Cheesehead
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- Mar 19, 2019
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Rodgers is four years older now, but Zimmer doesn’t doubt he can still make a play like that. The memory, and possibility, prompted Zimmer’s retirement plea.
For his part, Rodgers remembered one of his best games ever against the Vikings, late in the 2016 season during “run the table,” when Zimmer’s defenders didn’t stick to the game plan and paid dearly for it.
“They went a little rogue early in the game … and Mike kind of ripped them afterward,” Rodgers said. “Because he has a plan. He has a specific plan he wants run, and it’s usually based on some good study and good instincts on his part.”
The backdrop and history heading into Monday night is intriguing, but both sides know every game is its own entity as well.
The current Minnesota defense, as usual, features stars at all three levels. Pass rushers Danielle Hunter and Everson Griffen, linebackers Anthony Barr and Eric Kendricks, and defensive backs Harrison Smith and Trae Waynes are just the headliners on a unit that has played together for several years now.
The Vikings are tied for sixth in the league in points allowed, rank fourth in takeaways, and are coming off a seven-turnover outing and second-half shutout against the Chargers last week.
“It’s as challenging as any defense in the National Football League,” Packers Head Coach Matt LaFleur said. “When you watch them, they’re just so fundamentally sound. It’s really difficult to get big plays on them.
“It just seems like they’re always on the same page, no matter what happens. And if you get ’em on something once, you’re not getting them again.”
Schematically, Zimmer’s defense will present challenges not only for the quarterback, but for his perimeter weapons as well.