GREEN BAY, Wis. – A few of the biggest stars of the sport were on the field on Sunday when the Green Bay Packers hosted the Minnesota Vikings.
It wasn’t Jordan Love or Micah Parsons who gave the Packers an absolutely vital NFC North victory at Lambeau Field, though. Rather, it was Zayne Anderson.
With Green Bay punting and ahead 10-6 early in the third quarter, Myles Price elected to not field Daniel Whelan’s kick. Anderson, a backup safety playing a flier on the punt unit, shoved his blocker into the lap of Price. The ball hit Price and Anderson recovered the muffed punt at the 5. Two plays later, Emanuel Wilson was in the end zone to make it 17-6.
Finally given a lead, Green Bay’s defense turned up the heat with five sacks and two interceptions.
The Packers, with back-to-back wins, improved to 7-3-1. The Vikings, with five losses in their last six games, probably are done at 4-7. Minnesota will host Green Bay in Week 18. Before that game, the Packers will play at the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving and return home to face the Chicago Bears.
Jordan Love was just 14-of-21 passing for 139 yards but Emanuel Wilson carried 28 times for 107 yards and two touchdowns. With Josh Jacobs inactive due to last week’s knee injury, Wilson in his first career start gave the Packers their first 100-yard rushing game of the season.
Wilson was good. The defense was great. Struggling J.J. McCarthy was 12-of-19 for just 87 yards. With the sacks, the Vikings had 52 net passing yards. With interceptions by linebacker Isaiah McDuffie and safety Evan Williams, his passer rating was 34.2.
This week, when questioned about his defense’s pass rush, which essentially was centered on Micah Parsons doing something big or nothing happening at all, defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley spoke of the need for the Packers to take a big enough lead to force offenses into throwing the ball.
“In defense of these guys right now, there’s limited opportunities to truly pass rush,” Hafley said. “Because even on third down, the runs are going way up. The screens are going way up. We have to do a better job of getting the ball back to the offense, playing complementary football, scoring, going up on people so we then can let these guys go.”
With a two-score lead, Hafley got his wish and Green Bay’s defense got to step on the gas. And now was when Parsons took center stage.
On the first play after the touchdown drive, Parsons got inside of left tackle Christian Darrisaw and sacked McCarthy.
On the first play of the next drive, Parsons struck again. After Evan Williams buried Aaron Jones for a loss of 2, Parsons got around Darrisaw for another sack. On second-and-long, Parsons served as a wrecking ball to center Ryan Kelly. McCarthy was fortunate to avoid a safety when Devonte Wyatt got his first sack since September. Parsons was more fired up about that play than either of his sacks.
Given a short field, Wilson got the ball on five consecutive carries – running past 100 yards in the process – to set up a short field goal that extended the lead to 20-6 with 12:06 remaining.
The defense was in feeding-frenzy mode now.
On a first-down run, Parsons set up a tackle for loss. On second down, Rashan Gary blasted McCarthy. On third down, Gary missed a sack but Devonte Wyatt cleaned up. It was Wyatt’s second sack of the game and the team’s fifth of the day.
McManus tacked on a 40-yard field goal to make it 23-6 with 7:36 remaining.
With Malik Willis taking a knee to run out the clock, a “Go Pack Go” chant rang through the stadium.
On the first play of the ensuing possession, Gary roared around McCarthy’s blind side. Just as McCarthy was ready to pass, Gary hit McCarthy’s arm. The ball zinged forward and was intercepted by Isaiah McDuffie.
A couple of runs went nowhere – the fans started to boo, apparently oblivious to the score – and the Packers punted. Not that it mattered. The Packers were in complete control. They are 2-0 in division games with Detroit and Chicago looming.
The Packers led 10-6 at halftime.
After Minnesota’s Will Reichard opened the game with a 52-yard field goal, Wilson punctuated the opening drive with a 1-yard touchdown run in which he ran over linebacker Blake Cashman.
Wilson, making his first career start, rushed 13 times for 55 yards. Not only did he score the opening touchdown but he got the ball seven times on Green Bay’s other scoring drive, with his 10-yard run helping set up Brandon McManus’ 32-yard field goal.
The Vikings, who pulled within 10-6 on Reichard’s 59-yard field goal with 10 seconds left in the half, led 141-140 in yards but the Packers were 5-of-7 on third down. Isaiah McDuffie had seven tackles, including a half-sack.
A key moment in the game came with about 10 1/2 minutes to go in the second half. After a series of runs got the Vikings into the red zone, Green Bay’s defense came up big. On third-and-1, it stuffed a quarterback sneak by tight end T.J. Hockenson. On fourth-and-1, Edgerrin Cooper blew up the play and Kingsley Enagbare stuffed Jordan Mason.
At halftime of the other games, the Giants led the Lions and the Steelers led the Bears. One of the biggest cheers of the half came when the Lions’ score was shown during a timeout.
At halftime of the other games, the Giants led the Lions and the Steelers led the Bears. One of the biggest cheers of the half came when the Lions’ score was shown during a timeout.
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