MINNESOTA (at Green Bay)
The Vikings might not win this game, but they should score some points. The Packers are 12-3, but their defense, while talented, has given up plenty of production, especially lately. Green Bay has allowed...
... at least 3 TDs eight times, and in four of its last five -- 16 total in those five contests. That stretch started with the game at Minnesota, a 34-31 Vikings win. It's which Minnesota players will be available that's less certain. ... Dalvin Cook missed the Rams game after being placed on the COVID list last Thursday. He'll likely return, with new COVID protocols shortening return times for unvaccinated players, pushing Alexander Mattison back into a secondary role. Cook went for 115 total yards and a score in the earlier meeting, and was even better a year ago. In the two games, Cook scored 6 touchdowns and a pair of 2-point conversions. He managed just 48 total yards at home, but 226 at Green Bay. If Cook isn't 100 percent, those kind of ...
This report is taken from today's Week 17 edition of Fantasy Index Weekly. The newsletter includes our player rankings and 17 pages of matchup previews, plus stat projections and custom rankings for the games being played this weekend.
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... averages would be wildly optimistic, and probably Mattison would play a little more than usual. But as Cook proved against Pittsburgh (222 yards and 2 TDs while making an earlier than expected return from a shoulder injury), it's a lot riskier to sit him down if he's playing. Green Bay ranks just 18th against the run, and has been chewed up pretty good in its last three, allowing an average of 166 yards and 3 TDs in those games (including some quarterback runs, but still). Overall production should be solid, the division of labor is the only slight uncertainty. ... Kirk Cousins has been putting up pretty solid numbers. Prior to last week he'd thrown multiple touchdowns in seven straight; he's passed for at least 294 yards in four of seven. He had one of his best games in the earlier meeting (341 yards and 3 TDs), this after finishing with modest stats in all four games the previous two seasons (just 5 total touchdowns, and under 200 yards in two of them). Minnesota's defense will probably serve up plenty of production to Green Bay's offense, and its ground game probably won't dominate the way it did in last year's win. Cousins may not have one of his top receivers available, but at least average yards and a couple of touchdowns look pretty likely. Green Bay has allowed 27 passing scores, including multiple touchdowns in five straight -- and to lesser lights (Fields, Huntley and Mayfield) the last three weeks. ... Adam Thielen is done for the season; he's undergoing ankle surgery. K.J. Osborn will start in that spot and has some fill-in value -- he's scored in three of four while averaging 55 yards in those contests. Justin Jefferson is an automatic start, lighting up this defense for 169 yards and 2 TDs in the earlier meeting. That's one of four games with at least 116 yards in his last seven, and he's scored in two of the others (6 TDs in his last eight games). Green Bay has allowed 16 touchdowns to wide receivers, including 8 in the last five. ... Tyler Conklin averages 35 yards, with two solid recent games (11 for 100 against Detroit and the Rams) when Thielen was sidelined early. He'll essentially be the No. 3 with Thielen out. Just 3 for 35 in the earlier meeting, but the Packers have allowed 3 TDs to tight ends in the last two weeks. Not that Conklin is nearly as good as Mark Andrews, of course. ... Greg Joseph is having a huge year, averaging 8.4 kicking points. Green Bay has allowed a league-low 15 field goals, but Joseph did manage 7 (including the game-winner) in Week 11. ... The Vikings Defense ranks 2nd with 44 sacks; it got Aaron Rodgers twice in the earlier meeting. But no takeaways in that game, and that's not surprising. Minnesota has an above-average 22, but Green Bay has turned it over just 10 times all season, a league-low figure. Rodgers hasn't thrown an interception since Week 10.