The Green Bay Packers have yet another chance to sweep the regular-season series against the Minnesota Vikings. A loss for Minnesota puts them at 1-6 and all but ends any hope of making the playoffs. A win for Green Bay moves them to 6-1 and keeps them in the driver seat for the number one seed in the NFC. A lot is riding on this week’s matchup for both teams.

The Vikings have had a chance to attempt to hit the reset button coming off a bye week. But under Mike Zimmer, they are 2-4 after bye weeks during the regular season. Sunday will mark the first time Zimmer is going to face the Packers out of a bye.

In games that Aaron Rodgers has started, including playoffs, Green Bay is 15-8-1 against Minnesota. We all remember their last meeting in week one. Rodgers led the way with 364 yards through the air and four touchdowns. Both are marks he has yet to top in 2020. Davante Adams was responsible for 156 of those yards and two of the touchdowns.

Rodgers and Adams are probably even giddier heading into the second matchup. The Vikings are not the same team mentally and are hurting at corner. On Wednesday, their rookie Cameron Dantzler was placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. To make matters worse, corners Mike Hughes and Holton Hill were held out of practice with injuries and have been officially ruled out.

Meanwhile, Green Bay is healthier than they’ve been in weeks. David Bakhtiari, Allen Lazard, Tyler Ervin, and Christian Kirksey all returned to practice this week. However, the team appears to be remaining cautious with running back Aaron Jones. Kicker Mason Crosby was listed on the injury report for the first time all season.

In their first meeting, the Packers ran the ball 32 times for over 150 yards. However, seeing that it Jones is out this week, it will be up to Jamaal Williams, AJ Dillon, and possibly Ervin to pick up the slack.

The defense mostly held true to their bend but don’t break slogan in week one but ended up surrendering 34 points. That shouldn’t be the case on Sunday against a struggling Kirk Cousins and Dalvin Cook, who is expected to return after missing their last game against the Atlanta Falcons.

Cousins is tied for the league lead in interceptions with 10 and just threw three to the Falcons’ defense. The Packers have only intercepted two passes in 2020 and one was against Cousins. Right now, Mike Pettine’s defense needs as many confidence boost as it can get.

At the end of the day, it would be savoring to essentially end Minnesota’s season and send them into a rebuild. However, this isn’t a team that Green Bay can look past. Yes, their defense is hobbled, but the offense still has the talent to do some damage.

The Packers should like their odds in a shootout, but the defense should never let it get to that point.