NFL on Sling TV: Packers vs. Vikings on NBC, Plus FOX Regional Action
(All times Eastern)
Green Bay Packers (1-0) vs. Minnesota Vikings (1-0)
8:30pm ET Sunday on NBC
Green Bay and Minnesota head into Week 2 tied with Detroit atop the NFC North – a confluence of events that most certainly will not happen again this season. The Pack got here by beating the Jacksonville Jaguars 27-23 in Jacksonville, with QB Aaron Rodgers completing 20 of 34 passes for 199 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and rushing 4 times for 16 yard and another TD. Blake Bortles put the Jags in a hole early, throwing an interception on the game’s fifth play from scrimmage, giving Green Bay the ball on the Jacksonville 29. Six plays later, Rodgers, rolled right for 6 yards and 6 points to give Green Bay the lead. The Packers were lucky to escape with a victory, as the Jags got the ball on their own 37 following a punt, and marched down field to the Green Bay 14 to set up 4th-and-1 with 23 seconds on the clock and down by 4. Bortles found Allen Hurns out on the right side, but but Damarious Randall was there to tackle him for a 1-yard loss. Green Bay’s offense gained just 294 yards against a defense that last year allowed the second-most yards per game in the league. They’ll need to get Jordy Nelson (6 catches for 32 yards) to get all the way back from the torn ACL that cost him almost all of 2015, and to get more of a ground game, as Eddie Lacy’s 61 yards led an attack that gained a total of just 95 on 28 carries.
The Vikings’ 25-16 win last week over Tennessee was an ugly one, as the Vikes failed to score in the first half, gaining just 26 yards on the ground on 10 carries, and 124 yards through the air on 11-of-19 passing from Shaun Hill. The offense was even worse in the second half, to be honest, with 39 yards on 18 carries, and 112 yards on 7-of-14 passing, but the defense and special teams stepped up to save the day. Minnesota’s first score, a field goal in the first minute of the second half, was set up by Cordarrelle Patterson’s 61-yard kickoff return; later in the 3rd quarter, Vikings linebacker Eric Kendricks returned an interception 77 yards for a touchdown; and early in the 4th quarter, Danielle Hunter ran back a Marcus Mariota fumble 24 yards for a TD. In sum, Vikings kicker Blair Walsh kicked 4 field goals, and the defense scored 2 TDs.
The Vikings offense, of course, is still reeling from losing starting QB Teddy Bridgewater to a torn ACL on August 30. They ran out and traded next year’s 1st-round pick and a conditional 4th-round pick in 2018, for the Eagles’ Sam Bradford, the feeling being that the team that went 11-5 last year was too good to entrust to Hill, a 36-year old journeyman with a 17-18 record. But that’s no excuse for Adrian Peterson gaing just 31 yards on 19 carries. Minnesota head coach Mike Zimmer hasn’t announced who will start at QB this week, telling reporters, “I just figured it’d be good for sports talk radio.”
Coming up Monday morning on 1500 ESPN Twin Cities Radio: After the beating the Packers gave the Vikings, will Mike Zimmer finally commit to a starting QB?
NBC is available to Sling Blue subscribers in select markets.
And here’s FOX’s lineup of regional action:
San Francisco 49ers (1-0) vs. Carolina Panthers (0-1)
Sunday at 1pm ET on FOX
New Orleans Saints (0-1) vs. New York Giants (1-0)
Sunday at 1pm ET on FOX
Dallas Cowboys (0-1) vs. Washington Redskins (0-1)
Sunday at 1pm ET on FOX
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-0) vs. Arizona Cardinals (0-1)
Sunday at 4pm ET on FOX
Seattle Seahawks (1-0) vs. Los Angeles Rams (0-1)
Sunday at 4pm ET on FOX
Green Bay Packers (1-0) vs. Minnesota Vikings (1-0)
8:30pm ET Sunday on NBC
FOX is available to Sling Blue subscribers in select markets.
All stats courtesy ESPN and Pro Football Reference.