The Minnesota Vikings find themselves 4-4 after a 24-10 win over the Green Bay Packers. They didn’t just beat them, but controlled the game.
The defense forced the Packers into a three-and-out on each of their first three drives and forced timely turnovers to seal their win.
Unfortunately, quarterback Kirk Cousins suffered a torn Achilles tendon and will miss the rest of the season with it. That raises a lot of questions about what they will do moving forward, especially for the rest of the season.
There is plenty of time to discuss the future but right now, it’s time to talk about the Vikings getting a big win at Lambeau Field. There were quite a few standout performances and we highlighted them in our latest studs and duds piece.
Stud: Playcalling
The biggest narrative coming out of Sunday’s game is going to be surrounding Cousins but it shouldn’t overshadow how good the play calling was on both sides of the ball.
Kevin O’Connell was in his bag getting players open in space and maneuvered well in the red zone. He built upon some plays and formations that he used over the course of the season which led to touchdowns.
Brian Flores also called a great game on defense. He caused fits in the pocket for Jordan Love and forced a total of six three and outs with four of them coming on the first four possessions. The defense has made a massive turnaround and it’s due to the genius of Flores.
Dud: Special teams
The entire special teams unit was rough today. Here are the miscues that could have easily cost the Vikings the game
- Greg Joseph missed a 42-yard field goal
- Greg Joseph blocked a 44-yard field goal
- Jay Ward offsides on a missed Packers field goal. Anders Carlson made the ensuing field goal
- Ivan Pace Jr. was called for holding on Ty Chandler’s 85+ yard kick return
Why are these things happening? The Ward offsides also happened in the preseason against the Arizona Cardinals. We know Joseph has had issues with consistency but it’s been a rough couple of weeks after a great start to the season. How does this get fixed? Time will tell.
Stud: WR Jordan Addison
How much more can we say about how good Addison has been so far this season? He crushed his over on receiving yards of 58.5 with 82 yards on seven catches. What was really impressive was how Addison handled Jaire Alexander. He torched him on multiple occasions, including on the Vikings’ third touchdown of the game. No matter what happens moving forward, the Vikings have a stud in Addison.
Dud: LT Christian Darrisaw
Overall, the offensive line was good, but when times started to get tough, Darrisaw showed some struggles. The play before Cousins got injured, Darrisaw allowed Preston Smith to get around the corner and get the sack and allowed the same thing on the ensuing drive when Jaren Hall took over. Not what you want to see from Darrisaw.
Stud: CB Mekhi Blackmon
The Vikings prioritized playing Andrew Booth Jr. over the last two weeks and Blackmon played just a single snap on defense. On Sunday, he came up big in the fourth quarter. When the Packers were trying to get the ball into the end zone while being in the red zone, they threw multiple passes trying to score. Blackmon got a key pass breakup by swatting the ball out of Christian Watson’s hands. Nice development from Blackmon as he plays better throughout his rookie season.
Dud: CB Akayleb Evans
Evans has had some really good performances as the starting cornerback. I even went so far to say that he was a good starting cornerback last week after the game against the San Francisco 49ers. On Sunday, he struggled. Evans allowed the fourth down touchdown by not having enough depth and set that up by not getting his head turned around on a fade route. This doesn’t change that Evans has developed into a quality starter, but there is a lot to learn from in this game.
