Can the Green Bay Packers win against the Minnesota Vikings in wild card game?

Meeting for the third time this year and the second time in a week, the Green Bay Packers host the Minnesota Vikings for the 1st NFC Wild Card Playoff game.

The Packers won their first meeting this year in week 13 with a score of 28 to 10, and these two football teams just played in a game this past week in which the Vikings won 37 to 34 clinching them the wild card spot. That win was the 4th straight win for the Vikings and was the much needed shot for their momentum heading in to the post season.

One of the big stories for Minnesota this year has been the success of running back Adrian Peterson. After coming off a near career ending injury to his left knee, he has had phenomenal success running for 2097 yards just missing the single season rushing record of 2105 yards set by Eric Dickerson.

This back is a play maker and a yard earner and the Packers will certainly have a difficult time in trying to contain him. Part of his success is the amount of yards that he is able to get after contact with defenders. This is one of the biggest threats to the Packers.

It’s not a question of whether he will carry the ball a lot; it’s how well the Green Bay defense can stop him when he does. In their previous 2 games this year he rushed for 210 yards and 199 yards so the possibilities of him having a 200 yard game are a serious threat.

As much as Peterson carries the ball he rarely fumbles it. In fact he has only done so 4 times this year, once each in two different games with Chicago, once against San Francisco and once against Tampa Bay each of which have very high ranked defenses against the run.

Although the ultimate goal of the defender may be to strip the ball away, they need to concentrate to reducing the yards gained and try and stop them from gaining those first downs which is something the Vikings have done a pretty decent job of in recent weeks.

On the offensive side of the ball, I think the Packers are very capable of gaining the edge as long as they can cut the mistakes. Packer’s quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw for 356 yards last week and although he did not have any interceptions he was sacked 5 times in the game. One of those sacks in the 3rd quarter turned into a fumble, which the Vikings were able to convert into points for them.

One of Green Bay’s top receivers this year, Randall Cobb, was out last week due to a recent ankle injury, but is expected to play this week. With Cobb back on the field, and as long as Green Bay’s offensive line can close up the holes that the Vikings defense were able to penetrate last week, and provide the kind of protection that they have in so many games earlier in the season, I think they can win this game.

Who are the sportsbooks picking to win and what is the spread?

We checked with the sports betting books on Tuesday evening and the books are picking the Green Bay Packers as favorites in this game, and are giving a spread of 7.5 points.

I think the experience of Green Bay’s quarterback Aaron Rodgers will also help them win the game. This is a big game and the fact that Rodgers and his team have been down this road before, will help with their confidence. Many times this season the Packers have had their backs up against the wall and were able to get the win when they needed it.

I sill haven’t made a personal decision on how comfortable I feel about them going all the way but I do think they can pull off this win against the Vikings. Minnesota is a good football team, and they will be playing hard from the first snap until the last whistle of the game, but the Green Bay Packers will cover the points.