Minnesota Vikings lose big opportunity in loss to Green Bay Packers
The Minnesota Vikings had the chance to pull two games ahead of the Green Bay Packers in the NFC North and extend their winning streak, but instead Aaron Rodgers and crew broke their losing streak and pulled into an NFC North tie.
Something had to give on Sunday and Green Bay made that happen. Green Bay stopped their three game losing streak with a 30-13 victory over the Vikings. The loss for Minnesota stops the Vikings’ five game winning streak.
The bad news for Vikings fans was that Aaron Rodgers finally started to look like Aaron Rodgers again. Rodgers went 16/34 for 212 yards and a pair of touchdowns. More bad news was piled on when the Vikings offensive line decided to crumble against their hated rival.
The offensive line allowed Teddy Bridgewater to get sacked six times in the game while the second year quarterback was finding a groove despite running for his life on most plays. Bridgewater went 25/37 for 296 yards and a touchdown. Bridgewater spread the love around again by connecting with nine different receivers.
The Packers upfront defense looked phenomenal in both chasing Teddy and stopping Adrian Peterson. The Vikings running back only ran for 45 yards on 13 carries. Peterson scored a touchdown, but also fumbled the ball late which the Packers recovered and virtually sealed the game after the turnover.
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On the other side of the ball, Eddie Lacy started to look like his dominant self, too. Lacy ran for an even 100 yards on 22 carries.
James Jones was the top receiver for the Packers with 109 yards on six grabs and a TD. Kyle Rudolph had six grabs for 106 yards and a 47-yard touchdown. Stefon Diggs also had six catches for the Vikings.
Maybe the biggest killer on the Packers for the Vikings was Mason Crosby. After a big miss last week against the Detroit Lions, Crosby was perfect against the Vikings on Sunday going 5/5 with all kicks being at 40 yards or longer including a 52-yarder to push the score to 30-13. Blair Walsh didn’t really have a lot of opportunities on Sunday, but he did manage to miss another extra point on Rudolph’s touchdown in the first quarter.
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The main bullet that did in the Vikings was the sudden influx of penalties. Minnesota went into the game as one of the least penalized teams in the NFL and made up for lost time with 110 penalty yards on eight penalties.
The Packers and Vikings now stand tied at 7-3 and a top of the NFC North. Green Bay now holds the tiebreaker after the victory over Minnesota. Green Bay now plays on Thanksgiving against the Chicago Bears in primetime. The Vikings play next Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons in Georgia.
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