Post Game Thread: Packers Regain The North 30-13 Over The Vikings

Mark87

Carpe Diem
Admin
Moderator
Messages
11,261
Reaction score
14,004
Website
wisconsinsportstalk.net
Big road win over MN .... Back on track.

The Green Bay Packers needed to respond.
With the stadium energized by a scoring drive from the Minnesota Vikings, cutting the lead to 6 late in the third quarter, the Packers found themselves at another crossroads in a season that, after three straight losses, had taken on a different tone.
On third-and-6, quarterback Aaron Rodgers was flushed to his left. He slung a pass deep down the left sideline toward receiver James Jones, the ball floating up and over the head of cornerback Xavier Rhodes.
Jones bobbled the ball, and it popped into the air, but he gathered himself and caught the pass while falling to the ground for a 37-yard gain.
Later on the drive, Rodgers rolled to his right after seeing nothing open on the left side. He rifled a pass toward the back of the end zone, toward Jones, toward a touchdown that helped clinch a crucial division win.
Jones, falling out of bounds, tapped both feet as Rhodes played the role of observer. Hands steady and feet precise, Jones hauled in an invaluable touchdown.
Call it The James Jones Drive.

His two catches on the possession — he also secured the 2-point conversion — catapulted the Packers to a 30-13 win that will go a long way toward restoring the team's confidence. A steady performance on offense, including a 100-yard day from running back Eddie Lacy, and a ruthless performance on defense, inclluding six sacks, righted the ship and secured an important victory in the context of the NFC North race.
The Packers and Vikings are now tied atop the division with a 7-3 victory, with Green Bay holding the tiebreaker for the moment.

Player of the Game: James Jones. Blanketed for four quarters against the Detroit Lions — cornerback Darius Slay did not allow a single catch — Jones responded with a terrific outing that featured plenty of clutch, difficult receptions. He finished with six catches for 109 yards and a touchdown to top 100 for the first time since Sept. 28

Turning point: Holding a 9-6 lead in a fairly stagnant game, the Packers mounted a crucial scoring drive late in the first half that changed the momentum. On third-and-15 from their own 15-yard line, the Packers lined up with four receivers and one tight end all split out wide across the formation. Rodgers rolled to his right and heaved the ball deep toward speedster Jeff Janis, who was covered by the 37-year-old Terence Newman. The play resulted in an enormous 50-yard penalty for the Packers, who continued their drive at the 35-yard line of the Vikings. Seven plays later, with just :06 remaining in the half, Rodgers connected with receiver Randall Cobb for a 10-yard touchdown that gave the Packers a double-digit lead. If the Vikings wanted to win, they’d have to come from behind. A field goal from Mason Crosby on the first possession of the second half extended the lead to 19-6.

Big number: 45 — Rushing yards for Vikings running back Adrian Peterson. The Packers prevented Peterson, who averaged better than 150 yards against them over his last four games, from breaking anything more than an 11-yard burst.

What went right: Of the many encouraging trends for the Packers on Sunday, the revival of a dormant pass rush might have been the most important. Mired in a sack-less slump for the last three games, the Packers pursued quarterback Teddy Bridgewater relentlessly and even knocked him from the game temporarily. Julius Peppers, Mike Daniels and Datone Jones, among others, unleashed a number of crunching hits that left the second-year quarterback slow to get up on more than one occasion. In total, the Packers finished with six sacks erasing 48 yards. Offensively, the Packers benefitted tremendously from a resurgent performance by tailback Eddie Lacy. After missing last week’s game against the Detroit Lions due to a groin injury, Lacy responded with churning runs that dragged defenders in vintage fashion. He finished with 100 yards on 22 carries in what was arguably his most impactful game of the season.

What went wrong: Not a lot. This was a sound overall performance from a team that was exposed on both sides of the ball in recent weeks. The Packers’ offense, maligned ever since a win over the San Diego Chargers, was balanced with run and pass. The defense, sliced up by the Chargers, Broncos and Panthers in quick succession, dominated the line of scrimmage and controlled arguably the best running back in the league. About the only significant flaw was poor coverage of tight end Kyle Rudolph, who made six catches for 106 yards and scored a touchdown. The Packers have struggled against opposing tight ends several times this year.
 
Last edited:
I told you AP would put the ball on the ground! Ha! Wow the neighborhood is quiet! Two Packer flags have been flying all day! We kicked their a** and still didn't play sharp on offense.
Teddy patting his stats at the end again, he is overrated. You should hear their radio call in show- the whine line. Vikes showed they aren't ready, lots of stupid undisciplined penalties.

Welcome back to the game plan EDDIE!
 
The Pack is Back! ...almost. Nice win. It was what they needed after 3 rough weeks. Lacy rebounded and defense for pressure while handling AP. Hope they keep it going and start stacking the wins.
 
Much needed win, couldn't go down 4 in a row.

Eddie Lacey! over 100 yards the first time this year and it was much needed. Rodgers looked better, but no where near where he was and some of it is accuracy and others are miscommunication with Receivers. Who's fault those are, the coaches and players will only know, but it needs to be cleaned up.

Nice to see Jones have a big game, really helped the offense out. According to the ESPN writer, Cobb is clearly having personal problems
icon_smile.gif
. Janis, Janis, **** Janis, was responsible for the two longest plays in the game and hopefully they can get him on the field more often.

Defense was great once Hyde was out of the way. Pass rush came through in a big way and no real breakdown in overages. Also was put to the test in the 4th quarter and came up with sacks and a TO. Great outing.

ST-Kickers did great today and Janis who I already mention had a big day. Coverage units still need some work, can't have big returns in back to back games.

Summary: Offense took a step forward, but they've got miles to go to be up to the packers standard.
 
Good W. Team showed heart despite the struggles.

Beat the Bears on Favre night (with Starr there, God willing) and get to 8-3. Hopefully keep the injuries to a minimum.
 
Both the Dline and OL played their best games in over a month. Tough stretch of games ahead. Hopefully we can maintain it.
 
Well, I admit I was dead wrong on this team. I thought they would get handles tonight. They showed fire. Hats off to MM for getting them ready to play.

thumbsup

Defense- They played well most of the night. Teddy completed too many passes on us but I think that was because we were so focused on AP
JJ- Very nice game tonight after a few drops in the beginning
Lacy- He got his power back and was hitting the holes well. Great game!
O-line- For the most part they played well. Better run blocking and protected well in the 2nd half.
Janis- Spark on ST's kickoff and spark on the deep ball penalty.

thumbsdown))

Baktiari- This guy is very average. I don't care if he is injured or not, we need to draft a replacement
Cobb- He has major confidence issues right now. Not sure the issue but his drops are getting ridiculous and he cannot get open most of the time.
Randall- I thought he played his worst game as a pro tonight.
Aaron Rodgers- Sorry but his accuracy is horrible and he continues to miss open WR's. If he would have played like he is capable of, we would have hung 40-45 on this defense.

The thing that I liked about tonight is MM and Clements stuck with the run and they used players to their strengths. Cobb was open more (even though he dropped everything) due to moving him around and running though the middle. Janis was used in certain situations to loosen up the D with his speed (I did mention the Packers should do this a few times before but everyone ripped on me for it :))

Lastly, I still see the WR's running lazy routes. They look like they are running 1/4 speed and rounding their routes off. Getting a little frustrated with that.

Good win and bring on the Bears! pc)
 
Always better to win than lose...feels much better than last week.

This team still has alot of work to get back to a solid team. The offense is not right yet. They need to get TD's instead of FG's. Offensive line had its good series and bad ones today. Was better than the past few weeks but still not that good.

The defense played decent today, but not great. They played Minnesota, not exactly a good team. Sorry, this team is not fixed. They beat a division team who they know well and is not a good team. They knew they could load up the stop the run and force Bridgewater to throw and would do well as the Vikings dont have much for receivers.

Again, great to win as it feels much better, but keep in mind who we beat and the last few weeks. They will have their hands more than full with Chicago on a short week.
 
Team clicked today. Defense played well after that first TD drive and the offense played pretty well. Lacy ran hard WR's found way to beat coverage at times. Team needs to build on this and keep going.

Though still not impressed by the OL and there is work to be done there to improve.
 
Back
Top