Five Packers to watch in home opener vs. Vikings in Week 2
By Jesse Fry
1. Aaron Rodgers
Saying Aaron Rodgers is important to the Packers is like saying water is wet. He is, in all honesty, “The Man”. But something strange happened last week. Rodgers was a secondary performer to a defense and made just enough plays to the help them out. Usually it’s the other way around.
It was to be expected the offense would struggle. Rodgers played zero snaps during the preseason despite learning a new scheme. Not helping matters was the NFL’s top-ranked defense.
Rodgers still made enough plays to get the win but he will have to do more this week.
The task doesn’t get any easier playing the Vikings defense. Like the Bears, they have playmakers at every level and head coach Mike Zimmer has always given Rodgers a tough matchup. The offense will evolve and the team will play better and it will start this week.
After the game last week, Rodgers vowed and promised new coach Matt LaFleur he will play better. I have every reason to believe he will. He plays best when wounded, down and out. He faced as much, if not more criticism than any other point of his career this past six months. He now has a chance to change the narrative with a good showing against the Vikings.