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Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings: Week 12 Keys to Victory

By Keegan Matheson

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Nov 16, 2014; Green Bay, WI, USA; Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) warms up before the game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

1.  Avoid the “trap game”.

The 2014 NFL season has taught me two things:  Any team can win on any night, and making game picks is the easiest way to look stupid.  Ask the Kansas City Chiefs, who lost to the previously 0-10 Oakland Raiders on Thursday Night Football this week, and they will tell you that the “trap game” is very real.

With Kansas City, I was confident that they would be a team fully able to avoid the trap, given how fundamentally strong they are in all three phases of the game.  Wrong.  The Oakland Raiders gave the blue print for how underdog teams can, and will, win games in the NFL this season.

1.  The underdog plays like they have something to prove, often due to their record.

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    • 2.  The underdog gets the big play they have been waiting for all season.

    For the Raiders, that big play came on the 90-yard TD run from Latavius Murray.  Who will be the one to step up for the Vikings and shock the Green Bay Packers?  The Vikings, who have yet to be taken seriously despite a 4-6 record, and been written off without their star, Adrian Peterson, will enter this game with more motivation than ever.

    Now, when I say that the Green Bay Packers must avoid the “trap game”, I’m not suggesting that they are taking the Vikings lightly, or looking a week ahead to their game against the New England Patriots.  Suggesting that is ignorant, and insulting to the professionalism of this Packers’ squad.  What Green Bay must avoid is being caught off guard by a surprise player or scheme, and having that determine the way they play on Sunday instead of their own game plan.

    Green Bay will need to be sure that this game is not changed on Special Teams, as they were all over the place in that phase against the Eagles.  Their protection on kicks needs work, which is rare to say of an NFL team at this point, but any flaw in fundamentals will be exploited down the stretch.  A blocked kick or allowing a sizeable return may not be enough to make a difference against the Vikings, but in the playoffs, where games are decided by one possession, that is the difference between winning and losing.

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