Written By Sam Ekstrom
LAST WEEK
Coming off a bye, the Vikings fell flat against the Bears with a 21-13 loss at Soldier Field, their seventh straight defeat at the Bears’ home stadium. After jumping out to 10-0 lead, thanks in large part to a well-conceived fake punt, the Vikings scored just three points the rest of the way as Jay Cutler used his lengthy receivers to gang up on the Vikings’ smaller corners. Alshon Jeffery made 11 catches for 135 yards and a touchdown, while Brandon Marshall caught seven balls that included a pair of scores. Teddy Bridgewater struggled again on the road with just 158 passing yards, and his late heave to the endzone for Charles Johnson was intercepted by Chicago’s Ryan Mundy to ice the game.
Green Bay stayed undefeated at home – and on a roll, offensively – with a 53-20 whitewashing of the Philadelphia Eagles. Aaron Rodgers threw for 341 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions to continue his torrid pace. He now has 28 TDs against three INTs on the season. Green Bay also got it done in the return game with a punt return, fumble recovery return and interception return for touchdowns.
RECENT MEETINGS
The Vikings were run off the field when they played Green Bay on Oct. 2 without the injured Teddy Bridgewater. Christian Ponder reprised his old role as starter for the night, and it went terribly. The Vikings trailed 42-0 after three quarters and lost by a 42-10 score as Rodgers threw for a trio of touchdowns.
Last November, the NFC North rivals played to just the second tie of their 106-game series. The Vikings blew a 16-point fourth quarter lead to backup QB Matt Flynn and the Packers, who erased a 23-7 deficit. Both teams kicked a field goal in overtime to bring things to a 26-all stalemate. Adrian Peterson rushed for 146 yards in the contest.
Minnesota’s last victory against Green Bay came on Dec. 30, 2012 in the final game of the regular season. The 37-34 win at the Metrodome clinched the Vikings a playoff spot and vaulted Adrian Peterson over 2,000 rushing yards for the season.
COMMON CONNECTIONS
Former Vikings tackle Letroy Guion, who spent six years in Minnesota, has 2.5 sacks for the Packers this season.
Vikings wide receiver Greg Jennings caught 53 touchdowns from Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers in seven seasons with Green Bay. Through two years in Minnesota, the Vikings’ $47.5 million man has underachieved with just six touchdowns in 25 games played.
Another Minnesota wide receiver, Charles Johnson, was drafted by the Packers in the seventh round of the 2013 draft but never played in the regular season with the team.
NO FUN FOR PATTERSON
It hasn’t been a very enjoyable year for second-year receiver Cordarrelle Patterson. Call it a sophomore slump; the explosive talent out of Tennessee isn’t making things look easy like he did his rookie year. With just one receiving touchdown and less than a 50 percent reception rate when targeted, Patterson would like to turn back the clock to 2013.
“I just need to focus in, just go out and play ball, man,” said Patterson Thursday. “Like last year, I was having a lot of fun last year. This year it seems like I'm not having as much fun as I was last year, so I just need to find that little missing piece and have some fun.”
Head coach Mike Zimmer spoke Monday about Patterson’s struggles connecting with rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, which has been an ongoing challenge.
“I think Cordarrelle is a young, developing player that has been in his third offense in three years, hasn't been a receiver for a long time, so we're going to continue to be patient with him and keep teaching him and keep working with him and trying to get him where he needs to be in all those areas.”
The stress of struggling seems to be weighing heavily on “Flash,” as he’s called. The 23 year old hopes to turn things around against the Packers on Sunday, a team he’s yet to beat as a Viking. The last time Green Bay visited Minnesota, Patterson returned the opening kickoff back for a touchdown at the Metrodome. He’s yet to break a single return into the opponent’s territory yet this year, which he pins on the special teams’ inexperience.
“It's been a struggle the whole year for kickoff returns,” said Patterson. “We make a good play and then somebody holding; little things like that … We've got a lot of young guys on the kickoff return team who need to step up more and just do things older guys will do. No penalties and stuff like that.”
No. 84, disappointed in himself and his team’s play, will attempt to “get back happy” against the Green and Gold.
“This year I just think I've been thinking too much, wanting to make too many plays. When you start doing stuff like that you start messing up, and I've seen myself mess up a lot this year, much more than I did last year. This week I'm just trying to not think, just go out there and play ball, have fun, enjoy it. Just go out there and try to get a touchdown or something.”
NEWCOMER AT RUNNING BACK
With Adrian Peterson likely out for the year, Matt Asiata suffering from a concussion and Jerick McKinnon dealing with a minor back issue, the Vikings brought in an insurance policy in the form of former Texans and Browns RB Ben Tate, who rushed for nearly 1,000 yards as a rookie at nearly 5.4 yards per carry.
The fourth-year player was waived from the Browns after a hideous five-game stretch where he rushed the ball 53 times for 90 yards – a 1.7 yard average – and was disgruntled from sharing reps with Isaiah Crowell and Terrance West. Tate comes to Minnesota, not to be a featured back, but to back up McKinnon and get carries in short-yardage situations.
Offensive coordinator Norv Turner cautioned Thursday that Tate will not have much time to learn the playbook.
“Obviously, we’re in a situation where yesterday we had one back that could practice, so the timing of him being released and the opportunity for us to add a back, certainly it was good timing,” said Turner. “And we’re getting started with Ben and trying to teach him our system and hopefully get him where he can be ready to go contribute.”
Tate will be paid approximately $350,000 in base salary for the remainder of the season.
WEATHER REPORT
Thank goodness the Vikings-Bills game was played a month ago. As torrential snow in Buffalo affects the Bills’ travel plans, Minnesota will have very comfortable conditions for a late November game: cloudy with a high of 42 degrees.
MATCHUPS TO WATCH
Jeff Locke vs Himself – From an outsiders view, it seems like the second-year punter Locke is in a sophomore slump of his own. Locke is 26th in the league in punt distance and 24th in the league in net punt distance, which subtracts return yardage. Zimmer said that Locke made two poor punts last Sunday – not the first game this year where coaches have been disappointed in the punter’s performance. Locke will be looking to bounce back against a solid return unit in Green Bay.
Josh Robinson vs Packers WRs – The diminutive Robinson struggled last week in Chicago, allowing 11 receptions in the 15 times his receiver was targeted. The Bears’ tandem of Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery proved too tall for Robinson as they combined for 18 receptions. This week, Robinson will likely match up with the 5-foot-10 Randall Cobb. We’ll see if the third-year corner’s confidence was shaken after last week’s debacle.
PREDICTION
The Vikings enter this game without anything that resembles momentum. The Packers? They’re a runaway train. It’s tough to give the Vikings any chance, especially when you consider the way they’ve folded against clearly superior teams this season (i.e., Patriots, Packers, Lions). Mike Zimmer is still looking for a statement victory in his first season, but it won’t come on Sunday. Packers 34, Vikings 21.
Sam Ekstrom is a staff writer for Cold Omaha at 105 The Ticket and a play-by-play broadcaster in Burnsville, Minn. Hear him on 105 The Ticket weekdays from 2-3 p.m. on “The Michael Knight Show” or Sunday mornings from 8-10 a.m. on “The Wake Up Call.” Follow him on Twitter @SamEkstrom for further insights.