The Packers Must Protect Aaron Rodgers
It’s reasonable to expect most of the NFL’s offensive lines to struggle in Week 1 considering the strange circumstances of the offseason and not having a preseason. The lineman simply have not gotten many real speed reps. It may take me time for them to get back to hitting at full speed after a long offseason with no preseason.
The Vikings’ pass rush got a huge boost when they traded with Jacksonville to land Yannick Ngakoue. Now, the Vikings pass rush has two pass rushers that can take over a game.
While the Vikings’ edge rush is fantastic, Green Bay has an All-Pro at left tackle. David Bakhtiari is among the best pass protectors in all the NFL. He may be the best offensive lineman in the entire league.
Green Bay will need Bakhtiari to play at peak performance if the Packers want to come away with a Week 1 victory. However, even with Bakhtiari securing one edge, that leaves another Pro Bowl edge rusher on the opposite side.
The Ngakoue trade was a genius move by the Vikings’ front office for this very reason. Rodgers is likely going to get hit a few times. However, Green Bay cannot let the Vikings’ pass rush force the Packers to change their gameplan.
