Vikings come from behind to blow Packers out

There are many question marks hanging over the wide-open NFC North this season and at least a few of them were bound to be answered as Green Bay travelled into Minnesota in an opening week divisional matchup.

New Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray’s tenure with the team couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start, as he threw an interception down the throat of Keisean Nixon just 37 seconds into the game and was fortunate that the Packers could only convert it into 3 points via a 59-yard field goal for Trey Smack’s first in the league.

Things quickly went from bad to worse for the Vikings, as Christian Watson found the end zone on the season’s longest play to date of 81 yards. Furthermore, Murray was left concussed after a big hit from Javon Bullard, ruling him out for the remainder of the contest, forcing Carson Wentz to suddenly take over duties.

Wentz was able to put points on the board in his first drive, but only 3 of them. And question marks were raised as to whether those would be Minnesota’s only 3 points all day after their next 2 drives went no where and resulted in punts, leaving Green Bay with a comfortable lead.

On the stroke of half time, things shifted out of no where when all-world receiver Justin Jefferson decided to have his say on the game, linking up with Wentz twice in the one drive, including for a 39-yard touchdown to trim the margin to 2.

Jordan Love and his offense responded with a perfect 2-minute drill of their own, and with 18 seconds remaining in the half, Watson had his 2nd touchdown to go with 131 first-half recieving yards.

The Packers’ lead grew as large as 22-10 deep into the 3rd quarter, before Wentz stepped up big time on a critical 3rd down in the red zone, finding TJ Hockenson for a major score, putting the pressure right back on Green Bay.

Cope with such pressure, they did not.

Ahead by 5 with 13 minutes to play, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur elected to go for it on 4th and 1 at Minnesota’s 17-yard line in a bid to seal the game. His play call could be considered questionable at best, opting for a sneak of Love, who came up short, handing the ball right back over.

Perhaps the most dominant 159 seconds of play we’ll see all season followed, with the Vikings scoring 3 touchdowns, courtesy of Aaron Jones Sr., Jordan Mason and Jefferson, in that time, with a lost fumble and an interception by Love sandwiched in between the 22-0 run.

After spending over 50 minutes of game time trailing, the Vikings came out with what felt like an easy, dominant 39-22 win, putting on an all-time blitz that the home fans at US Bank Stadium won’t forget any time soon.

LaFleur was left speechless when addressing the loss post-game, but Packers fans online have had plenty to say about him. It’s frightening how quickly they lost control of the game and the decision of Green Bay’s front office to extend their head coach at the end of last season has come most under scrutiny, but they’ll ultimately have no choice but to move forward and respond against the Jets in New York next week.

With Murray unlikely to be available for Minnesota’s game in Chicago next week, there’s no doubt that it will be Wentz taking the reigns ahead of JJ McCarthy, after the veteran backup wound back the clock in an inspirational performance against all odds.

Touchdowns
Green Bay: Watson 2
Minnesota: Jefferson 2, Hockenson, Jones Sr., Mason

Top Performers
Green Bay: Love, Watson, Nixon, Cooper, Golden
Minnesota: Jefferson, Wentz, Van Ginkel, Pierre, Cashman

Injuries
Green Bay: N/A
Minnesota: Murray (concussion)

Crowd: 66,940 at US Bank Stadium