How the Green Bay Packers defense can effectively end the Minnesota Vikings season in Week 12

How the Green Bay Packers defense can effectively end the Minnesota Vikings season in Week 12

It’s the Packers. It’s the Vikings. An NFC North showdown. The Packers desperate to win this division for the first time since 2021. The Vikings just plain desperate. It’s a crossover Thursday. Locked on Packers. Locked on Vikings. Let’s go. [Music] You are locked on NFL Crossover, part of the locked on podcast network. your team every day. Welcome inside another Crossover Thursday and NFC North Crossover Thursday. Peter Bowski from Locked on Packers. Hey, that’s me, Luke Braun from Locked on Vikings joining me in today’s Crossover Thursday presented by our friends at Prize Picks. Download the Prize Pick app today and use code locked on NFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. Luke, the Vikings coming off a brutal loss to the Chicago Bears where it seemed like they had just gone down after a tough tough tough tough tough day uh to to score the game-winning points and then a kickoff return turns into a what a nine-yard drive for for the Bears. Yeah, right. Pretty much right in a field goal range and game ends on special teams there. And and JJ McCarthy social media calling for him to be benched at halftime. Where are we right now with JJ McCarthy? because that seems like the big thing to be talking about with the Minnesota Vikings. Yeah. Well, if you’re on social media, I think you live in a different reality than a lot of us, but uh that that’s that’s not a place where uh intelligent discourse goes down, and I don’t think it has been for some time. It’s true. In the building where actual decisions will be made, it’s pretty difficult to, I think, maintain the patience they want to maintain. Right? Here’s the deal. McCarthy is playing a lot worse than you ever hoped, right? Coming into year two, had a year on the on on in rehab, right? This is not a year working on mechanics and footwork, but you’re still in the classroom and you’re trying to get that and he is very much drowning. I think the Vikings have made things hard on hard harder on him than they have to be and I think he’s made things too hard on himself as well. Um, but it is not working. This is one of the worst offenses in the league. Uh, and it has been really consistently even without McCarthy in the lineup. So, you know, it’s not all him, right? Uh, it didn’t look great with Carson Wentz. This team is spiraling and they’ve been spiraling. They’re four and six. They they’ve kept things hanging on by a thread, I guess. But we’re at the point where they have to rattle off like five wins in a row just to kind of get back into being, you know, on in in even a reasonable position for a wild card spot. They have to start going on a win. Just I think just to keep the mindset of the football team, right? Like it seems like we are teetering on the brink of if not mutiny like serious self doubt with this team. Oh, I people are coaching for their jobs, I think. And I think people are playing for their jobs and people have lost their jobs. Peter, four different Vikings have been benched this year. Like they are indecisive about their depth chart. They’ve been indecisive schematically about where how they want to approach run defense, how they want to fix their problems. Um, this is not a team with a clear vision right now. They came into this year with what they thought was a clear vision, but a couple of injuries and I think some of their schematic ideas not working out the way that they thought because the players can’t execute what they thought. And I think they’ve just they’ve started scrambling and reaching for whatever kind of foothold they can get to try to be normal. And I think what that has turned this into is the 2025 season is over. I really do feel personally I feel like the 2025 season this is not a team that’s going to win six in a row. Uh but so it’s kind of turned into the the way that you would look at you know the Bears were looking at Caleb Williams last year or the way the Titans are looking at Cam Ward right now. Just show me some progress. take some steps forward and you know the wins, the losses, who cares? Let’s just see what the quarterback can become over a couple of weeks of see an issue, can you fix the issue by the next week? See a new issue, can you fix the issue by the next week? And sometimes we have gotten some of that. He’s gotten better at running the operation. They’ve gotten better at the line of scrimmage. He’s gotten better at doing his reads and the timing. Um, and you know, hopefully you can work on the accuracy next. And hopefully you can see a little bit of that progress. And I’ve been trying to cover that progress or lack of progress really in depth on my Patreon page and on locked on Vikings. Um, but this is not like, okay, what’s the playoff way to go? Like, we are not going into the playoff simulator and seeing what who what which games the Packers can lose so we can leap frog. We’re not there. It’s interesting. Uh my my co-host on the squad show, Brandon Snide, pointed out that in Jordan Love’s first year as a starter around this time, the Packers were four and six and they did reel off uh five wins to to ultimately get into the playoffs. Um a loss to Tommy DeVito in there notwithstanding. Um and so like well, you know, we can’t all have Toyota thon magic, which I think that’s true. So if you’re if you’re like if you made the case like is I I felt like Jordan Love at that point had shown some promise but certainly like in the second half of that year he played like one of the five best quarterbacks one of the three best quarterbacks in the NFL um just for that second half and and your your pal our pal Arian wrote about like is this going to be real like is this we have we ever seen someone take a half a season and turn it into this other thing. Is there any evidence that JJ McCarthy is capable of doing that for the for this offense right now? For 2025, I just think that the list of problems is too long. Yeah. Um, you know, I I like Jordan Love plays a very high variance version of ball. there’s a lot of 500 balls and sometimes your guy comes down with them, sometimes our our guy comes down with them, sometimes they’re incomplete, you know, and and I think that that has led to I mean you you tell me if I’m way off base here, but I think sometimes that leads to those games where you like the one against Cleveland where you’re like, “What the heck, Jordan?” Um, but it also leads to, you know, beating the Cowboys in their own home in in 2023 in the playoffs and kind of emerging on the scene like that, right? So, it kind of makes when you play that high variance ball, well, you can kind of yatsi a bunch of games in a row, get hot. That’s not what’s happening in Minnesota, right? it the offense is straight up bad. It’s not high variance and getting unlucky. It’s straight up stinks. And nobody in Minnesota is going to argue with you about that. The reasons that it stinks, you know, and you might get some people whether you’re talking to a coach or a player would have differing opinions, right? But it’s you’re they’re just trying to figure out how to put one foot in front of the other, which I think makes this an interesting matchup because the the Packers defense has also had I I would say considering the the hype that that that unit got, especially after the Parsons trade, hasn’t really like been able to live up to that all the time. And so I see these these two units that kind of thought they were going to be much more than this that are still trying to find a way to to to live up to that potential. And I’m really curious to see what you think of now. I mean, we’ve seen, you know, a few months of of of Micah Parsons and what the Packers defense was supposed to be. Parsons himself has been very productive, but did it turn you into the juggernaut you thought? Well, I don’t know that I thought they’d be a juggernaut, but I I certainly think to your point, like after we saw them the first two weeks, it was like, okay, maybe they are a juggernaut, right? like it’s like, okay, they didn’t they weren’t even playing their best and and you were getting, you know, these these convincing double- digit wins against the Lions and the Commanders, who, you know, they were two of the best teams in the NFC last year. They’re they’re one of them at least is still probably one of the best teams in the NFC. The consistency of this team overall has not been there. And and that’s the frustrating part if you’re a Packers fan. And I think that’s what opens the door for the criticisms of Jordan Love, of Matt Laflur, of this defense because it’s like we saw the defense a week ago hold the Eagles to 10 points. And Jaylen Herz said after having played some really good defenses, having played the Denver Broncos, who for my money are the best defense in the league if it’s not Seattle, right? Um he said the Packers have the best defense in the NFL. And then they go out and like they give up 20 to Jameus Winston and they drop five potential interceptions and it’s just sort of like well what what is the deal here? And and that’s the part that’s frustrating. We see the Packers there are some drives where they they do look unstoppable. Jordan Love he balled out against the New York Giants. I mean you watch the tape like the drops for the Packers the the broadcast said seven. I think you could convincingly tell me that that there’s there were more out there than that. Jeez, we’re losing our minds right now over a five or six drop game against Chicago and you just said seven. Just put that in perspective. I Right. Like that’s crazy number. And JT Sullivan called it like one of the best 13 completion games he’d ever seen because it’s just like it’s it’s just not that it’s he was outstanding. Um, but there is this variance in the offense and it is hard to explain because like the drops, if it’s not the drops, it’s an ill-timed penalty or it’s a missed assignment and it’s like why is this team not able to they haven’t put together one game where you just go that that’s the team that we thought we’d see since the the first two weeks with the exception of maybe the second half against the Steelers, right? 20 straight completions for Jordan Love. He ripped up that Pittsburgh Steelers defense with Aaron Rogers on the other sideline in Pittsburgh. Like that was a pretty cool moment in prime time. Um Jordan Love, if you look at Pro Football Focus grades and care about those sorts of things, maybe you do, maybe you don’t. Two of his highest grades of his career have come in the last month. He he’s playing at a really high level. But I think you’re I think you’re right to say there’s a lot of variance there. I think, you know, you get your get your get your dunks off on the 500 ball stuff. I think that stuff is overstated at times. Um it’s a risky v. It’s a risky style. And I think if you asked him, he’d be like, “He’s a guner.” And you know, look, Packer fans don’t want to admit this. They loved Brett Favre more than they ever loved Aaron Rogers. This is just Oh, whoa. I don’t want to get involved in this, but you you don’t have to take this. I don’t want to get involved in anything. Everyone come and be mad at me, but in your heart of hearts, you know I’m right. And the reason they loved Brett Favre more than Aaron Rogers is that is he was willing to throw five interceptions trying to win them a football game. He would rather die than lose a game. And Aaron didn’t feel that way. Jordan Love feels that way. Jordan Love is going to throw three interceptions trying to win you the game or he’s going to throw four touchdowns and win you the game. And and that is I think like that’s every fan just wants you to see like he wants every football player fair or unfair, right? Like we can we can have a conversation about that part of it too. We don’t have time on this show to adjudicate all that. But like that’s what a fan wants is for every player to go out and give everything to try and win and try and make every play. You want to see that and and that’s the cool part about about this team. Um let’s talk about the the matchups here. I think there there’s some fun and interesting things. Kevin Oonnell is still a hell of a coach. Brian Flores, god dog, he’s still a hell of a coach even though this defense is not what they thought it would be coming into the season. We’ll talk about that on a locked on Packers, locked on Vikings Crossover Thursday. Today’s episode of Crossover Thursday brought to you by our friends at Prize Pick. We make decisions every day, but on Prize Picks, being right can get you paid. Don’t miss any of the excitement of this sports season. Whether you’re following the NFL, the NBA, or both, there’s no better time to jump in on the action. If you haven’t tried it yet, prize picks is the simplest way to play. Just pick more or less on at least two player stats. And if you get them right, you win. Takes less than 60 seconds to make your lineup. And this is my favorite thing. My favorite thing is the stacks. It’s a new feature. You can pick more on Steph Curry, points, threes, and assists in the same lineup. You love Giannis’s matchup. He’s hurt right now. You love Luca’s matchup. Stack it. Stack it. Download the Prize Pix app today and use code locked on NFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $ five lineup. That’s code locked on NFL for $50 in lineups after you play that first $5 lineup prize picks. It’s good to be right. All right, locked on Packers. Locked on Vikings. A crossover Thursday. Mr. Luke Braun here uh with me on Locked on Packers. I’m Peter Bakowski. Luke, uh, th this defense was so, so tough last year and we talked in 2023 and you told me you thought that in some ways this Brian Flores defense had been figured out a little bit and then in 2024 they added Andrew Van Ginkle and and they switched out Denil Hunter for for Jonathan Gernard and it it seemed to work and and they got even better. Why why the step back this year? What’s the deal? They’ve been really indecisive. I there are a couple of losses that they just didn’t really do a good enough job of replacing. Um in particular Cam Binham. Um they kind of made this big emphasis on uh you know getting pressure up the interior. I think that’s really what ended their season last year. One of the biggest culprits is no push of the pocket at all. Goff and then Stafford could just sit back there and deal. And those guys are guys that you need to get pressure up the middle on because they’re not the kind of guys that are going to run away from it. So you have to and they just couldn’t do it. They had two run stuffers up to up front that couldn’t rush the passer. So they they, you know, bring in Hargrade, they bring in Jonathan Allen, and then then the run defense falls apart. Um, but they haven’t really been able to replace, you know, they trade away Harrison Phillips, and that’s been really hurting them. And they have all these run defense issues. Here’s what I’ll say though. This season did not go belly up because of the defense. The defense has been at worst fine, if not still pretty good. Um, but it’s they have part of the concept here was the defense can be good enough that JJ McCarthy has to just be fine. I think he’s been sub fine. But that that was right. Like if you have a top five defense and you can run the ball, okay, Justin Jefferson and the rest like you’re you score 17 20 points a game. You’re going to win these games. That’s that’s just not been the case. Right. If if the offense lived up to its potential, when you have Jefferson, Addison, Hawinson, you’ve got a running game with Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason and a totally retoled O line and all this stuff and the offense has to move. Um, that O line has been banged up as heck. We’ve never seen the starting five together. Probably still won’t. Ryan Kelly looks like he’s coming back at center, but now Will Fry DNP with a knee all of a sudden surprise on on the Wednesday injury report. So, we got stuff to watch now. Um, and then even if they come back, you got a continuity question, right? They haven’t played together, you know, since like August, right? Um, and really they haven’t ever because Christian Darasaw was on big-time pitch counts, knee brace, and they were they spent most of camp practicing with Justin School and Ryan Kelly missed a lot of camp, too. Um, so they’ve been shuffling around that O line and that’s been a problem. They’ve had total stinkers injured, Jefferson, they stay injured. That’s a weird thing that I People got real mad at me for suggesting that, so I be careful. Uh, Peter, you don’t want you don’t you don’t want people to start start clipping you. Um, but like that that unit has had like a lot of disappointments, a lot of people not playing the way that you thought they would play. And then add on top of it huge quarterback issues, right? Carson Wentz is his and his huge issues that we’re all very familiar with. And then JJ McCarthy with lots of issues that we’re less familiar with, but boy are we learning fast. Um, it it’s a young quarterback. He’s drowning. The I think the Vikings have asked way too much of him. Here’s a fun stat. Number one average depth of target in the league is JJ McCarthy by a lot. There are four quarterbacks with an AOT over nine yards and JJ’s is 10. It’s like insane. I mean, I guess I can like introduce some variance. Just let them throw it down the field and if you hit a couple, great. like let Jordan and Justin Jefferson go make plays, but we saw last week when that can go wrong because if if the pass is like wildly offtarget, all of a sudden it’s an interception instead of a, you know, a 50-50 ball for well and he’ll drift into trouble and then he gets hit as he throws and few interceptions have happened that way. Or you can have what happened against the Ravens. You want to see cope about Justin Jeff. You if you want to believe that Justin Jefferson is wash, watch that Ravens game. He was terrible. He had a bad game for the first didn’t give effort. Yeah, it effort on the interception was pathetic, right? And he was frustrated and he had to like answer to the media afterwards about like controlling his emotions and stuff and like he he lost it in that one. And so like you get games like that and you’re like, “Okay, well now what are we supposed to do?” So it’s it’s been this my fantasy team too, Luke. I don’t appreciate it. Uh can’t help you. It’s been this wildly inconsistent and really frustrating ride. They can’t get out of their own way, but they have had their moments, right? They go into Detroit, I thought the offense had a great game, right? Or or these kind of fourth quarter comeback drives in both the Chicago games and like they they’ve had their moments even still in that Baltimore game for all the issues they had, they were still in that game late. Yeah, Baltimore’s like got a lot of bozo energy. Yeah, they they really do. I don’t know what their deal is. I don’t know what their deal is. And Lamar’s not healthy, right? Like him not being able to run is a huge problem. Yeah, he didn’t run nearly as much as we thought. like they they had they they they’ve still like it’s not you know the Raiders where they just can’t put anything together. They’ve had their moments which is why you know you go into Lambo, you go play a team you play twice a year, everybody knows each other really well and it’s always this equal. We talk about this every time no matter who which one of our teams is supposed to win the game. It’s always an equalizer when these two teams play. Yeah. And that it’s it it like the Packers can’t overlook the Vikings even though they are the quality of team that you usually would be able to. But the other part of it is that the Packers have played down to their competition so much and that kind of leads to the inconsistency that you’ve been talking about. But when it comes to a game like the Panthers game or the the Browns game or you know the the the Giants game that you won but it was but it was you’re supposed to beat those guys by more. Yeah. What is it about the Packers or how maybe to look forward, how can the Packers prevent that from happening again? They’re favored on the road by almost a touchdown. They should kill this team. Yeah. But how can they stop it from becoming yet another disappointment? Well, I I I mean, just make the plays. I mean, the the the great line from Charles Woodson once upon a time was as a defensive player, if you just catch all the balls they throw at you, you’ll be all pro. Like, they had five in their hands against Jameus Winston and they made one play. Like, that’s just not going to work. I I mentioned seven drops on offense. um like make half if they make half of those catches, they win by 20. So it’s it’s it’s the small things. They’re in positions to make those plays. They’re just not making them. But we know that they have the talent of of player to make those plays. Avery McKini has great ball skills. Kehan Nixon has great ball skills. Like one of them was Javon Bullard had a ball in his hands and Isaiah McDuffy kind of like stumbles and falls into him and and I we were joking on our squad show. Does he get a pass break up for that when it’s on your own teammate? Um, like it it’s those kinds of things. I feel like, and maybe this is just because I’m too lost in the weeds on some of the numbers stuff where like I feel like this team overall is a very talented basketball team with with a good shot profile and the shots are just not falling and at some point the shots are going to start falling. And that’s the hope, right? Like I I I will never forget the 2019 Milwaukee Bucks. They had a great shot profile and the Raptors beat them in six games. So, it’s like, okay, sometimes the numbers in a short run, yeah, you you run out of of opportunities to make it right. And in 2024, all the underlying numbers said this is a top five team against the Eagles. They lose Alton Jenkins on the first drive. Christian Watson tore ACL the week before. They lose Jaden Reed in the first half. They lose Romeo Dobs. So, now you’re throwing to Dantavian Wixs and Malik Heath and players you’ve never heard of against the freaking Philadelphia Eagles, the best defense in the league in Philly. We’re going to lose that game. So, you know, um Eric Eager uh always says luck is is a first order uh problem or or solution to whatever you’re dealing with. Like luck is just part of the deal. And um you know, this team, I think they just they’re they’re really really close. That doesn’t mean they’re going to find the thing. That doesn’t mean they’re going to find their equilibrium or or their their projected equilibrium, right? But they’re really close to that moment. And we’ve seen 2024, this is around the time all of a sudden they beat they go to Seattle, they beat the Seahawks, you know, they score 30 and they they beat them by three scores. They shut out the New Orleans Saints. They start to look like the team that we thought they were all season. Injuries, unfortunately, didn’t let them get there. 2023, same thing. It was Thanksgiving. That was the turning point in their season. They go into Detroit and they put it on the Detroit Lions. the next week they beat the Kansas City Chiefs at home. And it’s like, okay, like that was the best twoame stretch, you know, not not literally anybody, but like as as good a twoame stretch as anyone had all season was was that twoame stretch and and Jordan Love at the end of that season playing great. They went to Minnesota, albeit against the backup quarterback, but that defense that was a top 10 defense that year and Jordan lit them up. So Oh, yeah. The New Year’s game. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, the Jaden that was like a breakout too cuz I was everybody was watching that and nobody like everybody was still kind of unfamiliar with how Jordan Love had changed. Exactly. Right. And then two weeks after that is the Dallas game and and that was that was the coming out party for him. CJ Stroud remember he had that same weekend where he was unbelievable against the Browns and it was sort of like okay here’s the new faces of the league. They didn’t neither of them took the step forward last year that we thought they were capable of. The difference this year is the Packers are getting that from Jordan Love this year. I mean, depending on which EPA per play model you like, he’s first or second, right? Like, he’s been incredibly productive this year. And that’s with some of these drops. You look at that The Athletic, um, they track this, they call it the betrayal index. So, it’s like drops, special teams issues, situational defense. Um, it’s I think it’s a Mike Sando creation. And I think Jordan Love is third in betrayal index. So, like he’s getting he’s not even getting the like quote unquote luck. He’s being betrayed by his own team and is still producing at an elite level. So to me, I’ve been saying all year, Luke, like they have Matt Laflur, they have Jordan Love. I think that’s enough to beat almost any team if if you get like solid play around him. You’re also our our guy, Coach Jags, on our squad show. Not to bring that shamelessly up again, but he has one of my favorite sayings. You are eligible every Sunday for an ass kicking. So you still have to go play. Yeah, that’s a good one. You still have to go play. And so, you know, this is a divisional game. You can’t get up for a game like this. Like, you don’t deserve to be in the conversation. You got the worst team in the division coming to your house. You got to get up for it. You You have to get up for it. We’ll talk about what is going to key this game. We’ll do that next on a locked on Packers, locked on Vikings Crossover Thursday. Today’s Crossover Thursday brought to you by our friends at FanDuel. Packers are six and a half point favorites at home. The total 41 and a half. Packers, they moved down a little bit on the money line. It was a straight up three to1. Now it’s minus 295. So, it’s still it’s still pretty convincing the Packers picked to win this game. The NBA also back. There’s no better place to get in on the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you miss the start of the game or want to ride the hot hand, FanDuel has live bets on everything from who will score the next two fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at an even bigger payout. Right now, FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So, head to fanduel.com to sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. We’re back here on a locked on Packers locked on Vikings crossover Thursday. And and Luke, um I want to start this conversation here because I meant to bring it up in the last segment. Um, the Packers defense is the number one defense in not allowing plays of over 10 yards. They are the number one defense in not allowing plays of over 20 yards. You mentioned the ADOT stat. Like this is a team that wants to hunt some big plays. That is my key to victory. If the Packers do not allow the Vikings to create explosive plays, I think they will win. And defensively, this is the best defense in the league at not allowing explosive plays. So, they are set up in that way to win this game. It it makes it a bit of an inflection point, I think, for the Vikings because the Vikings cannot help themselves but call another double move on third and two. Like they just like Kevin Oonnell needs to be stopped. But it’s not just Oonnell. He will call that, but he’ll have something underneath, you know, an outlet or even a backside concept that’s a little more more, you know, reasonable if the front side double move thing doesn’t play. And then McCarthy will just greet it. Um he has played an incredibly greedy No, that’s nine. That’s nine. Not McCarthy. Yeah, that’s nine. Oh my god. He’s Look, man, you know as well as I do. Sometimes the QB’s weird. All right. Sometimes QB’s weird. You’re preaching to the choir on that, my friend. You guys know what it’s like. All right. Yeah. But call me when he’s taking trips to Peru to do Iowa. Not yet. They cannot meet. We cannot. Those two cannot meet because his almost in the same quarterback room, Luke. They were making googly eyes at Aaron Rogers in the offseason. They they can you Yeah, that was honestly the biggest fear to me was like you can’t become No, you cannot learn what’s on Aaron Rogers’ phone. Nobody share the signal group chats. No one should see that. So this to me is a moment where like if not now that you decide to take what the defense gives you and you know try to try to just get a a normal completion percentage. We’re having like we’re hovering around 50% completion because we’re going for the shot all the time. Yeah, I if if ever there is a time to just take the completion, I’m not talking turn into a slant flat screen, you know, Boon Knicks offense. I’m talking about just take what is there, take your completion, move on. Don’t be greedy. This needs to be the time. And if this is the time, then they can maybe try to move the ball and and start to make this a spicy game on the road. Um but they they have to be responsible and they have to kind of curb their worst instincts and they haven’t been able to do that. Yeah. JJ has to leave nine in Minneapolis and uh just bring JJ McCarthy because the way the teams have played the Packers and this is the biggest fear and and the reason that they have quote unquote played down to their opponents is because what teams have realized and this started really with Cleveland is if you possess the ball and you make this a seven possession and eight possession game, you mentioned the Ravens and their bozo energy. The Packers have some bozo energy too and part of that is Jordan Love, but part of that is is they’re a young team. Part of that is Matt Laflur sometimes can’t help himself. Yeah, drops can turn into picks and and Yeah. And look, Jordan Lev only has three interceptions this year. The turnover worthy play rates reflect that. He’s he’s been better than the the the con the the narrative around him in terms of the the turnover worthy plays. It’s just that the turnover worthy plays are so loud and so dumb and so bad that you’re just like, right, how does how does he ever like, you know, like the one against Carolina is coming to mind. Yeah. Yes. Do you have a friend that you know is like an intelligent person, but sometimes they do things and you’re just sort of like, how do you make it through a day? I know a lot of people like that. Yeah. Yeah. So, like that’s kind of Jordan Love playing quarterback. It’s like you’re a really good quarterback. How do you How does this happen? What? Like, how can you possibly make this bad a mistake? Just don’t do the dumbest thing you’ve ever seen once every two weeks. And hope you enjoyed the play, Mrs. Lincoln. Right. But but like he’ll do it once. It’s not Jameus Winston where he’ll he’s like the meme where it’s like I’ll effing do it again. Like like he’s he’s luckily not that. But if you lose that mentality, then you kind of lose what makes him him though. That’s the deal. This is the thing is you kind of just have to let him ride the lightning, man. Like that’s that’s the one of that was the fun of Brett Favre. And and so again, that’s what we did with Sam Darnold last year and what’s Seattle doing with him now, too. 100%. And sometimes you get the bad end of the variance and he throws four interceptions on a day where you have 400 yards of offense and can’t score because you can’t stop turning the ball over. Um the but but my point of the playing down of the competition thing is if this is a seven or eight possession game, that’s where the Vikings have an opportunity because what the Giants did was they they said we’ll take the three yards on first down and then we’ll take the four yards on second down and then we’ll convert third down and we’ll do that three or four times and now we’re in plus territory where we can get a little crazy. we can go for they went I think they went three or four on fourth down and the Packers will let you move the ball but you know they think that they’re they’re going to get a turnover they’re going to get a sack they’ll do something or they’ll get a red and and and by and large you know they’ve been pretty good doing that they haven’t been able to create the turnovers they’re ninth in EPA per play if you exclude turnovers they’re 15th if you include turnovers they they’re 28th in the league creating turnovers they just don’t do it enough and stoppable force meets movable object I think Yeah. And this is the problem, right? So like if you give the ball up like it’s you let the Vikings metriculate the ball. That’s the formula. The problem is the Vikings are they’re also bozos and they will give up the ball or they will on third and eight or second and eight they’ll make a ridiculous throw and now it’s third and eight and you’re you know you’re in a tough position against Micah Parsons and um you know Jeff Hafley. So that’s the thing is it’s like can either one of these teams just be normal on that side of the ball. And what’s fun is that the off the Packers when the Packers offense is on the field and the the Brian Flores defense is on the field, that’s going to be cinema all game. Like it’s going to be a great cat-and- mouse game. Laf floor versus Flores. Jordan Love against his own worst impulses. Um you know that that’s going to be fun. And I I did want to throw this out there at you. Jordan Love this year against cover two is completing 91% of his passes according to Pro Football Focus. Yeah. So, it’s just like if as long as you have some answers for zero and I don’t like can the Vikings play the man coverage they played in Minneapolis last year. Like I feel like they just don’t have the horses to do that this year. They’ve been doing more of that than you would think. Um they’ve also been making like roster changes. They’ve been making depth chart changes on their secondary. Theo Jackson is functionally benched right now. now he’s playing like you know singledigit snaps a game and they got Fabian Maro who they picked up off the waiverwire in on cutdown day who’s like now turning into an active active starter yeah he’s playing decent ball like I don’t know um but the you know it’s Flores right so you you have to have an answer to two and to zero and all that but you have to have a fast answer to those things because the the the blitzes are going to come and they’re going to you know confuse whoever you got going at center and I know that O line has been banged up and shuff first time starter Yep. Yeah, second game starting. He’s not the preferred starter. He’s a backup. Yeah. So, they’re going to mess with that as well. And and that might be the the thing of it. But I think we we have to talk about turnovers on the other side. The Vikings have not taken care of the ball. McCarthy of course taking way too and and he’s not he made a risky throw and got punished. He’s just like, you shouldn’t throw that. And you throw that reception. Yeah. Um it’s it’s different than, you know, some of the Sam Darnold picks last year were like, I see what you were going for. Maybe it was a little tight. you know, you you underestimated how fast that safety could break. This one is just like, dude, what are you doing? And you’re just kind of heaving up an idiot 500 ball getting picked. Um, so you have to not do that. And I just don’t trust this team to to have that kind of ball security. Um, the Vikings on defense have not generated turnovers the way that you I think they’ve they’ve they’ve gone on these long long long droughts of just no turnovers outside of the Bengals game. I think they have like two turnovers. It’s really, really bad. I wouldn’t be surprised. I don’t have it in front of me, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they were lower than the Packers defense, generating turnovers. They go for the peanut punch all the time. They tackle high. Um, it sounds like Josh Jacobs is going to be very iffy for if he plays this game. He would be a beneficiary of that because the Vikings love to tackle around the shoulder and go for the ball and then you can just churn your legs and and carry him for Craft would have also been the beneficiary of that, but of course, he’s out for the season. Yep. And he’s out. Um, so that is like this huge we have to find a way to generate turnovers and they have to find a way to take care of the ball on the other side. They’ve lost the turnover battle in almost all of their games this year. Um, and look man, they’re on a four or five losing streak. They are spiraling and this is one of the most important reasons why. Turnovers and penalties. It’s always turnovers and penalties. They can’t win the turnover over battle. They can’t win the game. The thing about bad teams is um they do bad things and turnovers and penalties, that’s as bad as it gets. Like that’s you’re just not going to win games if that’s part of your identity. So um it sounds like we both think this is going to go a certain type of way. Um maybe that should make everyone involved a little bit scared. Um but we will of course have more content this week. Locked on Packers, locked on Vikings. And then after the game, locked on Packers, locked on Vikings. We got squad shows. We got all kinds of cool stuff for you on the locked on podcast network. Luke, the number one sports podcast network. We are here for you. So, as always, stay locked on Packers and locked on Vikings.

The Vikings offense has been a mess. The Packers defense isn’t coming off its best game, but their focus on not giving up explosives makes it the perfect foil for J.J. McCarthy and Co. Locked on Vikings host Luke Braun joins us for a Crossover Thursday to talk about the divergent QB storylines, key matchups, and more.

Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOPackers?sid=YouTube

📢 Follow Locked On Packers on Social!
• Instagram: https://bit.ly/3VsdxCa
• Facebook: https://bit.ly/4c0DeAK
• Twitter / X: https://bit.ly/45rZjWo
• TikTok: https://bit.ly/3VjvEKy

Locked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More
🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFL

Peter Bukowski, co-founder of The Leap, brings you a daily look at the Green Bay Packers year round with Locked On Packers! Go beyond the latest injury news into what you’re seeing on the field, how it works, and how it might change with new players or against a division rival. It’s the podcast for fans who know what happened, they want to know why and how!

And follow Peter Bukowski on Twitter, where he’ll be sharing the latest news about the Green Bay Packers and talking with fans.
On Twitter: @Peter_Bukowski & @LockedOnPackers

Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!
Peloton
Let yourself run, lift, flex, and push forward. Explore the new Peloton Cross Training Tread+ today at https://www.onepeloton.com.

PrizePicks
Download the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.
Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFL

Gametime
Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.

FanDuel
Right now, new customers can bet just FIVE dollars and if your bet wins—you’ll get THREE HUNDRED dollars in bonus bets to use across the app.

FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)