Patriots, and other top teams in the league, the defense can’t continue to let them down in the playoffs. Tom Brady is great, just like Rodgers

Kirk Cousins’ Vikings debut suggests tough Week 2 matchup for Packers’ defense Just hours before Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers notched an unbelievable comeback win on Sunday night football against one of their most historic rivals Jimmy Graham Jersey , another major rival was celebrating a victory of their own. Led by quarterback Kirk Cousins, who appeared in his first regular-season game in purple and gold after inking a record-breaking 3-year $84M deal last March, the Minnesota Vikings edged past a beat-up San Francisco 49ers team 24-16. In the first game of the season, Cousins looked nearly flawless when he pushed his team to victory, going 20 of 36 for 244 yards and two touchdowns and running the ball four times for an additional 24 yards.Although the Vikings’ offensive line struggled by giving up three sacks, when Cousins did receive good pass protection he was able to hit his targets in tight coverage, giving him the ability to spread the ball around. For his two touchdown passes, Cousins hit a 22-yard dime to WR Stefon Diggs and an 11-yard pass to TE Kyle Rudolph in the back of the end zone. Cousins also targeted veteran WR Adam Thielen twelve times, connecting on six catches for 102 yards. Unlike his tenure in Washington, Cousins now has a slew of targets at his disposal in Minnesota. In addition to the Vikings having a top wide receiver cast, week one also saw the return of running back Dalvin Cook, who made his first appearance in a regular season game since suffering a torn ACL in October of last year. Cook, who carried the ball 16 times for 40 yards and averaged just 2.5 yards per carry, found more success in the air by catching six passes for 55 yards. With Cook healthy, Cousins has the ability to diversify his targets and take advantage of using a RB who has the ability to not only be a strong runner but also a pass catcher.The Vikings had the benefit of playing against an injured 49ers team a week ago. But even if the Packers’ gunslinger takes the field, Green Bay still needs to find a way to contain Cousins on the other side of the ball. Cousins has matched up with Green Bay twice in his career Muhammad Wilkerson Jersey , including his lone playoff appearance as a starter in the 2015 NFC Wild Card game. The Redskins fell 35-18 in that game despite Cousins passing for 329 yards and scoring two touchdowns - one rushing, one passing. The X-factor in that game was the Packers’ defense, who put constant pressure on Cousins and stacked up six sacks in total. His second appearance against Green Bay, in week 11 of the 2016 season, was met with a much different outcome. Cousins, who played one of the best games of his career to date, passed for 376 yards and three-touchdowns. However, one thing to note is that the Packers defense of the late 2016 season looks much different than the Packers defense of this season, especially in the secondary.If the Packers hope to stop Cousins, they’re going to need to bring a lot of pressure. Cousins has clearly proven that he has the ability to make plays, but forcing him under pressure limits his timing and ability to find an open man. The Packers grabbed a victory in 2015 when they sacked Cousins six times and they defeated Chicago last week using the same strategy by containing Bears’ quarterback Mitchell Trubisky and sacking him four times.Cousins knows that playing the Packers at Lambeau Field is no small task and it’s one he’s certainly going to have to get used to as long as he’s with Minnesota. Beating the Packers on the road would certainly help to solidify Cousins’ reputation in Minnesota as an elite quarterback. Few fanbases take a Patriots Super Bowl win more personally than Cheesehead Nation. They look at what Tom Brady does and (rightly) believe, ‘Our quarterback can do that. And look at all the things our guy can do that Brady can’t. Why do they win all the time? Why is Brady the GOAT? It should be Rodgers.’ Sunday provided the explanation, one that Green Bay Packers fans ultimately didn’t need at this point because they already know: defense still matters in the playoffs and the Packers have let their quarterback down over and over in the postseason. Since 2009, the Packers have given up 40+ in the playoffs three times and allowed 37 in another contest. They’ve lost four times on the final play, and three contests in overtime.In other words, the Packers’ seven playoff losses under Rodgers fall into one of two categories: the defense got absolutely thrashed (‘09 Marcedes Lewis Jersey , ‘11, ‘12, ‘16) or gave up the game-winning score after Rodgers tied the game (‘13, ‘14, ‘15). The only playoff loss ending with the Packers having a chance to drive for the game-winning score was the 2009 game that ended on a fumble-return touchdown (and a non-called penalty every bit as egregious as the missed pass interference in the Saints-Rams game). Brady and the Patriots maintained a dynastic stranglehold on the league because their defense, particularly in the playoffs, comes through. They have the best coach in NFL history to thank for that, as their actual squad doesn’t have considerable blue chip talent. Yet in the Brady/Belichick era, the average points required to win a playoff game has been 21.62. For the Packers under Rodgers, it’s 25.2.If that difference doesn’t seem huge, remember the Patriots won three Super Bowls and lost another by three-point margins. The Packers lost to the 49ers by three at home and beat the Cowboys by three on the road in the playoffs. Three points in a playoff game means everything.And the Patriots haven’t even had the kind ultra-elite defenses a team like the Seahawks boasted over the last five years. In the playoffs under Russell Wilson, Seattle’s average required points to win in the playoffs sits at just 20, a number Rodgers and company have never failed to meet in the postseason. Imagine being able to win a playoff game with 13 points, or 17, or 22, or 26.This is hardly new ground. ‘Defense wins championships’ has been a truism in the NFL for as long as football has been played. The confluence of one embarrassingly bungled draft (2015) Lance Kendricks Jersey , Ted Thompson’s unwillingness to enter free agency, and Mike McCarthy’s reluctance to move on from Dom Capers precluded this team’s ability to build a championship level defense with any kind of consistency, watching the talents of players like Damarious Randall, Casey Hayward, and Micah Hyde wasted. It wasn’t that Thompson drafted bad players, though his inability to ever truly find a suitable running mate for Clay Matthews stands out. It was that he only drafted players. Dom Capers required veterans to run his system and never managed to adapt or evolve it, hamstringing this team. Green Bay has since turned over the front office and defensive coordinator position, installing general manager Brian Gutekunst, who has already shown a willingness to fortify the team in free agency as well as an aptitude for draft maneuverings. Though Mike Pettine’s defense didn’t make enormous statistical strides, that fell more on the football gods and bad injury luck than anything Pettine did. His adaptive, aggressive, disguising defense gave plenty of good offenses problems.Ultimately, a team like the Rams, stymied early by Pettine’s looks, went to matchups to win and the Packers didn’t have enough players — or in this case the right players — to make the adjustments. Though it’s important for the Packers not to forget their identity as an offensive team, the biggest talent deficiencies — the holes most likely to prevent Green Bay from championship contention — fall on defense. Edge rusher Davon House Jersey , athleticism at linebacker, and playmaking at safety stand out. As injuries tore through this secondary, the Packers didn’t have the cornerback depth to adjust either, making the returns of Bashaud Breeland on a new contract and Kevin King from injury all the more important this offseason. If the Packers want to compete with the Saints, Rams, Patriots, and other top teams in the league, the defense can’t continue to let them down in the playoffs. Tom Brady is great, just like Rodgers is great, but his defense comes through far more often than the ones in Green Bay. For the frustratingly low ring count on Rodgers’ hand to change, so too must the defensive performance. Green Bay believes it found the right coach to change that. This offseason must further that mission to improve the talent to give not only Rodgers, but more specifically Mike Pettine, the best opportunity to succeed.