Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings: 5 matchups to watch

3. Packers Tackles vs Vikings Edge Rushers

Earlier in the season, the Packers offensive line was abused on a regular basis. Rodgers was far too frequently running for his life, which was part of the reason he ended up with an injured knee. As the season has gone on, the line has settled in more, but they regressed in a big way last week against the Seahawks. They allowed five sacks last week, and four of them came on third down to kill Packer drives.

The Vikings have two of the better edge rushers in the league which prevents the Packers from double-teaming one or the other. Danielle Hunter is currently second in the NFL in sacks with 11.5. He is expected to match up against right tackle Bryan Bulaga, who struggles against speed rushers like Hunter. Bakhtiari has to deal with Everson Griffen, which will be a fun matchup to watch, as they are both top talents at their position.

The Packers running game has looked elite at times this year, but Hunter and Griffen can slow that down with their ability to collapse the pocket. Bakhtiari and Bulaga are good pass blockers, but they can be taken advantage of at times in the run game. If Griffen and Hunter get rolling early, this Vikings defense will slowly crush down the Packers offense.