The last time the Packers played the Vikings, Jaire Alexander did the griddy over Justin Jefferson, the Packers won in a blowout, and Green Bay was excited about their playoff run.

I don't expect any of those things to happen today.

WHEN THE PACKERS HAVE THE BALL

The Vikings blitz... a lot.

Do you know what the Packers do when their opponent blitzes?

Fails.

To be fair, they do that quite a bit when the opponent isn't blitzing, too.

Green Bay's offensive line isn't just missing David Bakhtiari, they're missing the echo effect that his stability at left tackle provided. Elgton Jenkins is on an island at left guard between two under-performers and he can't help them both. Blocking with an extra tight end doesn't help, either, as Luke Musgrave is one-dimensional as a rookie and Josiah Deguara has been laughably ineffective as a blocker. As a blocking unit, they're a mess. When they're a mess, the run game can't get traction and the pass game is rushed. To top it all off, the receivers are running the wrong routes and dropping balls.

The Packers offense hasn't looked very good in a while and they're facing a very aggressive defense.

The Vikings defense is pretty average as far as league rankings. They are actually right next to the Packers defense in points and yards. However, they've faced much better offenses. The big difference is that the Vikings defense attacks. Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores is an exceptional defensive coordinator whose defense looks ready to feast on a young Green Bay offense that keeps making mistakes.

Danielle Hunter is having a career year and leads the NFL in both sacks and tackles for a loss. Hopefully Zach Tom can slow him down. Second on the Vikings in sacks is actually safety Harrison Smith, who has been coming on a lot of blitzes. He's a wild card in this aggressive scheme because he still has some good range to cover the back end, but is hard to account for when flying in on safety blitzes. The Packers made need to use a running back (not Josiah Deguara) as a personal protector for Jordan Love this game.

Green Bay's best shot to beat the blitz is screen plays to Aaron Jones (who is still dealing with a lingering hamstring injury) and Luke Musgrave (who is questionable to play with an ankle injury), but for that to work, the offensive line needs to really move and get in front of their blocks.

Absent that, they can look for Romeo Doubs and Jayden Reed on short crossers and out routes to hope they can get yards after the catch. If Christian Watson plays, he can stretch the defense, but not if protection doesn't give deep plays a chance to develop.

Matt LaFleur has struggled to get his offense starting fast and has an enormous challenge to try to get this under-performing group to squeeze out more than 3 first half points against this tough defensive group.

WHEN THE PACKERS ARE ON DEFENSE

The Vikings blocked well and picked up blitzes against a fierce 49ers front last week. 

But that's nothing new, the Vikings tackle pairing of Christian Darrisaw and Brian O'Neill is becoming elite.

Shaquil Barrett, Haason Reddick, Khalil Mack, Joey Bosa, and Brian Burns are the five highest-paid edge rushers in the NFL. The Vikings faced all of them this year and Darrisaw and O'Neill made them all non-factors.

Rashan Gary has been on a pitch count in his return, but even at full speed would probably have a hard time against these guys. The Packers probably won't get any outside rush and might be better served trying to collapse the pocket. Gary is effective running stunts to rush inside and Quay Walker has been disrupted when sent on inside blitzes. If the Packers focus on loading the inside rush and conceding the edge, they could add more defensive backs to contain a passing attack that dropped 378 yards on San Francisco, despite missing Justin Jefferson.

Jefferson will be out today, as well, but Jordan Addison, KJ Osborn, and TJ Hockenson are a tough draw for coverage as well.

The Packers may need extra defensive back help, which could also open up cornerback blitzes as a way to get pressure against a line with great tackles.

Even if they can manufacture pressure, the Packers need tight coverage. Kirk Cousins has been getting the ball out on time and his receivers have been making plays.

With Jaire Alexander listed as questionable, and Darnell Savage on injured reserve, Green Bay has a tough assignment in stopping this passing attack, even without all-world receiver Justin Jefferson.

The Packers may also have a hard time stopping the run, as they have all year. Green Bay's defense is 30th in total rushing yards allowed and gives up 4.5 yards per carry, despite not even facing a top-12 rusher in the league so far.

The Vikings had a couple good games rushing earlier this year, but failed to break 75 yards on the ground in 5 of their 7 games so far. Alexander Mattison and Cam Akers have been underwhelming, but effective enough to keep the offense balanced. This would be a great week for the Packers to stop missing tackles in the backfield.

OTHER NOTES

The Packers have not lost a fumble all year, while the Vikings have six takeaways in the last two games.

FINAL THOUGHTS

If you're one of those fans who has a terrible day and gets angry at the world whenever the Packers lose, do yourself a favor and don't watch this one.

The Vikings have been inconsistent this year and are missing their best player, but even when traveling to Green Bay on a short week, they are pretty much guaranteed to win this one.

The Packers, for all the talent they have, just aren't playing well.

The defense is holding bad opponents to reasonable scores, but the offense can't move the ball with any type of consistency. Missed tackles on defense, missed blocks on offense, wrong routes, blown coverage, this team just hasn't put it together and I can't pick them to win, or even be competitive against a good team, until they do.

Packers 13, Vikings 27