Adam Warwas over at VikingsTerritory reached out to us to answer a few questions (in bold) and I gladly answered. While we've had some fun trash-talking with these guys in the past, I was *a little* more
straightforward this time. Please let us know what you think in the comments.
1. The obvious elephant in the room is that the Packers
are on a three game slide and playing some pretty ugly, relatively speaking,
football. Can you talk a little bit about what factors have been involved with
these three losses and what solutions the team might try to employ in
Minnesota?
It’s as though they went on a two-week bender and were still
hungover last week. A good night’s sleep and a strong cup of coffee should
sufficiently wake them up. Rodgers has always been a master of improvisation
and there’s a chance he’s been boxed in by some vanilla play calling. Giving
him more freelance ability with the secondary playmakers will keep defenses
guessing and frustrated before #12 drops the hammer.
2. Prior to the season, I'm on record saying that Eddie
Lacy being on that Packers roster is just plain unfair. As it turns out, Lacy's
year is going pretty poorly and Green Bay is looking fairly one-dimensional on
offense these days. Is that a fair assessment and how is that impacting Aaron
Rodgers?
While it’s not ideal, Lacy’s short history has indicated he
may be a slow starter. Couple that with an injury and the numbers speak for
themselves. Starks is a very capable backup but brings a different set of
skills to the scheme, probably resulting in more week-to-week adjustments on
offense than preferred. That being said, I don’t know it impacts Rodgers that
much. I mean, he won the MVP in 2011 when the team was 28th in
rushing. He hasn’t played his greatest, but his receivers outside of Cobb and
James Jones are relatively young and inexperienced as well. Some struggles are
to be expected. As they mature and gain Rodgers’ trust, the offense will get
exponentially better sooner than later.
3. Can you tell Vikings fans a bit about Green Bay's 2015
rookie class? I'd like to get your perspective on which rookies are
contributing to the success of the team and which have been underwhelming.
In typical draft-and-develop fashion, we picked up some
supporting cast members in Rounds 1-3 and depth the rest of the way. You’ll
want to pay attention to our first pick especially, Damarious Randall, who has
already save our behinds more than once in the secondary. Ty Montgomery, our
return guy and WR, appears to be healthy enough to contribute in a variety of
ways. Quinten Rollins is real intriguing ball hawk with upside in the
secondary. He’s actually a former college basketball player who was his
conference’s defensive player of the year his senior year – the only year he
played college football. There’s a chance you might see John Kuhn’s
potential successor and fellow redhead, Aaron Ripowski, aka “The Ripper.” Jack
Ryan of “Sixteen Candles” fame is also an intriguing middle linebacker to watch
– if not this season, then the next.
4. The Vikings have really had a hard time getting Adrian
Peterson and Teddy Bridgewater both into rhythm at the same time. By
that, I mean that the offense has yet to fire on all cylinders in 2015. This
Dom Capers defense has had ups and downs this season, and I'm wondering if you
think the Vikings are most likely to find success through the air or on the ground?
Ha! I mean, what do you think? Despite his decent weapons,
if Teddy has above-average success through the air it would probably be a
surprise to everyone. #5 is still growing but you have to wonder if there’s much
ceiling left to reach? Of course it’s the ground game that’s the concern. Even
though we’ve won the majority of the matchups, Peterson has almost
single-handedly kept you in the game. If he’s semi-contained, I don’t see you
winning through the air.
5. Look, I understand that divisional games are always
hard-fought, and they can be as unpredictable as they are difficult to win.
Still, the Green Bay fans seem to be taking last week's loss to the Lions
particularly hard. To those fans that seem to think the sky is falling in
Wisconsin, what message would you like to relay?
At 6-3, many other teams would gladly trade to be in our
shoes. That said, we’ve set the bar high and expect more. Fans should know the
upside of this team by now and that if we get into the playoffs, there’s a
helluva a good chance we can make this season special. Go troll your boat
somewhere else.
BONUS: Have a prediction for the outcome of Sunday's
game?
Hard-fought 27-20 Packers victory.
Our question for Vikings Territory: If the Vikings were
sitting at .500 or below at this point, what would be the initial offer to
Ragnar to come back and save the Vikings’ season?
Vikings Territory: Unlike the Packers, the Vikings are not that dependent on any individual, nor do we live in “What If” Land and dwell on the past. The fact is that we currently sit atop the NFC North and the Minnesota Vikings, not the Green Bay Packers, are the present and motivated to place Green Bay firmly in the past.
