10 quick thoughts on the Vikings win over the Packers in Week 11

More quick thoughts from Minnesota’s win over Green Bay

Cole gets the start over Bradbury: In the past, the Vikings have tended to give struggling players that were high draft picks more opportunities than they probably deserved. On Sunday, Minnesota did the opposite when they decided to bench a healthy Garrett Bradbury and give Mason Cole the start at center for the third game in a row.

Cole had some moments he’d probably like to forget, but his presence in the middle of the Vikings offensive line continues to be a big improvement compared to when Bradbury was on the field.

End of first half remains a problem: Multiple times this season, the Vikings have put together impressive performances in the first 28 minutes of the first half. But during the final two minutes of the second quarter, Minnesota’s opponents scoring points has almost become a virtual guarantee.

It happened again on Sunday when Aaron Rodgers connected with tight end Josiah Deguara for a 25-yard touchdown with 30 seconds left in the second quarter.

Joseph’s streak comes to an end: Heading into this weekend, Vikings kicker Greg Joseph hadn’t missed an extra point or field goal attempt since Week 6. Joseph made his first kick on Sunday (a 51-yard field goal), but, unfortunately, he missed an extra-point try after a Dalvin Cook touchdown at the end of the first quarter.

However, it’s safe to say that no one in the building cared at all about that missed extra point when Joseph was able to win the game for the Vikings with a 29-yard-field goal as time expired in the fourth quarter.

Zimmer wastes a challenge: On their second drive of the day, Minnesota quarterback Kirk Cousins connected with Justin Jefferson on a 56-yard pass that resulted in him being brought down at the one-yard line.

It seemed pretty obvious that Jefferson was down at the one, but Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer thought otherwise for some reason. Instead of just being satisfied with getting a 1st-and-goal situation on the one-yard line, Zimmer threw the challenge flag.

Unsurprisingly, the call was not overturned and Minnesota lost a timeout. One play later, Cook punched it in the end zone for the Vikings.