Key Information and First Quarter Open Thread Dearly beloved White Dalvin Cook Jersey , we have gathered here today to get through this thing called football. . .Yes, it’s the first part of this year’s Border Battle between the Minnesota Vikings and the Green Bay Packers. In a nice twist, the Vikings won’t be visiting Lambeau in late December again this season, as we’ll be seeing the first matchup in September in Wisconsin between these two teams in a decade. Both of these teams enter this game 1-0, and the winner will get an early leg up in the race for the 2018 NFC North title.As was the case last week, we’ll be having a new Open Thread at the start of each quarter, so keep your eye out for those. For now, however, here’s everything you need to know about today’s contest.Time: Sunday, 16 September, noon Central timeLocation: Lambeau Field, Green Bay, WisconsinTelevision coverage: KMSP-9 in the Twin Cities, plus a bunch of other channels across the country that you can see right here, or on DirecTV Channel 711.Radio coverage: Vikings Radio Network, Sirius Channel 99, XM Channel 225 (reminder: the XM broadcast is the Packers radio feed)Line: Off the board due to injuries (well, one injury White Ben Gedeon Jersey , anyway)Prediction: Minnesota 24, Green Bay 20Three keys1) Get after whoever Green Bay starts at quarterback - Whether Aaron Rodgers suits up for the Packers in this one or Green Bay has to start DeShone Kizer behind center, the Vikings need to use their strength up front to get after the opposing quarterback. The Packers’ top pass-catching option, Davante Adams, is hobbled coming into this one as well, and Green Bay’s other receivers will likely have trouble getting open against the Minnesota secondary. Getting pressure could force some mistakes that the Vikings can take advantage of.2) Continue the strong offensive line play - The Vikings looked fairly solid up front last week, and that’s a trend that needs to continue. They need to be better in opening holes for Dalvin Cook and Latavius Murray, but for the most part they looked solid in pass protection, and they’re going to have to hold up again to keep Kirk Cousins upright during this contest. If the Vikings can keep Cousins clean, there are plays out there to be made.3) Win the turnover battle - While it’s not likely that the Vikings are going to force four turnovers again this week (if Rodgers starts, in any case), they need to continue to be careful with the football. They had one turnover last week on a Cook fumble, and those are the sorts of mistakes that they need to minimize. If they don’t give the Packers short fields and extra opportunities, this is a winnable football game regardless of who the Packers start at quarterback.Know the Foe: Acme Packing CompanyTwitter: The Daily Norseman’s collection of blogging professionalsFaceBook: www.facebook.com/TheDailyNorsemanA Twitter List by DailyNorseman Enjoy the game, ladies and gentlemen!SKOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL VIKINGS!!!!Let’s recall why we have the new rule on tackling quarterbacks In the wake of Sunday’s 29-29 tie between the Minnesota Vikings and the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field, one of the primary sticking points seems to be the hit that was put on Vikings’ quarterback Kirk Cousins by Packers’ linebacker Clay Matthews. The hit negated what would have been a game-sealing interception by rookie Jaire Alexander and gave the Vikings the opportunity to march down the field to, ultimately, tie the game.People don’t seem to like the call.Was the penalty on Matthews a bunch of crap? Yeah http://www.authenticsminnesotavikings.com/cheap-rashod-hill-jersey , it probably was. For that matter, so was the call against Eric Kendricks on Aaron Rodgers at the end of the first half that ultimately set up another field goal for the Packers.Back during the preseason, when the Vikings’ Antwione Williams was penalized for what appeared to be a routine sack against the Jacksonville Jaguars, I said that this new rule was eventually going to cost some team a game (though I did say “helmet rule” rather than the rules against specifically landing on a quarterback after a tackle). On Sunday, that appears to be precisely what happened.When this rule was first announced during the offseason, people were confused as to what, exactly, was going to be penalized. The officials themselves said that the rule was confusing, and we’ve now seen in a real, meaningful game that there still don’t appear to be real hard and fast guidelines for implementing the rule.But let’s recall why, exactly, we are where we are with this, shall we?We’re at this point right now because, last October, Vikings’ linebacker Anthony Barr put what was then considered a perfectly legal hit on Aaron Rodgers that resulted in Rodgers breaking his collarbone and, effectively, ending the competitive portion of the Packers’ season. A play that Barr was not flagged for at the time, nor was he fined for after the fact. Oh Youth Everson Griffen Jersey , and a play that Barr also wound up receiving death threats over, because that’s good, solid, intelligent behavior, but I digress.This resulted in a conversation at the NFL offices that I imagine went something like this:Person 1: “OMG we need to do more to protect quarterbacks!”Person 2: “Well, what exactly should we do?”Person 1: “OMG IDK but we have to do something!”And this is what we got. . .a rule that was thrown together late in the offseason with no real guidance given to officials as to how to call it that has now, officially, resulted in a team not winning a game that actually counts that it appeared they had won.This new rule, as much of a steaming garbage pile as it is, is designed to protect quarterbacks. If that’s the way things are going to be, it needs to be equally applied to all quarterbacks. “Protecting quarterbacks” doesn’t simply mean protecting your quarterback or protecting star quarterbacks. It means protecting quarterbacks, whether it’s Aaron Rodgers or Kirk Cousins or a third-string quarterback from some random NFL team whose name you probably don’t even know right now. And in the name of protecting quarterbacks, we’re going to see the sorts of garbage calls that we saw affect both teams on Sunday at Lambeau Field.This new rule is awful. It’s cost a team a game, and it’s probably going to cost more teams games by the time this season is through. But we’re here because Aaron Rodgers got hurt on a legal play in 2017 and the league wasn’t going to simply let that slide.If people want to complain about where we are, they need to remember exactly how we got here, too.