The Green Bay Packers’ defense has had a rough week. After allowing 30 points to the NFL’s worst offense (the Carolina Panthers) in Week 16, the team suspended two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jaire Alexander and placed Eric Stokes on injured reserve for the third time this season. In other words, the Packers will be without their two best cornerbacks against the Minnesota Vikings.
This is, of course, nothing new for the Packers this season. Stokes has only appeared in three games, whereas Alexander has appeared in six. When they were both on the field against Carolina last week, neither performed well (since both were obviously less than 100 percent healthy).
The Packers will start youngster Carrington Valentine and journeyman Corey Ballentine as their outer defensive backs in the absence of their two top cornerbacks. Green Bay is 3-2 to begin the season, having defeated the Los Angeles Chargers, Detroit Lions, and Kansas City Chiefs.
Nonetheless, this Week 17 battle will be as difficult as any they have faced this season. The Vikings, like the Packers, are 7-8 and must win tonight to have any chance of making the playoffs. Furthermore, the Minnesota offensive received some good news on Saturday night.
Jordan Addison of the Minnesota Vikings will play against the Green Bay Packers.
The Vikings confirmed earlier this week that Jaren Hall, a fifth-round pick in 2023, will start as quarterback instead of Josh Dobbs or Nick Mullens. Despite having only 101 career passing yards, the elusive Hall may provide the best matchup against the Packers’ subpar run defense.
Despite the fact that their quarterback is inexperienced, the Vikings still have wide receiver Justin Jefferson, who is perhaps the best pass catcher in the NFL right now. Valentine and Ballentine (or, knowing Joe Barry, Preston Smith) will have a difficult time covering him.
Jefferson was unable to play in the Packers’ first game of the season against the Vikings, but rookie wide out Jordan Addison lit up the Green Bay defense with seven grabs for 82 yards and a touchdown. The explosive youngster has a damaged ankle and was classified as questionable on the Minnesota injury report this weekend. However, according to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, Addison will play on Sunday night:
Addison has 63 receptions for 826 yards and nine touchdowns in 15 games this season.
The Green Bay Packers’ defense will need to get to the quarterback.
Obviously, facing the Vikings’ two top wide receivers while starting two reserve cornerbacks is not ideal. However, the Packers’ defense must capitalize on Hall’s lack of NFL experience. Putting pressure on him but not enabling him to scramble for significant gains is critical to the team’s success.
The Packers defense held Tommy DeVito to 158 yards passing in their loss to the New York Giants, a game in which Valentine and Ballentine also started. They did, however, allow him to rush for 71 yards and the Giants as a whole to run for over 200 yards.
This is simply not going to happen against the Vikings. The Packers must finish sacks and limit running lanes. The Vikings’ rushing offense is one of the worst in the NFL this season, and Green Bay must capitalize on it. While Minnesota has two terrific wide receivers, they start a young immature rookie quarterback and have no run game, averaging only 93.8 running yards per game.
This season, Joe Barry’s defensive plan has allowed similar clubs to appear unbeatable; hopefully, that will not be the case on Sunday night.
