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Green Bay Packers vs. Minnesota Vikings
The Green Bay Packers and the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis (Sept. 13, 2026).
If the Packers are going to make the playoffs this season, they need to get their offensive line issues sorted as quickly as possible. On Sunday, Minnesota defensive coordinator Brian Flores blitzed Jordan Love on over 80% of his drop backs, generating 15 quarterback hits (and quite a few more if you include short scrambles), four sacks and an interception. It was an incredible defensive performance that was made possible by the interior of the Packer offensive line, namely guards Jacob Monk and Donovan Jennings, and center Sean Rhyan.
Flores is the best in the league when calling creative blitz packages, but what makes him truly great is his patience with plays. If he identifies any player on offense who cannot handle his blocking assignment, he will go after that player until they get it right or get themselves benched.
Flores always blitzes more than everyone else, but the last time he was even close to 80% was last year against the Lions when he made life miserable for running back Jahmyr Gibbs in two upset victories over Detroit. Monk and Jennings played two of the worst games I’ve ever seen a pair of guards play. They passed off free rushers to no one in particular, went the wrong way on stunts, double teamed decoys, and just generally seemed to have no idea what they were doing. While playing offensive line against the Vikings is difficult, the Packers are not exactly new to the task, and as they are a division opponent and they had the entire offseason to prep for this game, it was an embarrassing performance.
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Weird Choice
Starting Jennings was also a weird choice. Former second rounder Anthony Belton and rookie fifth rounder Jager Burton received more work in camp, and while neither has been particularly impressive, it’s hard to imagine anyone having a worse game than Jennings. Hopefully when Aaron Banks returns from injury he can provide at least average work inside, but until then, Jordan Love is going to be in danger.
It’s a shame, because the rest of the team actually played quite well. Jordan Love worked miracles while under constant duress, finishing with 387 passing yards, two touchdowns, and one pick, while Christian Watson was brilliant in getting behind that blitz for big plays, recording 147 yards on six catches to go with two touchdowns. Matthew Golden and Tucker Kraft chipped in solid performances as well.
Even the Packer defense played well, as they only really allowed points when a turnover put them in a bad position, or when the officials repeatedly handed the Vikings first downs on third-and-long plays. Lukas Van Ness provided a solid pass rush that was absent when Micah Parsons went down last year. Keisean Nixon was outstanding, recording and early interception of Kyler Murray, and several big tackles. And middle linebacker Edgerrin Cooper was a menace in the middle of the field whether blitzing or in coverage.
In Control?
Green Bay jumped out to a 22-10 lead and seemed to be in control, especially after Minnesota starting quarterback Kyler Murray was knocked from the game with a concussion on a punishing hit by Javon Bullard. Bullard was flagged for unnecessary roughness on the play; however it was a bad call, and the start of a series of bad calls against Green Bay that definitely tipped things towards the Vikings. Murray was out of the pocket scrambling and failed to slide or protect himself, and so should have been fair game. On the day the Packers were flagged 12 times for 98 yards while the Vikings were flagged only three times for 15 yards, a discrepancy that is almost impossible given the punishment endured by Love.
Carson Wentz came on in relief and served as a fine game manager, throwing for just 133 yards, but leveraging some good field position into three touchdown passes. Green Bay had their chances and could have gone up eight when Trey Smack hit a short field goal at the start of the fourth quarter, but Minnesota edge rusher Dallas Turner was flagged for being offsides and LaFleur decided to take the points off the board and go for it. Instead of calling a pass or attempting the Tucker Kraft tush push as they did so many times last year, LaFleur called for a straight sneak from Love behind his struggling guards. The Vikings stuffed it, took over, marched right down the field to tie the game, and they never looked back.
The Packers will not face a defense this fierce for several weeks, although their next opponents, the New York Jets, do run a similar disguised blitz scheme that they will surely ramp up given the results of this game. The bottom line for Green Bay all comes down to the guard position for the foreseeable future. If they cannot fix their interior line either through development, or finding some fresh bodies on the waiver wire, they will struggle. More importantly, Jordan Love will not survive a season taking this many hits.
