#321 Packers Unscripted: View of the Vikings

their defense. But this year, in particular, I think we have to start on the offensive side because they made a big investment at the quarterback position, bringing in Kirk Cousins, who was considered the prize of the free agent field out there in the off season, the Vikings looking for the former Redskins quarterback to take him to the promise line. It's actually funny because I'm gonna one up, you know, and I'm gonna take it even to a different level

beyond the defense. Beyond Kirk Cousins. I'm actually gonna talk about Mike Zimmer because I think one thing about Mike Zimmer and his time now whatever it's been, what has it been now five six years he's been with the Minnesota Vikings. He might be one of the most self aware coaches in NFL history, especially with given the air

in which he's coaching. His comment this offseason, to me was the comment of the off season about how whatever situation, whatever direction they went in at quarterback, it probably has a direct tie into really his job security, he felt. And that's why I know they threw a lot of money at Kirk Cousins, but it's also why I didn't blame the Vikings for doing this, because out of all three quarterbacks, they already at a house. Kirk Cousins was

really the surest thing you had. Teddy Bridgewater coming off a devastating knee injury, despite the promise that he showed early on, you don't know if you want to hit your way again too. That player Sam Bradford has had issues he's had with injuries in the past years. And then case Keenum was sort of this overnight sensation do you want to make him your quarterback in the future. So with all those chips on the table, he talked, you know, and he also had Rick Spielman, they're going

out and those conversations. Really the biggest storyline of those opening days of free agencies what was going to happen with Kirk Cousins. How much was he gonna make? Was it gonna be the first fully guaranteed contract in NFL history? And at the end of the day, the Vikings got their guy. I still believe, as I said earlier this week, this team will go as far as its defense takes them. But having Cousins now, and especially with how productive he's been in the NFL, it does give them a bigger

margin forrer than I think they've had before underneath Zimmer. Yeah. Well, one of the narratives in the off season with regards to this as well, how can the Vikings you know, throw all that money at Cousins and expect him to play better than Case Keenum did last year because Keenum

played so well and was so productive for them. And really what it came down to, at least the way I look data is if the Vikings get out of Kirk Cousins the same type of season they got out of Case Keenum last year, they would be perfectly happy with that. That's what they're after. They were just they were just betting that Cousins is more likely to give that to them than Keenum doing it again. And uh, and that was really what the decision came down to.

We'll see their one game in there, want to know. Uh. They beat the San Francisco forty niners at home last week, their first road trip now coming to lambeau Field this weekend. Kirk Cousins no stranger to the Packers, certainly um this particular defense. Obviously, the Packers have some different things going on this year, but but the Packers have faced this quarterback before a handful of times with the red skin that in all these years, Michael, we've been doing this.

That might be one of your best points. I think you've ever made it. You've made some good ones. But Yeah, basically they expected Cousins to be more It would be more achievable for him to have a case Keenum type season then to double down on a Keenam doing it right again. I think that's I think that's what they decided. He might end up having a phenomenal year with Denver. He did enough to win that game through three interceptions

last week, but they still did top Seattle. But as far as the vikings with where you know how these defenses are built, Mike. You saw it with Seattle. That window only stays open for so long. The Vikings had to dart through it. They're getting Delvin Cooked back. They've added to those weapons outside over the years, they've they've found a diamond, the rough and Stefon Diggs. You need to be able to get some titles out of this. So that's the way they view it. That's how they're

approaching it. But it will be interesting to see now because even though Cousins hasn't played in this division, he has kind of a storied history here with the Packers. He's seen a lot of them in the last few seasons,

and he'll see a new defense with Mike Petton on Sunday. Yeah. Well, with regards to the Minnesota Vikings weapons and what they have around Kirk Cousins, the Packers obviously, they've you know, seen their share of Stefon Diggs and Adam Thieland and Kyle Rudolph, and the Packers will have a whole different secondary group to match up against them compared to past years. But the one guy that the Packers have not faced is Dalvin Cook. He was injured and out for the season.

By the time the first Packers Vikings game rolled around last year. And I don't know how much of the Week one game against the forty Niners that you watched West, but I tell you what sure didn't look like. Dalvin Cook was a running back coming off of a c L surgery. He looks, he looks good, he looks he looks kind of scary, frankly, And I say that from the standpoint of he can he can run the ball and be a pass catching weapon out of the backfield. This is this is a big, powerful guy who can

do a lot of things. I do not care who your quarterback is. I do not care what exactly your receivers look like. In the NFC North, you have to have a running back. You have to have a guy that's going to be able to weather November and December. And by all accounts, Cook was looking like that player last year up until when he has the knee injury. Yeah, he was one of the top two or three rushers in the league. I don't remember exactly. Yeah, yeah, coming

through four through four games. Yeah, So they were very fortunate in having Latavious Murray. Murray stepped up. He's a vet he's been through this thing before. He's done it in rows that occasion, but ultimately everybody knows the home run for them is cooked. So to get him back and to continue building that offensive line, I had to

be honest with you. I don't know how the NFL executive the year thing went last year, but I think Spielman has to be up in that conversation because of getting case Keenum, despite having, you know, all the other things going on at the quarterback position, signing Latavious Murray, getting Riley Reef, so many things that they did ultimately ended up helping them get to where they got to because they were sort of fortifying their reserves and not

saying that. Brian Goodakuins took a page out of that, but I think there's something to be said for it. You talked about it in the lead up to the start of the regular season, having some veteran options behind you to potentially lean on if an injury happens. But getting back to the original point, I think cook where he's at, how quickly he came back from that injury. You tip your cap to Brian Blaga in something. You know, these linemen that come back in ten nine ten months.

But it's a different ball game for running backs. It's a different ballgame for skill position players or cornerbacks because you have to cut on it so often. And as of right now, it looks like Cook's gonna be okay. Yeah, watching that game, watching cousins first game with the Vikings last week, the portions of it that I saw, what

I saw was not a spectacular performance. What I saw were two I thought spectacular touchdown passes, one two digs and one to Rudolph, absolutely pinpoint passes against tight coverage in the end zone. Big plays there for the Vikings. So he made he threw the two touchdown passes he needed to throw, and he just didn't make any mistakes. And that way you flip the flip side of that was Garoppolo. The forty Niners made mistakes all over the place,

and that's why they were playing from behind. They weren't able to catch up Cousins. He had his tendency to throw some interceptions with Washington, that's what you want to try to put pressure on him, affect him, see if he makes one of those errand throws. He did not make any of those errant throws last week. He didn't Washington with all. It was also asking to throw for about four six yards proceeding. So when you're exposing the football that much, I think that naturally is gonna happen.

That's not to say you can't protect the football better. You can. We've seen it with Drew Brees and and Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady the year that I think he threw for fifty touchdowns, had what four interceptions that season. So it's not like it isn't achievable, but you are exposing the ball more. And and really Washington's offense the last two or three seasons ran through cousins.

He's not probably gonna have that same problem in Minnesota because he has a reliable option in the backfield, he has playmakers around him. Even you have you know, Kyle Rudolph is as steady as they come at that tight end. I know of some people in the Green Bay area that just so happened to draft Kyle Rudolph as their number one overall pick this year simply out of mistake. Not not putting anybody out there, Kim Hartwig, but that being said, uh, they do. They They're very solid across

the line. There's there's not a lot of holes there. So I'm just very interested to see how this plays out for them because we know what they've had for so long on defense. You and I have done so many unscripteds over the year, Mike, where we're talking about the defense, We're talking about those corners, we're talking about

the pass rush, the linebackers that they have. The offense has always been the thing trying to catch up in the Vikings if they're going to get to where they want to go this this year, and the Packers are obviously trying to stand in front of that. They're gonna need, you know, Kirk Cousins Delvin Cooking Company to hold up there under the bargain. Yeah all right, Well, I do

want to start talking about that Vikings defense. But before that, at home or here in the stands, we all know that Green Bay fans give it their all and that takes a lot of energy. So grab a warm bowl of Campbell's Chunky Soup. It's meaty goodness fuels the greatness of Packers fans everywhere. Try the delicious classic chicken noodle soup. Just visit your local supermarket and ask for Campbell's Chunky Soup,

the official sup partner of the Green Bay Packers. Okay, the defensive side of the ball here for the Minnesota Vikings, the number one defense in the league last year, hands down, and then pretty much starting with the second half of the playoff game against New Orleans all the way through the NFC Championship game, they didn't look like the same

unit out there. Um Me, personally, my opinion is that things started to unravel when Xavier Rhodes, their stars shut down cornerback, was not healthy, was either trying to play through injury, or was on the sideline. It seemed like that through everything out of whack. And one thing about the Vikings defense last year is they stayed remarkably healthy

all season long. Those that unit was playing together, all the key pieces on the field every week, and it showed throughout the course of the year the way they played. But boy, the value of Xavier Rhodes to me, shot up astronomically after what we saw happen in the postseason and the fact that they had Xavier Roads and Trey Waynes and they still use their first round draft pick on another cornerback in Mike Hughes from UCF shows you how important that position is in their defense and in

the defense in general. That's not to say that they're trying to replace Roads, but I mean just having more oaks in the fire. To me, it was very interesting. This is no disrespect to Terrence Knew when he had a tremendous career, but for a guy that was thirty nine, that was playing the snaps, he played down the stretch, that sometimes isn't the best formula for success. And I think in some ways, and they obviously we're kind of worn down there by the end of the season. But

don't make no mistake. I mean, Xavier Rhodes is as good as they come in terms of cornerbacks. This division in general has really developed some fine corners these past few years. Some good Darius Slay and in Detroit and and certainly Xavier Rhodes living up to being the first round pick that he was in two thousand thirteen, and it gives them a lot of things to uh, you know, to work with. Me personally, I think the fun part of this game is going to be seeing how all

these pieces match up. Yeah, you've seen Randall coverse this defense before and in Davante Adams but now you have Jimmy Graham involved. Now you have a guy like Geronimo Alison more established. Uh, seeing how those what the Packers are doing offensively matches up with the Vikings. Assuming we'll see how everything plays out thereon Rodgers, that that's gonna be one of the big I think, one of the big push for this game. That's gonna make a really

compelling Yeah. Well, the guy that, the guy that I always have my eye on when I'm watching Minnesota's defense is number twenty two, Harrison Smith. I think he's the He's kind of the glue guy that that really makes everything work because he's he's so versatile, he's such an aggressive player, he's such a smart player. They scheme things up blitz wise for him to get free runs at the quarterback to try to wreck havoc that way. We saw last year the game in Minneapolis after Rogers went down.

You know how I have when I watched games normally, I always look at Aaron Rodgers is probably the best football player on the field. When Aaron Rodgers left that game against Minnesota last year, there was no doubt that the best player on the field that day was Harrison Smith. He absolutely controlled and dominated that game. The sacks, he had a diving one handed interception, He's breaking up passes, he's a sure tackler, a hard hitter. This guy, this

guy does it all. And when we talk about that big play the Packers made against the Bears on Sunday night where Jamal Williams picked up the blitzing linebacker and Aaron Rodgers was able to find Davante Adams for a big fifty yard pass play, Jamal Williams, He's got to find where Harrison Smith is coming from, because it seems like every time the Packers and the Vikings play, and not just against the Packers, almost any Vikings game you watch,

Harrison Smith at least once a game, gets a completely free run at the quarterback where somehow nobody picks him up, nobody blocks him, and and he just levels your your QB. Packers can't let that happen on Sunday. I think they call that stealthy stealthiness. That's good whatever, But yeah, he's that's the type of players he's been. He's been that way since two thousand and twelve, and honestly since he

came into this league. He he matured quickly. He made an impact in his defense quickly, and you mentioned him sort of being the glue guy. I mean, the thing is Mike is that really Let's see here, he's the other than Andrewsondo. He's what the longest tenured member of that defense now as far as the starting unit. Everson Griffith in there too from the two thousand ten draft, but yeah, he he is. He knows we talk about all the time. Morgan Burnett was that player too for

the Packers defense all those years. He just makes communication easier in the safety position. Even though historically it's not gotten a lot of respect in this league, it gets more and more importance by the year because of how much those players now in this era are a lot of times the primary communicator. Yeah, you can find a Blake Martinez that plays every down, but if something happens to that inside linebacker, it's usually on the safety is

to step up. Harris Smith. Harrison Smith has been that guy, has been steady, he's been consistent, and he also makes plays. So yeah, as you mentioned, whether it's Jamal Williams, whether it's these safeties, or whether it's these receivers, you got to know where he is on the field at all times. Yeah. With this entire Vikings defense, it's really pretty much the

same group you mentioned. Mike Hughes obviously being added to the mix as what looks like they're nickel cornerback right now, but pretty much the same unit that the Packers face last year that the whole league had trouble dealing with. Up front. You know that pass rush. Everson Griffin and Daniel Hunter are the guys who really make that go, and they don't require Zimmer to call whole heck of a lot of blitz is. But Zimmer will pick his spots when he wants to be aggressive and force the issue.

Uh Sometimes with him, you just never know when those extra rushers are coming. Yeah, and they also got Sheldon richardson this year too, so's so you have him and Linville Joseph. Now is your nose tackles, your defensive tackles very solid up front there. It's gonna make life difficult not only on the Packers but every team that they're gonna be facing this year if those starting four can

stay together. To me, Everson Griffin is still the key guy, I mean in Monday's locker room, even though uh, most of the media was still pretty much looking back on that Bears game. Brian Dave Bactieri was already being asked about Griffin because of the wars that those two have

had over the years. Now and in seeing him in the player that really both of those guys have become, you know, Bot becoming an All Pro, Griffin becoming one of the league's top two edge rushers after originally appearing to be more of, you know, a complimentary piece, and his first couple of seasons there has really broke out. So Yeah, I've always been a huge Linville Joseph fan,

going back to his days with the Giants. I thought that was a great pick up for them a few years ago when they signed him as a uf are unrestricted free agent out of New York and bringing in Sheldon Richardson. To Richardson was kind of quiet last year in Seattle, but you still know what you're getting with him, So to see how he compliments the rest of that front,

it's gonna be exciting to watch. Yeah, as far as the matchups go, I'm not sure how the Packers in their secondary you are going to match up with these with these receivers when we're talking digs and theeeling and I still haven't figure out up last week's game, so King and Williams and Alexander and Jackson and how how exactly those matchups are going to go. But if you're going to pick one particular one on one matchup that we can anticipate and that I think we'll have a

lot to say about how this game goes. I'm guessing you start with box tr against Griffin. It does yes in terms of just like the matchup, like just to watch it for just elite NFL football, play another one to depending on how it works out how they want to handle that nickel corner spot is whoever lines up against Adam Feeling? Yeah, and Feeling is a versa little guy. You can use them in a multiple multipout of ways. But I'd have to imagine Joy, Alexander and or Josh

Jackson is gonna be seeing some of his coverage. So seeing how those young rookies with all their athleticism and how good they've looked early on match up with him is going to be important because theeeling is that we've seen it and he's had good games against Green Day. He is a supreme football player. I remember talking to Davante Adams during the offseason program for his yearbook story and getting to know feeling a little bit at the Pro Bowl and seeing how he works and everything he

puts into it. The world slept out of him coming out of the D two ranks in Minnesota, but he's found a spot in this offense and he's becoming one of the league's top really most devastating threats in the middle of the field. Yeah, you said it. I mean that he's not just a homegrown product and a fan favorite. He's an elite player. He's he's a self made elite player in a lot of ways because of where he came from. He didn't play at a at a big school.

He didn't play at a Power five conference type school. But something I don't even know. But he's he's proven himself over time. No, he has. And uh, you look at the complimentary pieces there. They obviously Diggs has been a guy that's you know, bawled out at times, and they're still trying to see what they have in la Kwan Treadwell, their first round pick from a few seasons ago. So hey, listen, Kirk Cousins has a ton of weapons to use in this offense, so the Packers trying to

quiet him. It's going to start on the perimeter to and making sure that those those guys don't get loose. Yeah, I think Mankato might be the Northern Sun coming like that. But three yeah, Well, we'll figure it out when we're off camera, but for now, we gotta call it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Would be sure to follow all of our coverage previewing Sundays Packers Vikings game on Packers dot com. On Twitter, you can find him at west Hot I'm at Mike Spofford at Packers

for the team account. Thanks for tuning in, everybody, See you next time.