Yahoo Sports NFL analyst Nate Tice and NFL writer Charles McDonald discuss whether the Packers defense can slow down Sam Darnold, Justin Jefferson, and the 3-0 Vikings in Week 4. Hear the full conversation on “Football 301” – and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen.
Video Transcript
When the Vikings offense has the ball against the Packers or 2.5 point favorites by the way.
So they’re looking at this as a neutral matchup, which is fun.
What are you keen in on fighting?
So Packers D I just wanna see if one of these games someone’s gonna catch the pass and Sam Donald throwing their ways and I mean that on defense kind and II, I want to say that I think Sam’s been a lot better than he has been in years past like a lot better.
Uh but he still has the plays where he’s putting the ball, you know, in harm’s way.
I, I think, you know, some of that can be mitigated by like playing with Justin Jefferson also his own talent.
Like he does have some pretty crazy arm talent when he can set his feet and just fire one in there.
And you know, he’s not getting scattered brain in the pocket, looking at a million different things at once.
I just want to see if some of these Packers need be J Alexander Xavier mckinney if they can just get their hands on some patches because uh it’s not like as frequently when he was with the Jets, but Sammy will still give you a couple of ones.
So I, I kind of want to see, I guess the turnover battle here for just Sam Donald versus Donald.
Yeah.
Yeah, that’s it.
It’s like make Sam Arnold be the, that Sam Arnold, not this Sam Arnold.
That’s, yeah.
No, the Vikings offense and kind of, you know, I hear all these offenses that are like, oh, we’re going to change this and so much theory and it never actually happens, but actually watching this Vikings offense since Kevin o’connell got there and how Justin Jefferson gets played and how they mitigated that, how they actually still pop him open with the designer plays a lot of stuff from the slot and just other and just really telling the quarterbacks throw him the ball no matter what that happens to the run game.
As I like, keep talking about, that’s how you punish this.
They have so many eyeballs at number 18, you just run, run, run, run, run until they get out of it.
And this is truly what the Vikings went through in 2000 from 1998 to 2004 when they had a guy named Randy Moss and that’s why those round games were good and that’s why it was just because you’re daring them to blink and go, ok. Never mind.
We got to load the box, we got to send a blitz and then you catch them and then that’s where you throw the haymaker.
The Packers defense coordinator, uh, Jeff Haley, he’s more of a single high guy.
He’s done a little cover two this year, but he’s about 5050 on single high, too high.
So I’m, does, he just kind of go?
All right.
Screw my man, my blitzes my cover three that I want to do with mckinney in the back and just do the cover to do the Justin Jefferson formula and dare that your linebackers can play the run, dare that they can play the run consistently.
I’m k I just say it’s another game is who blinks first, which I think is fun.