Packers vs Vikings Game Online TV Coverage Info

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins takes part in drills during a team practice in Eagan, Minn., Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

The Green Bay Packers visit the rival Minnesota Vikings to start the season. The Packers are 1½-point favorites by FanDuel SportsBook odds. They lead the Vikings in the all-time series 64-56-3. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is the two-time reigning NFL MVP. He has a combined 13 touchdown passes without an interception in the past four matchups with Minnesota. He lost his top receiver in the offseason when Davante Adams was traded. This marks the first game for new Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell. The Vikings went 1-5 in September over the past two years.

GREEN BAY (13-5) at MINNESOTA (8-9)

Sunday, 4:25 p.m. EDT, Fox

OPENING LINE: Packers by 1½, according to FanDuel SportsBook.

SERIES RECORD: Packers lead 64-56-3.

LAST MEETING: Packers beat Vikings 37-10 on Jan. 2, 2022, in Green Bay.

PACKERS OFFENSE: OVERALL (10), RUSH (18), PASS (8), SCORING (9).

PACKERS DEFENSE: OVERALL (9), RUSH (11), PASS (10), SCORING (14).

VIKINGS OFFENSE: OVERALL (12), RUSH (17), PASS (11), SCORING (14).

VIKINGS DEFENSE: OVERALL (30), RUSH (26), PASS (28), SCORING (124.

TURNOVER DIFFERENTIAL: Packers plus-13; Vikings plus-11.

PACKERS PLAYER TO WATCH: QB Aaron Rodgers, the two-time reigning NFL MVP, has tortured the Vikings with a combined 13 TD passes without an interception in the past four matchups between these teams. He’ll be challenged to maintain that level of success without two-time All-Pro WR Davante Adams, who was traded to Las Vegas in the offseason.

VIKINGS PLAYER TO WATCH: WR Justin Jefferson has the most receiving yards (3,016) in NFL history through a player’s first two seasons. He had 169 yards and two TDs in Minnesota’s 34-31 win against Green Bay at home last year.

KEY MATCHUP: Packers OL vs. Vikings pass rush. Minnesota has fared best against Green Bay when Rodgers is consistently pressured. New Vikings OLB Za’Darius Smith, who had 26 sacks for the Packers over the 2019-20 seasons before being limited to one game because of a back injury in 2021, will be eager to stick it to his former team after being released this spring. Danielle Hunter and his 60½ sacks in 85 games mans the other OLB spot, creating a daunting assignment for Green Bay’s two best blockers David Bakhtiari and Elgton Jenkins. They were limited in training camp in their recovery from torn ACLs, but if cleared to play they’ll likely be the starting tackles.

KEY INJURIES: Packers WR Allen Lazard (ankle) didn’t practice Wednesday and is uncertain to play. … Packers TE Robert Tonyan (knee) and S Darnell Savage (hamstring) were limited practice participants Wednesday. … Vikings TE Irv Smith Jr. has recovered from a thumb injury that sidelined him for much of training camp. … Vikings DT Jonathan Bullard (bicep), an expected starter, was the only player limited in practice Wednesday on a remarkably clean injury report.

SERIES NOTES: This marks the second time in three years the Packers and Vikings have opened the season in Minnesota. The Packers won 43-34 at Minnesota in 2020. … The Packers and Vikings have split their 60 previous meetings in Minnesota. … They split their two regular-season matchups last year. The Vikings were missing QB Kirk Cousins in the loss at Green Bay because of COVID-19. … The Packers are 16-10-1 against the Vikings in games that Rodgers has started. Including the playoffs, Rodgers has thrown 57 TDs and seven interceptions against the Vikings. … Cousins is 3-3-1 against the Packers since joining the Vikings.

STATS AND STUFF: The Packers are aiming for a fourth straight NFC North title. … The Packers have posted the NFC’s best regular-season record each of the past two years, though they haven’t reached the Super Bowl since their 2010 championship season. … Green Bay’s Matt LaFleur is the only head coach in NFL history to win at least 13 games in each of his first three seasons. … The Packers benched most of their starters for the three preseason games. They used the same strategy last year and lost 38-3 to New Orleans in the regular-season opener. … The Packers have won 32 September games since 2008, the second-highest total in the league behind New England’s 33. … This marks the first game as a head coach for Minnesota’s Kevin O’Connell. His predecessor Mike Zimmer lost his first home game against Green Bay 24-21 on Nov. 23, 2014. … Cousins will start his fifth straight season opener for the Vikings, the most for the franchise since Daunte Culpepper took six straight from 2000-05. Fran Tarkenton has the record with seven (1972-78). The Vikings went 1-5 in September over the past two years.

FANTASY TIP: With Jefferson and Adam Thielen likely to draw most of the attention from the Packers secondary led by standout CBs Jaire Alexander and Eric Stokes, Vikings WR K.J. Osborn might find more space to produce. He had 290 yards and five TDs over the last six games last year.

AP photo

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers warms up before the start of a preseason game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Green Bay Packers, Aug. 25, in Kansas City, Mo.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — When Kevin O’Connell takes the field with the Minnesota Vikings for his first game as a head coach, the 37-year-old will carry with him the blank slate that’s one of the benefits of being a rookie in this high-pressure, much-coveted job.

O’Connell needn’t be concerned for now about being booed at home by impatient or inebriated fans. His play calls and game management will be closely scrutinized in the media, at the stadium and on the couch, sure, but even with a ready-made roster full of proven starters and more than a couple of stars, the heat won’t turn up every week he doesn’t win for a while.

Matt LaFleur hasn’t helped his cause.

No head coach in NFL history has fared better over his first three seasons than LaFleur, who will take his staggering 39-10 record with the Green Bay Packers and three NFC North titles to U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday. The last two of those first-place finishes came in a runaway, one reason why O’Connell is here as the successor to Mike Zimmer in this attempt by the Vikings to reset without rebuilding and retake the division they haven’t won since 2017.

“I’d be lying to you if I said I wasn’t going to be a little extra excited, a little bit more than just any other game,” said O’Connell, who was offensive coordinator of the Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams last season. “This isn’t just any other game.”

LaFleur was also a first-timer when he was hired by the Packers at age 39, bringing a similar background of playing and coaching quarterback and serving as an offensive coordinator on the way up. He and O’Connell both held that role under Rams head coach Sean McVay (LaFleur in 2017 and O’Connell from 2020-21), and they have the same agent (Trace Armstrong).

“Just being around him at the owners’ meetings and knowing what Sean had to say about him, he’s a guy that I definitely respect,” LaFleur said. “He’s a guy that definitely carries himself the right way. He’s worked at it, and he’s deserving of this opportunity.”

NEW TARGETS

In his 18th season with Green Bay, his 15th as the starting quarterback, Aaron Rodgers will be without his trusty go-to wide receiver following the departure of All-Pro Davante Adams. Allen Lazard, the leading returner at that position, is uncertain to play due to an ankle injury.

The possibilities for filling that production include two well-regarded rookies: Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs. Watson was drafted in the second round out of North Dakota State with the pick (No. 34 overall) traded to the Packers by the Vikings as they moved down to net another selection.

“I definitely feel like there’ll be a little bit of nerves, it being my first one,” said Watson, who was limited by a knee injury in training camp but fully participated in practice this week. “I’m confident in myself and confident in the playbook. If I do get the chance I feel like I’ll be ready to go.”

Doubs was a fourth-rounder out of Nevada.

“Our confidence is still high,” Doubs said. “Allen Lazard, regardless of if he plays or not, he’ll still push us the same way as he would if he was playing.”

NEW DIRECTIONS

The Vikings have an almost entirely new staff, with O’Connell bringing a new scheme with offensive coordinator Wes Phillips from the Rams. Defensive coordinator Ed Donatell has a 3-4-based system in place on the other side of the ball. Special teams coordinator Matt Daniels has supplied fresh energy and strategy as well.

This will also be Adam Stenavich’s first game as offensive coordinator for Green Bay and Rich Bisaccia’s debut as special teams coordinator. Bisaccia, who served as interim head coach for Las Vegas last season, was brought in to help fix a facet of the game that has lagged badly for the Packers in recent years.

New Vikings punt returner Jalen Reagor, who was acquired in a trade last week with Philadelphia, can attest to that.

He had a 73-yard punt return touchdown as a rookie in 2020 against Green Bay.

“I’m salivating over this guy,” Daniels said. “This guy’s got some weight to him. He’s really hard to tackle. He has the ability to make you miss. He’s elusive, and obviously he has the home run speed to take it the distance. That’s what makes him so spooky.”

LEG UP

By all accounts, Vikings kicker Greg Joseph — whose 29-yard field goal as time expired gave Minnesota a 34-31 victory over Green Bay last season at U.S. Bank Stadium — had a strong training camp. Strong enough, actually, that O’Connell sounded open to extending Joseph’s range in games. The 28-year-old’s career long is 55 yards, one of seven 50-plus yarders he made in 2021.

“I have so much confidence in him. Our team does. I think it’s just a matter of that particular drive: Do we want to go for it in that area of the field? Do we want to try and pin our opponent deep and try to flip the field and get the ball back and play the field position game?” O’Connell said.

Packers kicker Mason Crosby, who spent training camp on the physically unable to perform list following arthroscopic knee surgery, has appeared in 241 consecutive regular season games.

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HILLSBORO, Ore. – Portland State’s women’s soccer team fell short of a comeback against the University of Hawai’i on Thursday afternoon, losing 2-1 to the Rainbow Wahine at Hillsboro Stadium.

The Vikings dropped to 1-4-2 on the season, while Hawai’i improved to 3-2-0.

The Vikings’ offensive attack lit up the score sheet, notching a season-high 18 shots while earning six corner kicks, doubling their previous season-high.

The ‘Bows capitalized on their first attack opportunity of the day, scoring the go-ahead goal in the 14th minute. Riding the momentum, the ‘Bows struck again 24 seconds later, tapping in a deflected shot to grab a 2-0 lead. Hawai’i held on to the two-goal advantage for the remainder of the half, despite facing six Viking shots in the final 20 minutes.

PSU emerged from the break energized, pressing hard in the opening minutes before a Hawai’i foul sent Abi Hoffman to the penalty mark in the 50th minute. The Viking’s goal leader made the ‘Bows pay, drilling her third penalty kick of the season to cut into their lead. PSU’s attack came up empty-handed despite a flurry of shots in the final minutes as the ‘Bows held firm to pull off the victory.

Enya Hernandez started in goal for Portland State, tallying five saves before Sidney O’billovich took over at the break. The Viking’s defense made great strides in the second half, limiting Hawai’i to just three shots in the final 45 minutes of action. The Vikings held an 18-10 shot advantage as Hoffman led the way with four. Sienna Higinbotham, Kalo Iongi, Hailey Green, Sydney Watson and Leah Heugly each logged a full 90 minutes on the pitch.

The Vikings will return to action this Sunday, Sept. 11, to take on North Dakota. Kickoff is slated for 11:05 a.m. at Hillsboro Stadium.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – If David Bakhtiari is in the Green Bay Packers’ starting lineup on Sunday at the Minnesota Vikings, it would obviously be huge if he could return to something approximating his vintage form for matchups against Za’Darius Smith and Danielle Hunter.

Offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich, Bakhtiari’s position coach the previous three seasons, has much smaller immediate goals.

“You don’t want to go in there and say, ‘Hey, when you get back out there, you better be back at how you were playing in 2020 before you got hurt,’” Stenavich said after Thursday’s practice. “I want him when he gets out there, just be a great leader, have great energy and do the little things – the finishing of your blocks, good communication, all that stuff.”

The Green Bay Packers reported no meaningful changes to the team’s Week 1 injury report on Thursday, although tight end Marcedes Lewis was given a veteran’s rest day and added to the injury report.

Receiver Allen Lazard missed another practice with an ankle injury, and left tackle David Bakhtiari (knee), offensive lineman Elgton Jenkins (pec/knee), safety Darnell Savage (hamstring) and tight end Robert Tonyan (knee) all practiced but were limited for the second consecutive day.

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Coach Matt LaFleur suggested Bakhtiari and Jenkins would participate in team drills again Thursday, but there are still on-field restrictions on both. The same goes for Tonyan, who is also coming off a significant injury, and Savage, who injured his hamstring on Family Night. It’s possible all four could receive a “questionable” or “doubtful” labeling on Friday when the final injury report arrives.

Overall, the Packers have 11 players on the current injury report, but six – kicker Mason Crosby (knee), linebacker Tipa Galeai (elbow), center Jake Hanson (shoulder), safety Dallin Leavitt (shoulder), offensive tackle Yosh Nijman (knee) and rookie receiver Christian Watson (knee) – were full participants on both Wednesday and Thursday and should be on track to play Sunday.

The Minnesota Vikings made two adjustments: running back Alexander Mattison missed practice because of a personal issue, and rookie safety Lewis Cine was limited on Thursday with a knee injury. Defensive lineman Jonathan Bullard remains limited.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) When Kevin O’Connell takes the field with the Minnesota Vikings for his first game as a head coach, the 37-year-old will carry with him the blank slate that’s one of the benefits of being a rookie in this high-pressure, much-coveted job.

O’Connell needn’t be concerned for now about being booed at home by impatient or inebriated fans. His play calls and game management will be closely scrutinized in the media, at the stadium and on the couch, sure, but even with a ready-made roster full of proven starters and more than a couple of stars, the heat won’t turn up every week he doesn’t win for a while.

Matt LaFleur hasn’t helped his cause.

No head coach in NFL history has fared better over his first three seasons than LaFleur, who will take his staggering 39-10 record with the Green Bay Packers and three NFC North titles to U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday. The last two of those first-place finishes came in a runaway, one reason why O’Connell is here as the successor to Mike Zimmer in this attempt by the Vikings to reset without rebuilding and retake the division they haven’t won since 2017.

”I’d be lying to you if I said I wasn’t going to be a little extra excited, a little bit more than just any other game,” said O’Connell, who was offensive coordinator of the Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams last season. ”This isn’t just any other game.”

LaFleur was also a first-timer when he was hired by the Packers at age 39, bringing a similar background of playing and coaching quarterback and serving as an offensive coordinator on the way up. He and O’Connell both held that role under Rams head coach Sean McVay (LaFleur in 2017 and O’Connell from 2020-21), and they have the same agent (Trace Armstrong).

”Just being around him at the owners’ meetings and knowing what Sean had to say about him, he’s a guy that I definitely respect,” LaFleur said. ”He’s a guy that definitely carries himself the right way. He’s worked at it, and he’s deserving of this opportunity.”

NEW TARGETS

In his 18th season with Green Bay, his 15th as the starting quarterback, Aaron Rodgers will be without his trusty go-to wide receiver following the departure of All-Pro Davante Adams. Allen Lazard, the leading returner at that position, is uncertain to play due to an ankle injury.

The possibilities for filling that production include two well-regarded rookies: Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs. Watson was drafted in the second round out of North Dakota State with the pick (No. 34 overall) traded to the Packers by the Vikings as they moved down to net another selection.

”I definitely feel like there’ll be a little bit of nerves, it being my first one,” said Watson, who was limited by a knee injury in training camp but fully participated in practice this week. ”I’m confident in myself and confident in the playbook. If I do get the chance I feel like I’ll be ready to go.”

Doubs was a fourth-rounder out of Nevada.

”Our confidence is still high,” Doubs said. ”Allen Lazard, regardless of if he plays or not, he’ll still push us the same way as he would if he was playing.”

NEW DIRECTIONS

The Vikings have an almost entirely new staff, with O’Connell bringing a new scheme with offensive coordinator Wes Phillips from the Rams. Defensive coordinator Ed Donatell has a 3-4-based system in place on the other side of the ball. Special teams coordinator Matt Daniels has supplied fresh energy and strategy as well.

This will also be Adam Stenavich’s first game as offensive coordinator for Green Bay and Rich Bisaccia’s debut as special teams coordinator. Bisaccia, who served as interim head coach for Las Vegas last season, was brought in to help fix a facet of the game that has lagged badly for the Packers in recent years.

New Vikings punt returner Jalen Reagor, who was acquired in a trade last week with Philadelphia, can attest to that. He had a 73-yard punt return touchdown as a rookie in 2020 against Green Bay.

”I’m salivating over this guy,” Daniels said. ”This guy’s got some weight to him. He’s really hard to tackle. He has the ability to make you miss. He’s elusive, and obviously he has the home run speed to take it the distance. That’s what makes him so spooky.”

LEG UP

By all accounts, Vikings kicker Greg Joseph – whose 29-yard field goal as time expired gave Minnesota a 34-31 victory over Green Bay last season at U.S. Bank Stadium – had a strong training camp. Strong enough, actually, that O’Connell sounded open to extending Joseph’s range in games. The 28-year-old’s career long is 55 yards, one of seven 50-plus yarders he made in 2021.

”I have so much confidence in him. Our team does. I think it’s just a matter of that particular drive: Do we want to go for it in that area of the field? Do we want to try and pin our opponent deep and try to flip the field and get the ball back and play the field position game?” O’Connell said.

Packers kicker Mason Crosby, who spent training camp on the physically unable to perform list following arthroscopic knee surgery, has appeared in 241 consecutive regular season games.

—

More AP NFL coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP-NFL

EAGAN, Minn. — No one knows what Kevin O’Connell’s offensive scheme looks like in action. Not even the Vikings.

Though there’s certainly some things to draw on — like the fact that it looks very similar to what the Los Angeles Rams run under Sean McVay, or the fact that the Vikings have already showcased aspects of it in practices this summer — a majority of the new offense has been kept under wraps.

The unveiling will come in Sunday’s 3:25 p.m. season opener against the Green Bay Packers at U.S. Bank Stadium.

“We love it,” star receiver Justin Jefferson said ahead of Thursday’s practice at TCO Performance Center in Eagan. “We’re excited to showcase it.”

It’s been a long road to this point.

Not long after O’Connell became head coach this winter, he started reaching out to various Vikings players to give them an idea of what things were going to look like. He started installing the new system at organized team activities in the spring, then worked on refining it at training camp in the summer.

And now, with the season upon them, the Vikings are starting to grasp a scheme that many consider to be extremely complex.

“It’s probably the toughest offense I’ve had to learn,” veteran receiver Adam Thielen said. “Things are starting to click a little bit. You’re not having to think as much, which obviously is huge in this league. You don’t want to be out there thinking.”

What’s made learning the new offense so difficult?

“Just a lot of verbiage,” Thielen said while explaining that some play calls are condensed down to a single word. “Sometimes playbooks are a lot of words and everybody knows what to do because (the words) are tagged or everyone is told what to do through a play call. This offense is a lot more memorization.”

Not to mention, it comes with a big playbook with a lot of formations and such designed to look the same before the snap.

“It takes time,” franchise quarterback Kirk Cousins said. “Every day we’re putting the work in to build a great foundation.”

Though it seems like everybody is slowly but surely starting to get on the same page, with the Vikings opting to rest pretty much every starter in their three preseason games, nobody can say with 100 percent certainty what the new offense is going to look like.

Not once has O’Connell relayed a play call to Cousins during a game. Nor has Cousins thrown a pass to Jefferson or Thielen in a game situation.

“Just getting to Week 1 will be a big thing for us to see how (O’Connell) calls the game,” Thielen said. “There are different situations that don’t necessarily come up a lot in practice that we have to be in the game to realize. I’m excited about that, to see how it kind of looks.”

Asked about not playing in the preseason, Jefferson admitted it has been tough to stay patient. He’s been anxiously waiting to get a glimpse of the new offense, and he seems confident that O’Connell is going to put everybody in a good position to succeed.

“Just seeing what the Rams did last season, I just feel confident that he’s going to be calling some great plays,” Jefferson said. “He knows the personnel. He knows who we are as receivers. He knows where to get us the ball and when we need it.”

All-pro running back Dalvin Cook has been extremely secretive about how he’s going to be used in the new offense. Asked about his usage once again earlier this week, Cook continued to play his cards close to the vest.

“You never know with the game of football,” he said with a laugh while setting up the punchline. “I might throw it.”