Gary: The Packers head back north and go inside to play Minnesota in Week 2. After squeaking by the Jaguars, they’re playing on Sunday night in primetime. The Vikings are opening their $1 billion stadium. 

Teddy Bridgewater goes out with an injury late in the preseason, and they trade the farm for Sam Bradford. No one knows what to expect from Bradford. He’s been inconsistent or injured for his whole career with the Rams and Eagles. He wasn’t up to play in Week 1 as he hadn’t yet learned the playbook. 

Shaun Hill starts for the Vikings in a win to start the season, but Bradford’s first start is against the Packers on Sunday night. 

Bradford shines in Vikings debut

Jon: And what a start it turned out to be. I remember two things from this game. It was really boring and frustrating if you’re a Packers fan. 

Second, I wanted to strangle Cris Collinsworth for going on and on and on about Sam Bradford. Bradford was admittedly very good. Looking back at the stats, he wasn’t as good as I remembered him being. He finished the day 21-31 for 286 yards and two touchdowns. 

Stefon Diggs was the real story for the Vikings with 9 catches, 182 yards, and one touchdown. He made Damarious Randall look absolutely silly. 

But still, the Packers were in a position to tie or win the game twice in the final ten minutes of the game. The Packers final two drives end this way: an Aaron Rodgers fumble and an Aaron Rodgers interception. 

The interception was on the final Packers drive with just under four minutes to go and they never recovered. That interception was sort of a microcosm of all the things people were wondering about Aaron Rodgers. Was there something wrong with him? Was there some sort of miscommunication between him and his receivers?

Rodgers didn’t step into the pass. He sort of threw it falling back and lobbed it up there. There was almost no chance Adams was going to catch the ball, and the game’s over for the Packers.

How worried were you about Aaron Rodgers at this point in the season? 

Gary: I was worried because it wasn’t a physical problem that Rodgers was struggling with. It seemed to be miscommunication. Against the Jaguars, there was a sequence in the tail end of the game where the Packers are up four points and on the goal line. McCarthy runs the ball three straight times, and they don’t get it in the end zone.

Then, Minnesota sacks Rodgers five times during this game. Just like that, his passer rating for the year is 82.9. Things aren’t looking good. I trust Aaron Rodgers, but it’s getting dicey.

This conversation first appeared in our weekly podcast. Blue 58, powered by WTMJ Mobile, goes beyond the headlines to help you become a smarter fan of the Green Bay Packers. Hosted by former WTMJ newscaster Jon Meerdink and his friend Gary Zilavy, Blue 58 brings you a unique, upbeat perspective on your favorite NFL team, as long as that team is the Packers.