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The Minnesota Vikings Week 11 game is a huge matchup at home against their biggest rivals in the league, the Green Bay Packers. Not only can Minnesota not afford to lose this game, as they are now sitting just a half of a game behind the Carolina Panthers for the final wild-card spot in the NFC, but the Packers need this win as well, as they are currently the NFC's top overall seed.
These two teams always want to beat each other up, and the extra motivation added by the standings only brings more intrigue to an always exciting matchup. Overall, the Vikings-Packers all-time matchup has the Packers leading 63-55-3.
For more insight on the Vikings' Week 11 matchup against the Packers, listen below:
Coming off of a big win in Los Angeles last week over the Chargers, the Vikings need to ride the emotion of the victory into what is going to be a dogfight. Green Bay has allowed more than 22 points in a game only twice during the entire 2021 season. the Vikings, have also preferred close games–they have yet to lose a game by more than four points all season.
Minnesota Vikings Week 11 Predictions
4. K.J. Osborn will catch a touchdown
After a game-winning touchdown earlier this season in Carolina, Vikings wide receiver K.J. Osborn has gone cold. In the three games since that score, he has only six targets, three catches, and zero touchdowns. That will change this week as the Packers will fail to pay enough attention to Osborn as they look to contain Dalvin Cook, Adam Thielen, Justin Jefferson, and their newest weapon, tight end Tyler Conklin.
Conklin is not new to the team but new to playing time. He took over after Irv Smith went down and has filled in admirably the past few weeks, vaulting himself into fantasy TE1 consideration. Conklin will take the back seat this week, however, as it will be Osborn's time to shine. Play K.J. in your daily fantasy lineups and thank us later.
3. The Vikings will hold the Packers under 300 total yards
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Despite the return of Aaron Rodgers, the Packers' offense barely improved upon the previous week when they only mustered one touchdown…they scored two. To add injury to the insult, it looks like star running back Aaron Jones will be out for this week's game. A.J. Dillon is no slouch as a runner, but with the offense failing through the air and now looking at their second-string running back, it may be tough sledding for this Green bay offense.
They could, of course, get it all together this week. Minnesota has given up plenty of points this season and still been able to hang in games. But, for this week, their best shot is probably to keep this game as a low-scoring affair and get a close win. If they get into a shootout, they risk “unlocking” Rodgers and that is the last thing they want. Especially with another game coming later in the year against these same Packers.
2. Dalvin Cook will run for 150 yards
This one is a bold prediction because of the sheer unlikelihood of it. The Packers are 12th in the league in defending the run, have improved recently AND teams have attacked them through the air with success–up until the last two weeks.
All of those factors would lead you to believe that the game plan for the Vikings would be “pass, pass, and more pass.” But as we have seen time and again in the NFL, teams win a lot of the time by attacking opponents' weaknesses, and a lot of time that means “zigging” when an opponent is “zagging.” Meaning, if Green Bay is preparing all week for Minnesota to attack them through the ground, perhaps they will be vulnerable to the run because of it. If the Vikings can pull off the first three predictions on the list then…
1. The Vikings will win the game
With Minnesota currently installed as a two-and-a-half-point underdog at home in a rivalry game, the books seem to like the Packers here. But, if Minnesota can keep this game close, they will be able to pull out the win at the end of the game due to the improved play of quarterback Kirk Cousins. Currently sitting at 18 touchdowns to just two interceptions, Cousins has cut his interception percentage down almost 75 percent from a career average of 2.1 to now just .6.
Not only is Cousins protecting the ball, but he is also protecting himself with only 12 sacks taken on the year. He is on pace for one of his best statistical seasons and it comes at a time when he is averaging a yard less than his career average in terms of yards per attempt. He is learning how to be a more efficient quarterback right before our very eyes, and the only question is, are the changes here to stay? If they are, the first step in showing that is with a big-time divisional win over your biggest rivals.
