The Vikings defeated the Green Bay Packers on a last second, 29-yard field goal, 34-31.
More importantly than a couple breaks that broke their way, the Vikings played well throughout a game for the second consecutive week. They beat a good Chargers team in Los Angeles last week. They beat a very good Packers team in Minnesota yesterday. If the Vikings play to their ability and talent, they can be a good football team. Perhaps even a very good football team.
The Vikings forced the Packers to chase them for most of the game. They twice had a 13-point lead but couldn’t pull away. If you can’t pull away from the Packers, Aaron Rodgers often finds a way to chase you down. He twice erased a 13-point lead and chased the Vikings down. His stunning 75-yard touchdown toss and run to Marquez Valdes-Scandling with 2:17 to play tied the score at 31. Rodgers and the Packers were feeling pretty good about themselves. It was probably a good thing for the Vikings that they tied the score in a single play. The one-play scoring drive took only nine seconds. There was still 2:08 on the clock. The Vikings offense had plenty of time and they only needed a field goal. It was in their best interest to use all of the time that remained. They did. It’s always best to keep Rodgers on the sidelines.
Now for those breaks.
Break #1
Leading 9-3 in the second quarter, the Vikings were in the high red zone. On 3rd-and-five, Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson were on very different pages. Cousins fired a pass to Packers safety Darnell Savage. The Packers not only dodged a Vikings scoring threat. They get the ball at the 37-yard line. Not so fast. Packers defensive lineman Kingsley Keke was called for roughing the passer. It was a legitimate call. Keke inflicted a helmet-to-helmet strike on Cousins.
Break #2
The funny thing about these two breaks is that both involved Darnell Savage. Other than the miscommunication of the first break, Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson mostly had their way with the Packers defense. Perhaps trying to hard to respond to the stunning Rodgers to Valdes-Scandling touchdown, Cousins forced a deep throw to Jefferson. Savage appeared to come down with it. Rodgers appeared to have two minutes to win the game. Not so fast. As the broadcast was going to commercial, a replay showed that the ball was floating loose as Savage was falling to the ground. Further replays definitively showed that Savage never caught the ball. The game-changing interception was nothing more than an incomplete pass.
One might call these breaks. One might also call these a couple of properly called football plays. A helmet to helmet hit is illegal. There was no other way to call it. The Savage interception never happened. If the officials had missed Keke’s helmet-to-helmet strike, the interception would’ve been a tremendous, undeserved break for the Packers. On the late interception, Savage never caught it. There was no interception. It was outstanding to see the Packers on the wrong side of plays like this.
How about those Vikings?
If the Vikings can play like this over the remaining seven games, they’ll be tough to beat. The defense can tighten up some things. The pass rush that was often getting to Rodgers in the first half wasn’t getting to him in the second half. They didn’t tackle well in the second half. Once again, the Vikings gave up a score just before halftime. If there’s been a persistent defensive problem through ten games, it’s this infuriating inability to close out the first half. The Vikings defense was facing one of the best, most difficult quarterbacks in the league. He simply makes plays. Not only that but he often makes plays when there’s no play to make. These Vikings-Packers games are a chess match between Rodgers and Mike Zimmer. In this game, they each won some moves. Seeing as the Vikings were on the right side of the score board, I guess that Zimmer won more moves than he lost. As for the offense, the best, most satisfying aspect were the deep shots. Cousins took several shots and completed most of them. For much of the game, Jefferson had his way with the Packers secondary. The pass game was good throughout the game and often very good. It was only slowed when the Packers pass rush got close to Cousins. The run game could be better. Other than his walk-in touchdown, Cook had a tough go of it in the first half. He got loose enough in the second half to finish with a decent statistical game and give the offense some balance. It look and felt like the Packers prioritized stopping Cook and the running game. That helped the Vikings pass game.
For some reason the beat-writers are constantly trying to label the Vikings offense as a “run team” or a “pass team.” In the post-game press conferences, Zimmer and players were peppered with that question. “Are the Vikings a passing team now?” What difference does it make? The Vikings have a versatile offense. They have a quarterback that can be great and a good group of pass-catchers topped by two receivers that are great. They have one of the best, most versatile running backs in the league. The Vikings have an offense that can win games in different ways. The beat-writers should write about that. Why do they have such a great need for labels?
Speaking of the Vikings versatile offense, I’d sure like to see Kene Nwangwu’s unique speed added to it. There was a moment against the Packers when I thought that was happening. Then I realized that the #26 that I thought I’d seen in the huddle was actually Alexander Mattison’s #25.
Key Stat
Penalties:
Vikings: 3-25
Packers: 8-92
In most Vikings-Packers games, that stat is flipped. The Vikings have often been on the wrong side of the penalty tally this season. Last week, they had nearly 100 penalty yards in the first half against the Chargers. I hope that this game is the start of a new penalty trend for the Vikings.
Key Player
Justin Jefferson
8 catches, 169 yards, 2 TDs (9,23)
Jefferson was the best player on the field. Edging Rodgers. Jefferson had 104 receiving yards in the first quarter. Even during a second quarter in which he had no catches he made an impact. The pass interference penalty that he drew was the big play (37 yards) of a drive that ended with a touchdown. Jefferson was a game-long problem for the Packers.
The Vikings beat the Packers!
Best Post-Game Quote
Mike Zimmer got a couple laughs from the media. Apparently beating the Packers brings out the jovial side of the coach. For the best post-game quote I’m turning to radio play-by-play Pete Bercich.
“Oli Udoh got off the penalty train.”
The Vikings have played well enough to win all of their games. They’ve also somehow managed to play poorly enough to lose most of their games. It’s been a puzzling season. The good thing is that their best games have been their past two. Two wins. They are 5-5 and in the thick of the playoff chase. The Vikings travel to Santa Clara next week to face the 49ers. I’ll be there. Skol!
The Vikings beat the Packers!
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