The Minnesota Vikings entered the 2017 NFL season with an offense highlighted by Sam Bradford at quarterback, rookie Dalvin Cook at running back, and Stefon Diggs at receiver. That trio looked great in Week 1. Explosive. Entering their Week 6 division clash with the Green Bay Packers, the Vikings had no Bradford, no Cook, no Diggs. No problem. The Vikings defeated the Packers 23-10. The teams are now tied at the top of the NFC North with 4-2 records.
The big news for the Vikings in regards to this game was obviously the win. A division win is always big. A Packers win is always huge. Especially since Packers wins haven't happened too often this century. The big news for the rest of the league and definitely the Packers was an injury to quarterback Aaron Rodgers early in the game. Reports coming out during and after the game were that the injury was a broken right collar bone. Not good. For the Packers or the league. The NFL is a better league with their best players playing. Any timetable as to when Rodgers might return to action is all guesswork at this time but it could be a while. Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr hit Rodgers (cleanly/legally) right after releasing the ball. The injury appeared to occur when he hit the ground with Barr's 250 lbs on top of him. The hit was a clean football hit in placement and timing. It looked like Rodgers didn't feel that way as he walked from the field. This is a huge blow to the Packers. Rodgers, Tom Brady, Drew Brees. These are the best quarterbacks in the league. They are so good that the drop from them to their backup is much greater than the drop from starter to backup for most teams. The Vikings have been playing with their backup since their Week 1 win against the Saints. One could go so far as to say that the Vikings have been going with their backup quarterback since Week 1 of the 2016 season. But that's another story. For this story we'll go with the assumption that Bradford's the Vikings starting quarterback. The drop from Bradford to Case Keenum is much less than the drop from Rodgers to Brett Hundley. But football is a team game. The quality of a team is best measured by the players that step up when needed. Too often an NFL team is only as good as their backup quarterback.
For the rest of the game Brett Hundley led the Packers. The Vikings defense took advantage by intercepting him three times, sacking him four times, and harassing him routinely. Hundley completed 18 of 33 passes for 157 yards, a touchdown, and those three interceptions. He was a very promising quarterback at UCLA. He's a talented quarterback. The Packers' season isn't over. But Hundley is no Rogers. Very few, perhaps none, have ever played the position better than Aaron Rodgers. The Packers need their players to step up.
The Vikings unfortunately did their best to keep the game close. Just when they seemed to be on the verge of blowing the game somewhat open they handed the ball back to the Packers. Looking to go ahead 14-0 early in the second quarter, Jerick McKinnon fumbled on the Packers 16-yard line. Packers linebacker Clay Matthews recovered and returned the football to the Vikings 18-yard line. Three plays later the Packers tied the score at 7-7. A potential 14 point swing. With a 14-7 lead late in the second quarter the Vikings were looking to extend that lead. Instead Case Keenum threw his first interception of the season. Both turnovers were preceded by 20-yard gains. Instead of momentum and points the Vikings gave the ball back to the Packers. The two turnovers led directly to the Packers' 10 points.
Some knee-jerk talking heads have been placing the bust label on second-year Vikings receiver Laquon Treadwell. He wasn't 100% healthy as a rookie last season. Finally healthy this season, he was seeing more snaps but was getting few looks and only a handful of catches. He made the biggest plays of his 1+-year career yesterday. He had three catches for 51 yards. One of those was an acrobatic, one-handed catch along the sideline for a 25-yard gain. He had a less spectacular but still productive 8-yard catch a couple plays later. Both plays were important on a drive that ended in a lead-padding field goal. The Vikings have a nice group of receivers. Treadwell is one of the most physically gifted, if not most gifted, of the group. His role and production will grow.
Packers inside linebacker Blake Martinez is one of the most underrated linebackers in the league. He's overshadowed on his own defense by Mike Daniels, Clay Matthews, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, and pretty much every other Packers defensive starter. Martinez just makes plays. He had 11 tackles, two for loss, and a pass defense yesterday. That pass defense turned into an interception for cornerback Damarious Randall. Whenever the Packers defense made a good play Martinez was either the one making it or impacting it. He's a particular nuisance for me. He played at Stanford so I didn't care much for him then. He plays for the Packers now so I don't much care for him now. But he's a very good football player and getting better.
Like Treadwell, Vikings third-year cornerback Trae Waynes is another player that gets a lot of grief from fans and talking heads. Perhaps because he's not Marcus Peters, the cornerback that the Kansas City Chiefs selected a few picks after the Vikings selected Waynes in the 2015 NFL Draft. Those people seem to neglect the possibility that Waynes is a better fit for the press coverage that Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer prefers to play. We don't know if Peters can play that sort of coverage because he doesn't do it in Kansas City. Personally, I think that Waynes is playing well and getting better with each game. He still has to polish his play and technique (he can get a little "handsy" at times) but he's moving in the right direction. This is also the second consecutive year in which he sealed a win over the Packers with a late interception.
From the never seen before file. Packers linebacker Jake Ryan tackled McKinnon by grabbing both his facemask and the back of his shoulder pads. Both convenient hand holds are illegal to hold. The officials flagged Ryan for the "horse-collar."
Case Keenum is 2-2 as the Vikings starting quarterback. He also has a win in relief of Sam Bradford. He's played well enough to win all five of the games in which he has played. I was a little disappointed when the Vikings signed him this past offseason to back up Sam Bradford. I was hoping that third-year Taylor Heinicke would be given a shot at the job after missing all of the 2016 season. I'm real glad that I have no say in Vikings personnel matters. Keenum has been terrific. He has an energy about him and his play has followed. Hopefully he can sustain it. The Vikings don't need to rush Bradford back from his knee issues. That'something that they tried to do last week. Backup quarterbacks are often backup quarterbacks because they can't string together several games of solid play. Keenum has strung together five good to great games and it appears that his teammates get a kick out of playing for and with him. It's been fun to see. Relying solely on the episodes of the 2016 season of Hard Knocks it seemed to me that Keenum was trying too hard to be the leader and starting quarterback of the Los Angeles Rams. He seemed to separate himself from the team that he was supposed to lead. Perhaps competing with the team's #1 draft pick can do that. He looks like a completely different person and quarterback this season with the Vikings. He looks relaxed. He looks like he's having fun.
I didn't see enough of yesterday's other games to comment on them but I did notice the Adrian Peterson ain't done just yet. I just don't understand why so many people are hellbent on burying players, Peterson in particular.
The 1972 Miami Dolphins can celebrate. The previously unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs fell to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Get well soon Aaron Rodgers. The league is a better league with you on the field.
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