Which Packers team will show up against the Vikings?
By GERY WOELFEL
What we have come to learn about the Green Bay Packers this season is to expect the unexpected.
Right from the start of the regular season until now, the Packers have shown their schizophrenic ways. They beat the Lions and Commanders, two teams the so-called experts predicted they’d lose, and then they lost in Week 3 to the Browns and the Panthers just three weeks ago.
Sunday, the Packers are supposed to win. They host the Vikings at Lambeau Field and are projected as 6.5-point favorites.
The Packers are coming off a solid win against the Giants after giving the reigning Super Bowl champion Eagles all they could handle in a 10-7 setback.
The Vikings, meanwhile, aren’t playing well. They’ve lost back-to-back games to Chicago and Baltimore and are just 1-4 in their last five games.
Nobody is playing worse for the underachieving Vikings than young and unproven quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who was the 10th overall pick in the 2024 draft.
Against the Bears last week, McCarthy was a ho-hum 16-of-32 for 150 yards with one touchdown pass and TWO interceptions.
That came on the heels of another shoddy performance by McCarthy, who connected on 20 passes but misfired on 22 against the Ravens. Again, he passed for one touchdown and had TWO interceptions.
But while McCarthy is going through some obvious growing pains, the Vikings have an extraordinary crew of receivers.
Justin Jefferson is as good as it gets as a receiver. His sidekick, Jordan Addison, has big-time talent, having been the 23rd overall pick in the 2023 draft. And T.J. Hockenson ranks among the league’s better tight ends.
That trio could give the Packers’ secondary fits, a secondary that has nothing but pedestrian cornerbacks in Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine.
So, if McCarthy plays down to the low standards he has set so far this season, the Packers will prevail. If McCarthy plays up to his high draft status, the Packers could be in trouble.
WHAT THE ODDSMAKES ARE SAYING: Packers are 6.5-pont favorites.
GW’S PREDICTION: Packers 27, Vikings 20.
