GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Sitting at 4-8 the Sunday after Thanksgiving, the Green Bay Packers started their assault up Wild Card mountain by dispatching teams with increasingly better records, the 3 win Bears, the 5 win Rams, the 8 win Dolphins and today, the 12 win Vikings which has them peering at the summit where all that’s required is one more victory against the Detroit Lions at Lambeau Field and the number seven seed in the NFC is theirs.
Yes, they got another lending hand from the Cleveland Browns who knocked off the Carson Wentz, mistake prone Washington Commanders that opened the last door, but the Packers blew through it by exacting some revenge on the North Division champions, blowing out the Vikings 41-17 before 78,190 on a balmy, 40 degree, New Year’s Day. Minnesota got their 12-4 season started by rolling the Packers 23-7 on opening day, launching the fabulous season of wide receiver Justin Jefferson who caught 9 balls for 184 yards and two scores that day. Pro Bowl cornerback Jaire Alexander this week called that “a fluke” and he and the explosion prone secondary played like it. Jefferson was held without a first half catch on five targets, the only time in his career that happened was his first game, his rookie year in 2020, against the Packers. He would finish with just one catch, for 15 yards, coming midway through the third quarter. On a first quarter target deep down the right sideline, Kirk Cousins underthrew it allowing Alexander to rip it out of his hands. That’s when the brashy Alexander did Jefferson’s “griddy” dance after the play in celebration. It was certainly a tone setter. The Packers allowed Alexander to match up with Jefferson on 60 percent of his targets and the lock down was accomplished. Trying elsewhere became futile for Cousins, victimized by three interceptions and a fourth turnover attributed to him came when Kenny Clark stripped it loose on a sack. While the coverage was solid throughout, it was the overall defense and the special teams that jump started the blowout even though the specialty units got the game off to a shaky start.
Pat O’Donnell’s punt from from inside his 20 was blocked by Josh Metellus who was among a couple of Vikings who poured up the middle. The ball bounded backwards and Dallin Leavitt covered it up at the one. The Packers would not let the Vikes in, an incomplete first down pass and two runs by Dalvin Cook netted a loss of a yard with T.J. Slaton hanging on to the back of jersey to keep him out of the end zone and force Minnesota to settle for a 21 yard Greg Joseph field goal 4:22 into the game.
Enter Keisean Nixon. Questionable all week with a groin injury, Nixon warmed up before the game and was deemed good to go. He took the ensuing kickoff from five yards deep and found a gaping hole up the middle. Veering to his right past Joseph, he had an escort for the electrifying, 105 return for a touchdown. It was the third longest in Packer history and the first taken all the way since Randall Cobb’s record 108 yarder in his first game to open the 2011 season. When asked what he saw on the play, Nixon replied, “the kicker, and once I got by him it was party time.”
The offense took a while to get going, Aaron Rodgers took a 16 yard sack when the Packers went for it on 4th and 1 at the Minnesota 39.
Minnesota rolled the dice on 4th and 2 at the Packer 37 and Cousins’ throw for T.J. Hockenson was batted up by Rasul Douglas and into the arms of Darnell Savage. The former first rounder who was benched earlier this season, turned it into a 75 yard pick six and a 14-3 lead without the offense scoring a point.
Joseph then missed a 46 yard field goal try wide right and the Packers finally moved to the red zone, a problem of late and they couldn’t finish again, settling for Mason Crosby’s 26 yard boot and a 17-3 advantage 5 minutes into the second quarter.
Slaton made another big play when he got a couple of fingers on a Cousins throw and the deflection still careened about 20 yards downfield where Adrian Amos picked it and brought it back to the Packer 40. The offense overcame a holding penalty and from the 21, Rodgers was looking for a short slant that got blanketed, reset and backed up again in the pocket where he found Robert Tonyan running free on a corner route. The touchdown catch was just the second of the year for Tonyan.
Joseph would miss again, from 50 with :41 left in the half and two quick throws to Allen Lazard for 16 and Tonyan for 7 got the Pack in position for Crosby to attempt a 56 yarder. To say the bounces have been going Green Bay’s way of late is an understatement as Crosby’s kick went exactly 56 yards, skipping through after hitting the crossbar to extend the lead to 27-3 at the break. It was the longest made field goal by a Packer kicker in stadium history.
Another turnover ended Minnesota’s first drive of the third quarter. It was on this possession that both Adam Thielen and Jefferson made their only catches of the game. But on 2nd and 10 from the Packer 15, Kenny Clark blew through an injury ravaged offensive line (the Vikings were on their third string center), knocked the ball out of Cousins’ hand and recovered the fumble. The Packers methodically drove 76 yards in over 7 minutes with A.J. Dillon plowing in from the two on the opening play of the fourth quarter to make it 34-3.
Pick number three came on the very next snap as Cousins tried to hit Thielen deep but Rudy Ford, playing centerfield, chased down the ball and returned it 19 yards to the Viking 45. Rodgers finished off the 8 play drive with a 2 yard touchdown run, the 35th of his career, tying with with Clarke Hinkle for 6th all-time.
With backups now on the field for Green Bay, Cousins hit Jalen Nailor for a 47 yard touchdown that was caught on the left sideline and a broken tackle opened it up. Second stringer Nick Mullens then found K.J. Osborne from 9 yards out with only 21 seconds remaining.
From 4-8 to 8-8 and still alive, Head Coach Matt LaFleur talked it up post-game.
Minnesota outgained the Packers 346-315 but Green Bay held the time of possession adavantage by over 8 minutes. Rodgers needed to complete only 15 passes in 24 attempts for 159 yards and the touchdown for a rating of 95.7. Lazard led the way with 5 catches for 59 yards, Tonyan and Romeo Doubs each had three. LaFleur mentioned Watson was made it active with a hip injury that kept him off the practice field all week. He had 1, 11 yard catch although Rodgers took three deep shots with him, all coming up empty.
Aaron Jones was getting limited reps in the last couple of weeks, working through shin and ankle injuries. He was back in form, getting the ball early and often, winding up with 14 carries for 111 yards, a 7.9 average. He topped 1000 yards on the season for the third straight year. Dillon pounded out 41 yards on 12 carries with his third touchdown in the last two home games.
For Minnesota, Cousins went 18 of 31 for 205 yards with one TD and three interceptions for a rating of 49.2. Hockenson and Osborn were the leading receivers with 7 catches each. Up until Nailor’s long TD late, the longest completion of the game was just 16 yards. Cook was held to 27 yards on 9 carries and 2 catches for 17. Alexander Mattison led in rushing with 38 yards, Cousins had 37 on three scrambles including a 19 yarder.
David Bakhtiari returned to the field for the first time since the Eagles game, undergoing an appendectomy two days before the Bears game in Chicago. He stayed in until the starting line was pulled late and said he’s anxious to see how his abdomen feels on Monday. He had pointed toward this week for his return almost as soon as his recovery began. Yosh Nijman, battling a sore shoulder, could have continued to play but was pulled in favor of rookie Zach Tom who took over at right tackle in the second half. The line gave up only 1 sack, none to Danielle Hunter and ex-Packer Za’Darius Smith who shared 20 coming in. Smith, one of the Minnesota coin toss captains, refused to shake hands with the Packer captains, Adrian Amos and Dallin Leavitt. Smith was credited with three tackles, no sacks or pressures for the game and was among the first Viking players to exit the field into the tunnel after the gun.
The inactive players were Shemar Jean-Charles, Tyler Goodson, Krys Barnes, Rasheed Walker, Caleb Jones, Bo Melton and Jonathan Ford. Goodson along with kicker Ramiz Ahmed were game day callups from the practice squad. The plan was to have Ahmed handle kickoff duties to give Crosby’s leg a bit of a rest but he pulled up lame in pre-game warmups.
While this string of four straight may not have the “run the table” pizazz of 2016, the Packers put themselves in a position where they only have to help themselves, avenge a dreadful 15-9 loss to the Lions in Detroit back in early November, their fifth straight loss at the time, and a fourth straight, and most improbable playoff appearance in the LaFleur era is theirs. The game will be played on Sunday, January 8 and the NFL has determined the Packers-Lions match will be the featured game on Sunday Night Football. Kickoff is set for 7:20 pm Central Standard Time.
