Good afternoon, everyone. On the first Sunday night of the calendar year of 2022, the Green Bay Packers took on the Minnesota Vikings in a game that was in the single digits in terms of temperature (in Fahrenheit). The game at a frigid Lambeau Field was a dominant performance by Green Bay on all sides of the football. Want to know what exactly happened? Let’s find out now.
Before the game started, there was a moment of silence for John Madden, who passed away on Tuesday December 28, 2021. Madden lived a full life, coaching the Oakland Raiders for 10 years and never having a losing record (plus winning Super Bowl XI). After he retired from coaching, he was a broadcaster for 3 decades with CBS, Fox, ABC, and NBC. During his broadcasting career, he commentated games with a whole bunch of energy. He had a number of play by play people alongside him, including Vin Scully, Jack Buck, Pat Summerall, and Al Michaels. He retired from broadcasting after Super Bowl XLIII (which the Steelers won 27-23 over the Cardinals). Along with his coaching and broadcasting careers, he helped create the video game series that has his name on it. He insisted on 11 vs. 11 football, and the people at EA were proven right. Over 30 years after its debut in 1988, the game is still going strong. There is no doubt that John Madden made a huge impact on the game of football and influenced many people over the years. He will never be forgotten ever. May John Madden Rest In Peace.
On the first possession of the game, the Packers were having no problem moving the ball down the field. Aaron Rodgers connected with Davante Adams on pass plays of 19 and 30 yards that got Green Bay to the Minnesota 17 yard line. Unfortunately, the drive stalled right at the 17. It didn’t help matters that Josiah Deguara dropped a wide open touchdown on second down and Tyler Davis got nothing on third down. Mason Crosby’s field goal from 35 yards away was good, even with a sloppy hold from Corey Bojorquez. After the field goal, the Packers defense took the field for the first time. During this first defensive possession, Matt LaFleur challenged the first play in which he thought that Tyler Conklin was down by contact (touched by Preston Smith). Thankfully, the challenge was successful, turning a 23 yard gain to just a 12 yard gain. Later in the drive, Conklin got a big 24-yard catch and run that got nullified by a illegal man downfield penalty. After that penalty, Kevin King made a great tackle that kept the Vikings from converting a third and 9. The Vikings decided to go for it on fourth and 3, but the pass from Sean Mannion fell incomplete, forcing them to turn the ball over on downs. Frustratingly, the Packers could not take full advantage of the great field position to start the drive. They did get all the way to the Minnesota 11 yard line, but they couldn’t score on the drive. On third and 3 from the 11, Rodgers threw a sloppy pass to Aaron Jones, who ended up getting no yards on the play. Rodgers tried to connect with Davante Adams on fourth down for a touchdown, but the pass went incomplete (should have been a DPI), giving the Vikings the ball on downs. After that turnover on downs, there were three straight drives that ended in three and outs and punts (2 by Minnesota and 1 by Green Bay). On the first punt by Minnesota, David Moore (the new returner for Green Bay) got hit by a Vikings player while awaiting the punt. There was a flag thrown, but it was picked up by the refs. That was a ridiculous situation there, as it cost the Packers some free yardage. With 13:29 left in the second quarter, the Packers took over possession at their own 21 yard line. The drive had a few big gains, including a 12-yard run by Aaron Jones, a 13-yard pass completion from Rodgers to Allen Lazard, and a 28-yard run by Jones that got Green Bay into scoring range. The drive stalled after a third and 4 incomplete pass to Davante Adams that forced Mason Crosby to kick a field goal. The hold was better this time and the kick was good again. Even though it seemed like the Packers had complete control of this game in the cold, it was only 6-0 with 9:11 left in the first half. The Packers defense got another three and out to frustrate the Vikings. On first and 10, Sean Mannion was sacked for a 10-yard loss by Rashan Gary. After that sack, the Vikings weren’t able to get a first down on the following 2 plays. David Moore returned the punt 10 yards to the Green Bay 34 yard line. From there, the Packers finally went on a touchdown drive. On the third play of the drive, Rodgers connected with Adams for a 15-yard pass play that converted a third and 1. On the next play, Rodgers connected with Allen Lazard for a 17-yard pass play that got Green Bay to the Minnesota 25. 2 plays later, Rodgers was under pressure and threw one up to Lazard, who made a great leaping, butt down, catch in the end zone for the first touchdown of the game. The extra point kick was good, increasing the lead to 13 points with 4:11 remaining in the half. The Packers defense forced yet another three and out after Preston Smith sacked Mannion for a loss of 5 yards on third and 10 from the 25 yard line. The punt was fair caught by Moore at the Green Bay 36. From there, the Packers went on another touchdown drive before halftime. The 6 play drive ended with back to back pass completions to Davante Adams. The 11-yard touchdown pass was set up by a 17-yard completion and, even earlier than that, a few good gains by Jones and Lazard. The extra point kick was once again good, giving Green Bay a 20-0 lead with just over a minute left. Any hopes for a shutout ended when the Vikings matched down the field to score on a Greg Joseph field goal as time expired. During this drive, the defense allowed a slow Seam Mannion to scramble for a first down. Even with no shutout, the score was 20-3 in Green Bay’s favor at halftime.
The Packers defense started the second half with yet another three and out, stuffing the run in the process. David Moore returned the punt 21 yards to the Green Bay 48, but he was hit out of bounds, giving the Packers 15 more yards on the play. The 7-play, 37-yard drive ended with AJ Dillon getting four straight carries, running all over the Vikings defense in the process. He fought his way, with some help, into the end zone for a 4 yard touchdown run that (with the extra point) increased the lead to 27-3 with 9:28 left in the third quarter. On the next drive for the Vikings, they had no choice but to go for it on fourth down and 3 from the 49 yard line of Green Bay. The pass by Sean Mannion went incomplete, giving the Packers the ball in great field position. They weren’t able to score a touchdown on this drive after an incomplete pass to Marquez Valdes-Scantling. The field goal by Mason Crosby was good from 37 yards away, increasing the lead to 30-3 with 3:27 left in the third quarter. The Vikings were able to cut the lead to 20 after scoring a touchdown on their next drive. During the drive, a crazy thing happened. On second and 3 from the Green Bay 35, Sean Mannion connected with Tyler Conklin. Conklin was immediately hit by Adrian Amos. The hit popped the ball into the air. The ball was then caught by Minnesota center Garrett Bradbury, who ran 21 yards to the Green Bay 14. After that crazy play, Mannion connected with K.J. Osborn for the Vikings’ only touchdown of the game. The Packers still had a 20 point lead entering the final quarter. They put the dagger in the Vikings’ heart on their final scoring drive. The offense went down the field on 11 plays. AJ Dillon had no problem running against the Vikings defense and Aaron Rodgers connected on a couple of passes (and even scrambled for a first down). The drive ultimately ended with a 7-yard touchdown run by AJ Dillon, who went for a Lambeau Leap afterwards. After that score, Aaron Rodgers and a few other players were done for the night. After a three and out by Minnesota, Jordan Love was called upon for the next drive. Love connected on a couple of passes and RB Patrick Taylor ran for 18 yards on the drive. Unfortunately, the drive ended in a punt after an underthrown pass by Love. Minnesota tried to get something before time expired, but they turned the ball over on downs after an incomplete pass by Sean Mannion on fourth and 9 from the Green Bay 37. One kneel-down later, the Packers were victorious by a score of 37-10. With the win, the Green Bay Packers are now the number one seed in the NFCf for the second year in a row. Earlier on Sunday, the Cowboys lost 25-22 to the Cardinals. In addition, the Packers eliminated the Vikings thanks to the Eagles winning over Washington 20-16. The Packers also became the first team in NFL history to win 13 or more games in 3 consecutive seasons. They also finished 8-0 at Lambeau Field in the regular season. For head coach Matt LaFleur, he broke George Seifert’s mark for most wins in a head coach’s first three seasons. Seifert had 38, while LaFleur now has 39 (13 in each season).
The Packers played great on offense after a slow start. In their first 3 red zone trips, they were only able to score 2 field goals. After that, the Packers laid the smack down on the Vikings. Aaron Rodgers completed 29 of 38 passes for 288 yards and 2 touchdowns (should have been 3). It was his 12th game of the season with at least 2 touchdowns and no picks, the most by any quarterback in NFL history. Davante Adams led the receivers with 136 yards and one of Rodgers’ TDs on 11 catches. That connection is something else, almost impossible to guard at this point. Adams is only 22 yards away from breaking Jordy Nelson’s mark of 1,519 in 2014. Allen Lazard had 6 catches for 72 yards and a leaping touchdown. Not only did he catch those passes, but he helped with run blocking all throughout the game. Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon helped as well in the passing game with 30 and 20 receiving yards, respectively. Jones and Dillon combined for 139 rushing yards on the night (76 for Jones, 63 and 2 touchdowns for Dillon). Jones and Dillon became the first RB duo in Packers history to each have 1,000 total yards from scrimmage. I loved both of Dillon’s touchdown runs. It was awesome seeing him fight his way to the end zone with the help of the offensive line, who did a fantastic job on Sunday night. That O-Line did not let Rodgers get sacked once, in addition to the great run blocking. Even when Rodgers and some other players were taken out of the game, Jordan Love and Patrick Taylor made a few good plays on the Vikings defense. In my opinion, Matt LaFleur has sealed the deal for the Coach of the Year award with the offense‘s performance on Sunday night. Even without some key players, including Randall Cobb, Robert Tonyan, David Bakhtiari, Elgton Jenkins, and Billy Turner, the offense played their butts off against the Vikings.
On defense, the Packers dominated the Vikings. All that worry about Dalvin Cook was all for naught, as he only got 13 yards on 12 touches. They didn’t need to stack the box as the main defensive front, especially Kenny Clark, was enough to keep the run game in check. Sean Mannion was sacked twice on the night, once each by Rashan Gary and Preston Smith. Justin Jefferson only had 58 receiving yards on the night. There were a couple of missed turnover opportunities, but the Packers defense was able to force the Vikings to consistently go three and out (plus a couple of turnovers on downs). Everyone deserves all the credit for the way the defense played on Sunday. De’Vondre Campbell, Adrian Amos, Kenny Clark, Eric Stokes, Dean Lowry, Krys Barnes, Darnell Savage, and Rasul Douglas all played well against the Vikings. Other than the shutout against Seattle, I thought that this was the best performance by Joe Barry’s unit so far this season. I know that they allowed that crazy play involving Garrett Bradbury and a few garbage time gains, but those plays didn’t matter in the end. I was happy with the way the defense played. This is still without Jaire Alexander and Za’Darius Smith. Hopefully they keep it going against Detroit and in the playoffs.
Special Teams did great on Sunday night. The only iffy spot was Corey Bojorquez, who almost messed up the hold on Mason Crosby’s first field goal. He also had one punt that didn’t travel well before going out of bounds past the 30 yard line. Yes, the Packers gave up a couple of decent kick returns, but they didn’t allow any touchdowns on those plays. Nothing bad happened on the other side. In fact, David Moore played well in his Packers debut, returning one punt for 21 yards (plus 10 on another return). Mason Crosby made every kick again. I hope that he continues to do that for the rest of the season. Most importantly, there were no turnovers on Special Teams. Maurice Drayton’s unit has played well as of late, including on Sunday night in the cold. Here’s to hoping that great play continues.
Overall, it was a dominant win for the Packers on all sides of the ball. It was very satisfying to watch the Packers eliminate the Vikings from the playoffs in blowout fashion. The next game for Green Bay is meaningless for playoff implications, but they still have to go to Ford Field to take on the Detroit Lions. I’ll talk more about this game later. In the meantime, I hope you all have a great day. Go Pack Go!
(Here are the highlights of the game, provided by the NFL’s YouTube page.)
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