The Green Bay Packers kept their playoff hopes alive for another week, trouncing the Minnesota Vikings 41-17 at home. The lopsided score doesn’t do the game justice. The Packers were dominant in every aspect of the game and never let the Vikings build any momentum.
Any time the Vikings looked to be getting into the game, the Packers would quickly put and end whatever threat they posed. Green Bay played perhaps the most complete game they have put together all season. Aside from a few one-off incidents, they looked to be in control the entire way. This victory sets up a win-and-in against the Detroit Lions next week, turning the once thought to be lost Packers season into a potential Cinderella story.
Here are five numbers that tell the story of Green Bay’s trouncing of the Minnesota Vikings.
15
The Packers’ defense held Justin Jefferson to just 15 yards. Before the game, Jaire Alexander had called Justin Jefferson’s 184-yard Week 1 performance a fluke, and he backed this up with his play. From the start of the game, you could see that Alexander had gotten into Jefferson’s head after he copied the wide receiver’s signature Griddy celebration on a pass breakup.
Jefferson was held without a reception in the first half and didn’t get his only catch of the game until the middle of the third quarter when the Packers were already up 27-3. While Vikings fans will gripe that Jefferson wasn’t singled up on Alexander and that he faced bracket coverage most of the game, Jefferson has been adept at beating those coverages all year. But in this game, defensive coordinator Joe Barry and Alexander were able to shut him down and effectively stop the Vikings’ offense.
4
Green Bay’s defense was able to force four turnovers on Sunday, interrupting Minnesota’s momentum whenever they created any. Coming into this game, you felt that whoever made the fewer mistakes would leave this game with a win. It looked rough for the Packers after the Vikings blocked a punt and got set up at the Green Bay one-yard line, but the Packers’ defense forced Minnesota’s offense into mistakes.
It started when Darnell Savage intercepted Kirk Cousins on a deflected pass and ran it back for six. It was a sign of things to come as Green Bay’s defense intercepted Cousins twice more and forced a fumble in the red zone. The most important detail about these turnovers is that three out of four of them came with Minnesota in Packers territory threatening to cut the lead or maybe create some momentum. The Green Bay defense’s ability to stop the momentum and not let this come-from-behind Vikings team to ever get into the game.
105
Kiesean Nixon’s return of 105 yards for a touchdown was also a massive momentum shift in the game. The shift started when the Vikings had to settle for three points despite getting the ball at the one-yard line. Their inability to punch it in and silence a loud Lambeau Field didn’t do them any favors. When Nixon burst through the massive hole in the middle of the field for a score to give the Packers the lead, you could tell that the Vikings started to feel the pressure.
Nixon’s impressive rise as a returner also speaks to the great work special team coordinator Rich Bisaccia has done with the unit, turning a massive liability from last season into a strength.
152
Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon did their share of work on the offense, running for 152 yards between the two of them. Jones was the lead back, totaling 111 yards on 14 carries as the Vikings’ defense had no idea what to do when he was able to get outside. This, coupled with Dillon’s hard-fought 41 yards on 12 carries in between the tackles, forced Minnesota’s offense to stay on the sideline as the Packers ground away at the opposing defense.
This Packers team is going to have to rely on their run game side of the ball if they want to make a run in the playoffs. They won’t be the pass-heavy offense of years past, but if Jones and Dillon can continue to pound the rock successfully they could cause some problems in the playoffs.
0
The offensive line did their job as they allowed zero pressures to a former friend turned foe Za’Darius Smith. In the offseason after joining the Vikings, Smith spoke about wanting to take down the Packers in the oncoming season, and he did that in Week 1.
But he might as well have been a ghost in his return to Lambeau. He didn’t have any meaningful impact on the game. In his chance to end Green Bay’s season, he put in one of his worst games of the year and saw his team slip out of the No 2 seed for the playoffs.
