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By ZONE COVERAGE
By EVAN PRICCO
The Packers’ Second-Half Surge Showed Composure For the League’s Youngest Team
The Green Bay Packers’ Week 4 game against the Minnesota Vikings didn’t go as expected for Packers fans. Before the game, Vegas favored the Packers by 2.5 points at home with an over/under of 46 points, indicating it would be a back-and-forth, close game.
But the Vikings dominated the Packers for the entire first half. It was ugly. Everything that could go wrong for Green Bay did. The Vikings built a 28-0 lead at one point, but the Packers showed their toughness in the second half, rallying to threaten a comeback. However, they came up short, 31-29.
In the first half, Green Bay’s defense surrendered touchdowns on Minnesota’s first three possessions. The Vikings scored their first touchdown on Sam Darnold’s 29-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Addison, who had beaten Corey Ballentine in coverage and was wide open.
After Brayden Narveson missed a 37-yard field goal to the right, Minnesota drove 73 yards for another score, culminating with a two-yard touchdown catch for Josh Oliver. The Vikings took complete control of the first half when they intercepted Jordan Love on Green Bay’s next drive and turned that into points with another Jordan Addison touchdown. The Vikings were up 21-0 in the second quarter.
After Shaq Griffin intercepted Jordan Love again, Justin Jefferson caught a perfect throw from Darnold and extended Minnesota’s lead to 28-0.
After Minnesota’s fourth touchdown, Green Bay’s fans booed the Packers as they went to the sidelines.
However, Jalen Nailor muffed a punt, and Green Bay recovered the ball at the Minnesota three-yard line. After a penalty, Love threw a 15-yard touchdown to Jayden Reed. It was a small spark for Green Bay right before halftime, but the Vikings were still up, 28-7.
The Vikings started the second half well, driving the ball deep into Green Bay territory. But then Darnold threw an interception to Xavier McKinney, who has four picks in four games with Green Bay.
After two empty possessions by both teams, the Packers drove the ball 89 yards, resulting in a short touchdown pass to Dontayvion Wicks. That made it a two-possession game with 11 minutes to go.
Momentum started to shift in Green Bay’s favor when the defense forced another turnover. Sam Darnold was sacked by Keisean Nixon on a corner blitz and fumbled the ball, which the Packers recovered at Minnesota’s 24-yard line.
Two plays later, Green Bay cashed in with a 13-yard touchdown to Tucker Kraft, followed by a successful two-point conversion.
The Vikings are only up by six, 28-22.
Minnesota answered with a field goal to make it a two-possession game. Then their defense forced another Love interception and a Kraft fumble to maintain control of the game.
Green Bay scored one more time. After stopping the Vikings at Green Bay’s four-yard line, the Packers drove 96 yards in five plays, and Love threw a touchdown to Wicks to bring the score within two points with one minute to go. They would not convert the onside kick, and the Vikings secured a 31-29 victory.
As unimpressive as the first half was to watch, the second half was almost just as impressive.
Down 28-0 at home to a hated rival is one of the loneliest and most frustrating feelings in sports, for both the players and the fans. So seeing that this team responded to that scenario with even more fight and effort shows their lack of quit and an impressive cool-headedness for such a young team — still the league’s youngest. Maybe Matt LaFleur fired them up at halftime with a speech. Regardless, it was impressive how they were able to keep their composure.
After Minnesota took a 28-0 lead, the Packers outscored them 29-3. Green Bay outgained the Vikings 465 yards to 374.
Suppose one thing had gone differently in that first half — if Narveson had made one of his two misses. It’s very frustrating when you execute plays as an offense and move the ball, but it doesn’t result in points.
If they can figure out the kicking issue, they’ll be fine. The Packers clearly have the talent on the team to make plays. They also have the toughness to come back from difficult situations, as they showed on Sunday. It is just a matter of keeping the star players healthy and getting a new kicker.
The Vikings look like one of the best teams in the NFL. Still, the Packers kept their composure and their attack mentality, showing the calm and resilience of a team with far more experience. If they can fix the kicking and continue improving the offense, this game won’t matter any more in a month or two.
