Good morning, everyone. On Monday night, the Green Bay Packers took on the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Packers ended up winning the game by a score of 23-10, though they dominated the game throughout. If it was not for three turnovers, the game would have been a shutout (in my opinion). Let’s get things started with a recap of the game.
The game got off to a terrible start for the offense, as Aaron Jones fumbled the ball after catching a short pass on third down. The fumble was recovered by Eric Kendricks, who returned it to the Green Bay 10 yard line. The Packers defense responded by forcing Minnesota to settle for a field goal, which gave the Vikings a 3-0 lead. The second drive went a little better for the offense, as there was no turnover. They had to punt after Aaron Rodgers missed a deep shot to Allen Lazard on third and 8 from the Minnesota 42. The defense forced the Vikings to punt on their next drive, in response, after only 6 plays. The punt was fair caught by Tyler Ervin at the Green Bay 27. From there, the offense went down the field for a potential score. They got all the way to the Minnesota 24 before the drive ended with a field goal. On third and 3, Rodgers missed a short pass to Aaron Jones. After the 42-yard field goal by Mason Crosby, the score was tied at 3-3. The Vikings went three-and-out on their next drive after a false start and a sack of Kirk Cousins by Za’Darius Smith. Tyler Ervin only had a 5-yard punt return to the Green Bay 36. The drive went horrible for the Packers on offense, as Aaron Rodgers threw an interception to Anthony Harris, who returned the pick to the Green Bay 26. 3 plays later, Kirk Cousins connected with WR Stefon Diggs for a 21-yard touchdown pass that gave the Vikings a 10-3 lead. The Packers did much better on their next drive, as they went down the field for a score. Once again, they had to settle for a field goal after they got to the red zone. On third and 5 from the Minnesota 15, Rodgers threw incomplete to Geronimo Allison. The 33-yard field goal by Mason Crosby was good, cutting the lead to 10-6. After the defense forced a three-and-out, the Packers had the ball at the Green Bay 35. The drive ended with another turnover for Green Bay. Davante Adams fumbled the ball after catching a pass from Rodgers. The fumble was forced by Harrison Smith and recovered by Eric Kendricks, who was injured after the play was over. The defense responded with another three-and-out and the Vikings punted. After two more punts (one by each team), the Packers had the ball at their own 45 with 55 seconds left. They got all the way to the Minnesota 1 yard line on this drive. On first and goal with 7 seconds left, Rodgers threw to Adams for what should have been a touchdown. Instead, Adams dropped the pass and the Packers had to settle for their third field goal. The score at halftime was 10-9 in favor of the Vikings.
Minnesota had the ball first to start the second half. They proceeded to go three-and-out on their first drive. The punt was muffed by Tyler Ervin, who luckily recovers the fumble at the Green Bay 12. The first drive for the Packers was shut down after Aaron Rodgers was sacked on second and 11 at the 40 by Ifeadi Odenigbo. After an incomplete pass on third and 18, the Packers punted back to Minnesota. The Vikings somehow converted a third and 18 after Cousins was sacked by Za’Darius Smith again. 3 plays later, Cousins threw a play-action pass that was intended for Stefon Diggs. The pass was intercepted by Kevin King, who returned the pick to the Green Bay 47. The offense made good of the interception by going down the field for a touchdown. Aaron Jones ran it in from 12 yards out, giving the Packers the lead for the first time. After a two-point conversion was made (Rodgers threw complete to Allison), the Packers had a 17-10 lead. After 3 more drives that ended in punts (Minnesota, then Green Bay, then Minnesota), the Packers had the ball at their own 25. They only needed 3 plays to get into the end zone. After an 18-yard completion to Davante Adams, they had the ball at their own 44. From there, Aaron Jones was handed off the ball on the next play. Following some key blocks (including one by Marquez Valdes-Scantling), Jones went down the sideline for a 56-yard touchdown run that gave the Packers a 23-10 lead. The reason why it was not 24-10 was because Mason Crosby missed the extra point kick to the right. The defense was saved from giving up a long touchdown pass thanks to a holding penalty against Minnesota during the Vikings’ next drive. After Kirk Cousins threw incomplete to Adam Thielen on third and 24, the Vikings decided to punt on fourth down. After that, the fans booed and headed for the exits. Unfortunately, the defense had to go on the field one more time after a three-and-out by the offense. Even with that, they shut down the Vikings again on the next drive. After Kirk Cousins was sacked by Za’Darius Smith again, Minnesota faced a fourth and 15 from their own 38. Cousins threw incomplete on the play, giving the Packers the ball and sealing the game. The Packers had the ball at the Minnesota 23 due to a blindside block penalty against Garrett Bradbury on the previous play. After 3 kneel-downs by Rodgers, the Packers won by a score of 23-10.
The win improved the Packers’ record to 12-3 on the season (5-0 against NFC North opponents). More importantly, the Packers are NFC North champions for the first time since 2016 (which was also the last time they made the playoffs). This game was another example of overcoming adversity for an ugly win. The defense played fantastic throughout the game, giving up only 139 total yards to the Vikings. The 10 points were solely off of the turnovers by Green Bay. Like I said before, this game would have been a shutout if it was not for the turnovers by the offense. If I had to give a defensive player of the game, it would be given to Za’Darius Smith. He had 7 total tackles and 3.5 sacks on the day. Preston Smith had the other half of one of Za’Darius Smith’s sacks. In my opinion, Za’Darius Smith (plus Preston Smith) should be in serious consideration for Defensive Player of the Year. Kenny Clark got in on the action as well with a sack of his own. The Vikings offensive line had no answer for the pass rush after the running game was shut down. Kevin King had a good game as well, shutting down some plays and picking off Kirk Cousins at the start of the second quarter. Mike Pettine (the defensive coordinator for the Packers) and his unit should be very proud of themselves after Monday night’s victory. The only thing that they can do is to keep things rolling.
On offense, the Packers did not flinch at all. Even with the turnovers, head coach Matt LaFleur did not get away from the game plan, which involved feeding Aaron Jones and quick passes by Rodgers. Jones responded to the fumble by rushing for 154 yards and 2 touchdowns on 23 carries. The 56-yard touchdown run was basically a back-breaker for the Vikings in the fourth quarter. The receivers did their part in blocking the defenders and creating running lanes for Jones and Jamaal Williams (who ran for 33 yards on 6 carries). Marquez Valdes-Scantling made the key block on the 56-yard TD run by Aaron Jones. Despite being inaccurate and throwing a pick in the first half, Aaron Rodgers made some key throws to keep drives alive. Davante Adams had 13 catches for 116 yards on the night. Hopefully he redeems himself later for dropping the touchdown pass. Allen Lazard came in the clutch on some third downs as well, catching 5 passes for 45 yards in the process. Jimmy Graham almost lost the ball on his only catch. Luckily, Geronimo Allison was there to recover the ball. Special Teams had an okay game, although they almost turned the ball over after a muffed punt by Tyler Ervin (who only had one return for 5 yards). The only negative for Mason Crosby was a missed extra point kick after the 56-yard TD run by Jones. JK Scott punted the ball well, pinning the Vikings deep inside their on territory a couple of times. The good news was that nothing disastrous happened on Special Teams, thanks to the coaching by Shawn Mennenga and his assistants.
Overall, it was satisfying to watch the Packers win at U.S. Bank Stadium for the first time. The Packers are the NFC North Champions, but like the t-shirt says, “The North is not enough.” Next up for the Packers is a matchup with the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. If they win this game, they get a first-round bye in the playoffs. For now, it is a Victory Tuesday for the Green Bay Packers. Have a Merry Christmas, everyone. Go Pack Go!
(Here are the highlights of the game, provided by the NFL's YouTube page.)
Comments