In a must-win game to keep their playoff hopes alive, the Green Bay Packers dominated this matchup — on both sides of the ball — with the Minnesota Vikings from start to finish.
The Packers are now one win away from making the playoffs, controlling their own fate.
Let’s dive into my instant takeaways from Green Bay’s performance in Minneapolis.
— Go back and watch the Packers play the Vikings in Week 8 and then watch tonight’s game, and you’ll see just how far Jordan Love and this offense has come. Love was excellent this time around—poised, as Matt LaFleur likes to say, and in complete control from start to finish.
— The Vikings’ defense blitzes at the highest rate in the NFL and did a good job of throwing a lot of different looks and disguising where the pressure was coming from. But as the Packers offensive line has done over the last six games, facing other blitz-heavy opponents, they held up well. And when there was pressure in Love’s face, he hung in there and knew where to go with the ball. A few weeks ago, quarterbacks coach Tom Clements said that Love’s decision-making when under pressure is where he had improved the most.
— Also, Love was again very good at making protection adjustments at the line of scrimmage pre-snap. Very much in command.
— This offense is humming right now. Effective and efficient through the air and on the ground, while scoring 30-plus points for the second game in a row. Love was again without key skill position players as well.
— The Vikings started Jaren Hall at quarterback then switched to Nick Mullens, but credit to the Packers pass defense in this one. Entering the fourth quarter, Justin Jefferson had just 46 yards with Jordan Addison and KJ Osborn combing for 20. Even with the uncertainty at quarterback for Minnesota during the second half of the season, the Vikings pass game still ranked sixth in yards per pass attempt. Credit to Corey Ballentine and Carrington Valentine, both of whom were challenging the Minnesota receivers.
— I don’t think it’s a coincidence that from an operation standpoint, things looked a bit more smooth in the secondary with Darnell Savage back in the lineup. Matt LaFleur has complemented him previously on his leadership and communication on the back end.
— Whether it was Hall or Mullens, I thought the Packers’ pass rush did a very good job of disrupting both, which helped out the passing game. Green Bay finished the game with 14 quarterback hits. Preston Smith and Kenny Clark were both very good again.
— Given how the last three games went for the Packers defense. Given how things might go for Joe Barry once the season ends. I imagine this one – against a dynamic trio of pass-catchers – felt pretty good for him and the players. “I just want to win for the Green Bay Packers,” said Barry on Thursday.
— The Vikings defense entered Sunday allowing only 3.7 yards per rush, but Aaron Jones eclipsed the 100-yard mark at over 5.0 yards per attempt. Some of the success on the ground for Green Bay was Jones being Jones, but there were also some really nice running lanes created by the offensive line. Sean Rhyan again saw ample playing time.
— I wrote beforehand that this game felt like it had big game potential for Jayden Reed and prior to leaving with an injury that was unfolding because of the team being without Christian Watson or Dontayvion Wicks, but also because of the matchup against this Minnesota secondary. Reed finished the game with six receptions for 89 yards and two touchdowns.
— We saw several examples of complementary football by Green Bay. Off of both turnovers created by the defense, the offense went down and scored a touchdown. Then on the Vikings opening drive of the second half, the defense got a fourth-down stop, which was followed by the offense putting together an 8:00 scoring drive.
— Bo Melton is out of practice squad elevations following this game but my guess is that he will be signed to the 53 man later this week. He may end up taking the roster spot of Samori Toure, who he has already passed on the game day depth chart.
— The Anders Carlson experience continued with him missing an extra point but making both field goal attempts. Against Minnesota’s return units that have given the Packers fits previously, I thought the kick and punt coverage units held up well. Unfortunately, there was another special teams blunder with Toure’s fumble.
— The Packers were 7-for-12 on third downs while Minnesota was 1-for-7 before the final five minutes of the game. They had four red zone trips – which is good! – and converted two of them into touchdowns. Minnesota was 1-for-2 inside the 20-yard line. Green Bay would dominate the time of possession holding the ball for nearly 15 more minutes than the Vikings.
