Against their NFC North rivals in Week 11, the Minnesota Vikings left their home field with a thrilling win over the Green Bay Packers.
Matchups against the Green Bay Packers are always some of the difficult games on the schedule for the Minnesota Vikings each season. But on Sunday, the Vikings headed into an NFC North showdown with a Packers team that had won seven of their last eight games.
Green Bay’s recent success didn’t matter to Minnesota as the purple and gold looked like the better team on Sunday. Thanks to some impressive performances from their top offensive players, the Vikings walked off the field this weekend with a 5-5 record after getting a big-time 34-31 win over the Packers.
Quick thoughts on the Vikings win over the Packers
Jefferson looks unstoppable – Heading into Sunday, the Packers had the NFL’s third-ranked pass defense. That certainly didn’t seem to bother Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson when he lined up against Green Bay’s defenders.
Jefferson exploded in the first half with three catches for 104 yards. He ended up finishing with eight receptions for 169 yards and two touchdowns during the win over Green Bay. Minnesota’s young receiver is continuing to establish himself as one of the league’s elite pass-catchers.
Attention for Jefferson helps others: With how dangerous Jefferson is out on the field, the Packers, unsurprisingly, placed a lot of attention on him this week. The Vikings were able to take advantage of this though on several plays, including when Adam Thielen got a one-on-one situation that resulted in him hauling in a 10-yard touchdown pass to put Minnesota up 16-3 in the second quarter.
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.
Even more quick thoughts from Minnesota’s win over Green Bay
Vikings open second half with impressive drive: The second half has been a struggle for the Vikings this season. But on Sunday, Minnesota opened up the third quarter with an impressive 14-play, 75-yard offensive drive that ended with Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson connecting for a nine-yard touchdown.
Cousins taking more chances: In the Vikings’ first two games after they returned from their bye this season, Cousins was criticized by many for not being very aggressive when passing the ball and just taking the checkdowns.
But during the last two weeks, Minnesota’s quarterback has amped up his aggressiveness, and it’s resulted in fewer struggles for the team’s passing attack. If Cousins continues to play like he has during his last two games, the Vikings should feel good about their chances to stay in contention for a playoff spot.
Vikings living up to their potential: The performances Minnesota has delivered during the last two weeks are what many felt they were capable of before the 2021 season even began.
The Vikings have the talent to get a win against any team in the NFL and they definitely proved that on Sunday when they defeated the top seed in the NFC.
Tough test in Week 12: Next week, Minnesota will head out to the west coast for a matchup with the San Francisco 49ers that could have a major impact on this year’s NFC playoffs.
San Francisco also has a 5-5 record and they have won their last two games by a combined 41 points. The Vikings getting a victory next week will be no easy task.