Minnesota Vikings fall to Packers 25-38 in week 16
By Adam Carlson
The Minnesota Vikings were unable to defeat the Green Bay Packers in Lambeau Field during week 16 of the NFL season, as they lost the game 25-38.
The Minnesota Vikings came into week 16 in a desperate spot. With only two games left in the regular season, the team needed to win them both and get some help from other teams to hope for a postseason berth.
Sadly, the Vikings came out on the losing end of the battle against the Green Bay Packers. They fell by a final score of 25-38 and will now be spending the postseason at home. However, here is what happened during the game:
The Packers got the ball first after the Vikings won the coin toss and deferred. While Green Bay picked up a couple of first downs, a stuffed run and two short passes caused them to punt the ball away.
Once Minnesota took over on offense, the team was unable to pick up a first down. A miscommunication and a dropped pass put the Vikings in a position to punt the ball back to the Packers.
Green Bay came out on this drive connecting on some passes with mismatches. They worked their way down the field exploiting mismatches until Aaron Rodgers connected with Jordy Nelson who fought his way into the end zone for a touchdown. The extra point gave the Packers an early 7 point lead.
Minnesota got a nice spark from a Thielen kick return out to near the 30 yard line. a Jerick McKinnon run and two nice catches from Thielen put the Vikings into scoring position. On 3rd and goal, the team had their pass batted down by Clay Matthews, resulting in a Minnesota field goal.
Trailing 3-7, the Vikings went back on defense. However, Aaron Rodgers continued to take advantage of mismatches and mistakes. Green Bay made their way down the field quickly, hitting wide receiver Davante Adams for another touchdown.
Now trailing 3-14, Minnesota is looking at an early deep hole to dig out of. But the team responded well, picking up some yardage and heading into Green Bay territory while the first quarter came to a close.
A penalty set the team back, but a quick strike to Rudolph and Thielen run put them inside the red zone. Sadly, they were unable to find the end zone once again, and were forced to settle for a field goal. The Vikings trailed 6-14 following the Forbath kick.
The Packers were forced to punt, but the Vikings made a critical mistake when a snap by Easton did not go back to the quarterback out of shotgun. Packers defensive tackle Kenny Clark fell on the football, giving it possession to Green Bay.
Aaron Rodgers made the Vikings pay for that mistake. With a combination of the offensive line and quarterback mobility, the Packers used the short field to score another touchdown. Nelson hauled in his second score, giving Green Bay a 15 point advantage.
Minnesota got a BIG play out of the gate. A miscommunication in the Packers secondary left Adam Thielen wide open, and Bradford hit him for a long, beautiful 71 yard catch and score. Afterwards, he did a “Lambeau Leap” for some Vikings fans in the crowd.
Back to back sacks forced a Packers punt, but awful pass protection from T.J. Clemmings allowed Clay Matthews a clean shot at Bradford’s throwing arm, allowing a strip sack that was recovered by Green Bay.
Rodgers connected with Jordy Nelson to put the Packers back in the red zone, and then he took off on a scramble, scoring a touchdown. Minnesota’s deficit grew even more, as the team trailed 13-28.
Minnesota ran the ball out to end the half, going into the locker room trailing by 15.
The second half did not start well, with the Vikings starting with a 3-and-out. The Packers had a similar 3-and-out, but a combined sack by Danielle Hunter and Eric Kendricks looked to have hurt quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Back on offense, Minnesota started chipping away at the Packers. Picking up several first downs, a third down holding penalty on T.J. Clemmings pushed the Vikings back to a long situation which the team couldn’t convert. Locke was forced to punt again.
After trading some uneventful possessions, the fourth quarter ended.
The fourth quarter started with a long Packers field goal that was made by Crosby, extending the Packers lead to 18 with less than 15 minutes in regulation.
Minnesota came right back with another 3-and-out, punted away by Locke. Green Bay picked on Trae Waynes this time, working their way into Vikings territory before connecting with Richard Rodgers on a touchdown pass.
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Now trailing 13-38, the Vikings went back onto the field on offense. They moved the ball, picking up a couple of first downs, even converting on 4th down during the drive. Asiata ran it well and caught a nice pass to put them into the red zone.
Sam Bradford throws a fade pass to Stefon Diggs against Micah Hyde and connects for the score. Diggs ‘celebrated’ by throwing the football into the stands, but the fans threw it back. Forbath missed the extra point, so the Vikings trailed 19-38.
The Vikings were able to stop the run of the Packers once Aaron Rodgers was pulled from the game. Adam Thielen made an amazing catch to keep the game alive as the clock ticked down to the 2 minute warning.
A Rudolph run put them at the 1 yard line, but then penalties pushed them back to the edge of the red zone. Still, that didn’t stop Adam Thielen from getting open in the back of the end zone and getting the score. The extra point makes it 25-38.
Next: Watch Adam Thielen's 71 yard TD
The Minnesota Vikings then attempted an onside kick, which was recovered by Jayron Kearse. The team couldn’t take advantage of the opportunity though, as quarterback Sam Bradford was sacked and the game clock expired. The Vikings lost 25-38 to the Green Bay Packers in week 16.