but don’t break defense as they held the Vikings to only 16 points despite allowing 155 yards rushing on 22 carries (7.0 ypc).  The Vikings also completed 21 of 39 passes for 227 yards.

The Packers are off to an outstanding start and they match up very well with the Vikings.  The Vikings are coming off a rough road loss at Kansas City.  Brett Favre has been outstanding this season and he has to be licking his chops this week against a pass defense that is allowing 243.0 yards passing per game this season.  Favre has completed 80 of 125 passes (64%) for 861 yards with 6 TD passes and 2 INTs (93.5 QB Rating) so far this year.  He also is sitting at 420 career TD passes which has him tied with Dan Marino as the #1 all-time TD thrower.  Look for the Packers to attack the Vikings down the field with WRs Donald Driver (20 rec, 265 yards, 2 TDs), James Jones (14 rec, 183 yards) and Greg Jennings (4 rec, 82 yards, TD).  But, Favre won’t forget his TEs as Donald Lee and Bubba Franks are both off to good starts and they will put pressure on safeties Darren Sharper and Dwight Smith.  The only chance the Vikings have to stop the Packers passing game is to get to Favre and rattle him.  That’s not an impossible task as the Packers have allowed 7 sacks this season and the Vikings defense has 11 already this season.  The Vikings have one of the best run defenses in the NFL as they only allow 67.3 yards rushing per game and 2.5 ypc, so don’t look for Brandon Jackson or DeShawn Wynn to rack up many yards against the Vikings.

The Vikings whole offense is built around the running game and specifically Adrian Peterson who has accounted for 431 total yards rushing and receiving this season.  The Packers run defense has been solid this season as they have only allowed 90.0 yards rushing and 3.7 ypc this season.  The Packers have an active linebacking corps led by Nick Barnett and A.J. Hawk who no doubt will be keying on Peterson.  The Vikings need to mix up the offense a little more as they would probably have success throwing the football if Kelly Holcomb is playing.  But if he does, the Vikings will need to protect him better as he was sacked 5 times last week by the Chiefs.

PREDICTION:  The only edges the Vikings have are in the running game and home field advantage.  That won’t be enough against a determined Brett Favre who is playing better than he has in quite a while. 

It’s looking more and more like the Packers should have just re-signed Ahman Green.  Rookie Brandon Jackson has been a bust so far.  He has carried the ball 38 times for 97 yards (2.6 ypc) with 1 TD run and he also has caught 11 passes for 81 yards (7.4 avg).  DeShawn Wynn is another rookie and he’s looked better than Jackson so far this season as he has carried the ball 13 times for 67 yards (5.2 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  He also has caught 6 passes for 50 yards (8.3 avg).  It almost seems as if the Packers are using short passes to the running backs as an extension of their running game.  Still, there will come a time when the Packers need to line up on 3rd and 1 or 4th and 1 and they will need to get that yard on the ground.  I’m not so sure Wynn or Jackson will get that yard.  The Packers really need Vernand Morency to get healthy because I think he’s the best back they got.

The Packers played a good offensive game and it overcomed some lapses by the defense.  Brett Favre completed 28 of 45 passes for 369 yards with 3 TD passes and 0 interceptions.  Favre tied Dan Marino for the all-time most TD passes in the NFL in the 4th quarter of this football game.  Rookie RB Brandon Jackson did most of the running for the Packers as he had 6 carries for 22 yards (3.7 ypc) with a TD run.  He also caught 3 passes for 22 yards.   Donald Driver had an outstanding game as he caught 6 passes for 126 yards (21.0 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Greg Jennings also was outstanding with 4 grabs for 82 yards (20.5 avg) with 1 TD catch.  Rookie WR James Jones (6 rec, 79 yards) and TE Donald Lee (4 rec, 44 yards) both added some spice to the passing game.  The Packers finished up with 42 yards rushing on 13 carries (3.2 ypc) and they completed 28 of 45 passes for 363 yards.

Safety Atari Bigby (11 tackles) and linebacker A.J. Hawk (11 tackles) led the way for the Packers defense.  Linebacker Nick Barnett had a solid game with 7 tackles and an interception that set up a TD in the 4th quarter for the Packers.  Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila also was solid yesterday with 3 tackles and 2 sacks.  The Chargers finished up with 73 yards rushing on 28 carries (2.6 ypc) and they also completed 27 of 36 passes for 291 yards.

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