Can Aaron Rodgers and the Packers Unlock the Mike Zimmer Defense vs. Vikings?

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has a sizzling passer rating of 117.9 over 12 career games against the Minnesota Vikings, his opponent for Thursday night's Week 5 showdown. 

Few teams or defenses have yet to be solved by the right arm of Rodgers, who holds the NFL record for career passer rating at 105.1. Mike Zimmer, the former Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator and now head coach of the Vikings, represents one of lone remaining adversaries on his checklist. 

The sample size in the matchup is certainly small. But over two games against Zimmer's Bengals—a seven-point loss in 2009 and a four-point defeat in 2013—Rodgers has completed just 57 percent of his passes (third-lowest against a team he's played at least twice) with two touchdowns and two interceptions. His 6.16 yards-per-attempt average against Zimmer is the lowest for Rodgers against any one team, while his passer rating of 73.5 ranks as the second-worst. 

	Cmp/Att	Yrds	Yrd/Att	TD/INT	Passer Rating
2009	21/39	261	6.69	1/0	83.4
2013	26/43	244	5.67	1/2	64.5
TOTALS	47/82	505	6.16	2/2	73.5

Who knows how much can be taken away from those numbers. One game was five years ago. The Bengals are an uncommon opponent for the Packers. The two-game sample is hardly enough; consider that after two starts against the Vikings in 2008, Rodgers was averaging only 160 passing yards with a passer rating of 80.2. 

Over his last 10 games against the Vikings, Rodgers has thrown 25 touchdowns against just four interceptions, and the Packers have averaged almost 29 points per contest.

Things change, players adjust. The special ones, like Rodgers, find the subtleties needed to unlock even the most grand of defensive schemes.

But special coaches, like Zimmer, can also develop ways to limit the best of the best.

"They are doing a lot of stuff he did in Cincinnati," Rodgers said Tuesday, via the team's official site. "He makes things difficult with the looks. They do a lot of the same looks, run different coverages and pressures behind it."

Zimmer's matchup with Rodgers from last September would seem to have the most relevance for Thursday's contest, the first between the two since the Vikings hired Zimmer as head coach.

The Bengals won the game, 34-30. The Packers scored six times and at one point held a 30-14 lead.

But Rodgers was hardly his usual self, as he averaged just 5.7 yards over 43 attempts and threw two game-changing interceptions. The Bengals sacked Rodgers four times and hit him an additional four times. The result was a 64.5 passer rating, which now ranks as Rodgers' sixth worst in a game he's started. 

How did Zimmer handle Rodgers so well? 

For starters, he used a two-high safety look as the foundation of his plan. The benefits of the two-high look have been well-documented against Rodgers and the Packers offense. Not only does it take away the big shots down the field, but it also forces Rodgers to both stay patient underneath and take risks across the middle of the field. 

The Detroit Lions used the strategy to great effect in Week 3, when Detroit played primarily two-high coverage and held Rodgers to one of his worst games as a starter. 

Expect this to be a frequent alignment when the Packers have the football Thursday:

NFL Game Rewind

Beating two-deep safeties involves running the football and winning in the middle of the field. The Packers are currently ranked 28th in rushing offense, and the team hasn't yet established a tight end it trusts to consistently win down the seam. Slot receiver Randall Cobb will be vital to exposing the middle of the field and creating opportunities underneath. 

However, Zimmer didn't just sit back on his heels and let Rodgers dictate the conversation last September. When the situation called for it, Zimmer was unafraid to send extra rushers at Rodgers, who he called the "best in the league against the blitz" this week, per Sean Jensen of Bleacher Report.

The key for the Bengals was the timing and disguise of the blitz. There's blitzing for the sake of blitzing, and there's blitzing with a purpose. Cincinnati's looks—when combined with the unrelenting pressure already being put on by the front four—rattled the usually cool-and-calm Rodgers. 

According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), the Bengals brought extra rushers just 11 times on 50 dropbacks. Those blitzes delivered just one sack, but Rodgers was also just 3-of-9 passing for 16 yards against the extra rushers. 

The year prior, in 2012, Rodgers averaged 8.0 yards per attempt with a league-high passer rating of 119.9 against the blitz. Zimmer was taking a calculated risk, but Cincinnati's ability to cause uncertainty made all the difference. (This season, Rodgers has a 130.5 rating against the blitz.)

The chaos helped create two uncharacteristic turnovers from Rodgers.

On his first interception, Rodgers threw an inside slant to James Jones despite Bengals cornerback Terence Newman playing inside technique. It was a similar play as Green Bay's first interception of Jay Cutler last week. Jones quit on the route, but the throw wasn't there. 

The second pick came a series later. The Bengals showed a double A-gap blitz look, which forced Rodgers to change protections:

NFL Game Rewind

When Cincinnati backed off and rushed only four, Rodgers hurried a bad throw to Randall Cobb, who was covered well down the right sideline. Cornerback Leon Hall made the easy interception.

The Bengals also held the Packers to 4-for-13 on third down and 2-for-4 scoring touchdowns in the red zone. 

"The key is stay out of the third and extra longs, Rodgers said. "That's when (Zimmer's) scheme and defense really thrives. For us, it's going to be about situational football. Converting on third downs and in the red zone." 

The Bengals were so good in both areas last season because the front four created consistent pressure, which allowed Zimmer to rush four and play coverage with seven. Moving the chains and scoring inside the 20-yard line are tough tasks when a defense can sit back in coverage and still know pressure is coming up front. 

Ann Heisenfelt/Associated Press

The question now is if the Vikings have the personnel to execute the same plan, or at least an altered version of it. 

Can defensive end Everson Griffen harass Rodgers and the left side of the offense like Michael Johnson did last year? The Packers couldn't handle Johnson in Cincinnati. He single-handedly ruined a number of plays. 

Do the Vikings have a trio of cornerbacks that can play press-man coverage as effectively and consistently as Newman, Hall and Adam Jones? Minnesota can counter with Xavier Rhodes, Captain Munnerlyn and Josh Robinson. It will be a tall task for the Vikings' three to replicate how good Cincinnati's trio was rerouting receivers and messing up timing back in 2013. 

Zimmer does have an elite safety in Harrison Smith, and one of the more versatile rushing 4-3 linebackers in rookie Anthony Barr, so he'll have options for compensating with his new defense. 

For the Packers, who scored on their first six possessions against the Chicago Bears last Sunday, the one necessary change is a simple one. 

"It's just about execution," Rodgers said. "When you play a Mike Zimmer defense, he's going to give you a lot of different looks."

Rodgers will attempt to provide a different looking result against Zimmer Thursday night. 

Zach Kruse covers the NFC North for Bleacher Report. 

Follow @zachkruse2