The Key Week 12 Flashpoints for Packers-Vikings
It’s Packer Week for the Minnesota Vikings, with the clubs are in rather different spots in 2025. Green Bay is hoping to get back to a Super Bowl-contending status after some struggles, while Minnesota needs a win to snap out of a losing funk in back-to-back weeks. Consider these storylines for the event.
The Week 12 storylines for the Packers-Vikings matchup center on pressure points that could swing the division fight at Lambeau Field on Sunday.
Minnesota has won twice in a row at Lambeau Field, a rare feat in recent memory. Here’s what to watch for in Week 12.
The Main Storylines for Packers-Vikings
What to know before Week 12 in Wisconsin.
Will J.J. McCarthy’s Dreadful Passing Inaccuracy Persist?
McCarthy has kept himself afloat — barely — as a matter of reputation, by leading three game-winning or nearly game-winning moments in five starts. The man has this absolutely bizarre tendency to become an elite quarterback in crunchtime but play pretty horribly aside from that. Until it changes, it’s one of the most bizarre situations in Vikings history.
One of McCarthy’s primary weaknesses is basic passing accuracy — you know, the easy stuff.
Week 12 is yet another test to determine if McCarthy turns the corner on his awful accuracy through five starts. The Vikings won’t win unless he nudges the completion percentage north of 60%.
The Aaron Jones Angle
Aaron Jones played for the Packers from 2017 to 2023, and he’s still beloved in Green Bay. He has stated that he wants to score at his old house, and of course, fire up a Lambeau Leap.
Incidentally, Minnesota’s rushing offense must improve for McCarthy to develop in the best-case scenario. Asking the 22-year-old to throw more than 30 times per game is just silly.
Therefore, due to Jones’ past ties to the Packers and the need for Kevin O’Connell to run the ball efficiently, Jones, the player, is rather vital in Week 12.
CBS News on Jones’ performance last weekend against the Bears: “Aaron Jones, in his fourth game back from the hamstring injury that kept him out for four games, had a season-high 16 carries for 70 yards. He’s averaging 5.7 yards per touch this season, including his receptions, for the third-best mark of his career and highest since his Pro Bowl season in 2020 with Green Bay.”
“After ranking in the bottom quarter of the NFL in yards per rushing play in each of the first three years under O’Connell, the Vikings are eighth in the league this season at 4.66 yards per attempt. The arrival of guards Donovan Jackson through the draft and Will Fries in free agency, plus the return from injury of tackle Christian Darrisaw, has clearly provided a lift.”
Packers’ Offensive Funk
Here’s the strange odyssey of the Packers’ offense this season:
Packers Offense,
EPA/Play,
NFL Ranking:
Week 1-8: 2nd
Week 9-10: 25th
Week 11: 1st
And while Green Bay defeated the New York Giants last weekend, no Packers fan was overly thrilled by it. The offensive rut showed up as recently as three weeks ago, before Jordan Love and Co. appeared to turn it around in New York.
With injuries to Tucker Kraft, Jayden Reed, and possibly Josh Jacobs, will the offensive doldrums return against Brian Flores’ aggressive defense?
PackerNews.com‘s Tom Silverstein wrote this week about Green Bay’s offense, “Packers receivers are starting to figure out where to go when quarterback Jordan Love scrambles. Against the Giants, rookie receiver Matthew Golden found himself trying to get Love’s attention after the play broke down. He ran toward the sideline into a hole in the Giants’ defense and Love found him for a 24-yard gain.”
“Rookie Savion Williams took Love’s direction after running a stop route and turned around to go downfield. Love found him and delivered a deep ball Williams corralled for a 33-yard gain. To be a more effective offense, the Packers are going to have to take advantage of the speed they have with Christian Watson, Dontayvion Wicks, Golden and Williams when Love scrambles.”
Takeaway Drought for Minnesota
Minnesota averages 0.9 takeaways per game in 2025. That ranks 24th in the business — ninth-worst. In fact, most of the Vikings’ turnovers came in a bunch during a blowout win over the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 3.
Last season, the Vikings forced 1.8 turnovers per game, ranking second in the NFL in the metric. The team has gone from second-best to ninth-worst.
Here’s the rub: Minnesota won’t win at Lambeau without forcing a turnover, two, or three. The Packers’ depth chart is too talented, the coaching staff too wise for Kevin O’Connell and friends to win without a turnover.
Will the purple team snap out of its turnover-less rut?
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