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Week 10 Game Recap: Green Bay Packers 27, Minnesota Vikings 28
What you need to know
| Green Bay Packers |
Aaron Rodgers was sacked four times and suffered from really poor protection. He didn't have time to throw the ball and barely time to hand it off.
Ryan Grant looked very good considering he didn't have any holes to run through. He dug deep and kept pumping his legs for yards. He looked like his burst might be back.
LB Nick Barnett was sidelined in the second half. He had ice on the front and back of his knee and it is unknown how serious his knee injury is.
| Minnesota Vikings |
The Minnesota defense was punishing and relentless. Green Bay scored a TD on special teams and an interception. Without those scores, this game would not have been close.
Adrian Peterson once again gained most of his yards in the second half. He put the Vikings on his back to a win.
Bernard Berrian won't show up in the box score because Al Harris was all over him and had some help many times. He was targeted a few times but couldn't get the ball.
What you ought to know
| QB Aaron Rodgers, Pass: 15 - 26 - 142 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 1 - 1 - 0 |
Coming back from on the commercial breaks during the fourth quarter was a highlight reel of all the hits that Aaron Rodgers took today. And, the game was not over yet. Aaron Rodgers did not have time to throw the ball at all. There were a few big plays for first down and one touchdown called back because of offensive line penalties. The offensive line was the reason for the Packers offense struggling. In the first half they were showing footage of Rodgers bicep bruise. Rodgers was very frustrated but he played hard and never gave up. Twice he was tackled for safeties but Rodgers can't be blamed. Rodgers didn't have breathing room and on one play he passed to a receiver but the official ruled it an illegal forward pass.
| RB Ryan Grant, Rush: 16 - 75 - 1 |
Ryan Grant actually looked like he had his burst back. One play was one guy away from going all the way. The safety got him around the legs to stop him. Grant did not have many holes but he worked hard and still got yards. He had more than one run for a first down and they were not untouched. Two long runs were called back on penalties. He would have had a great day if his offensive line could have blocked for him.
| RB Brandon Jackson, Rec: 2 - 18 - 0 (2 targets) |
Brandon Jackson had a couple of short passes but he was not the primary receiver. Aaron Rodgers did not have time to throw the ball downfield and had to dump it to Jackson. Jackson did not do much with the ball once he had it and went down easily.
| WR Donald Driver, Rush: 1 - -2 - 0, Rec: 5 - 46 - 0 (11 targets) |
Donald Driver had two passes that he lost due to a penalty and being barely out of bounds. The longest target of the day was very close to being in bounds and a huge play. Some of the passes were not on target due to the pressure all day long and Driver could not be expected to catch them. It was a tough day with lots of coverage pressure and very little time to pass. Many times when Driver would break on his pattern Aaron Rodgers was already on his back. The first play of the game Donald Driver played from the RB position next to Aaron Rodgers and got the toss. He was stuffed for a two yard loss.
| WR Greg Jennings, Rec: 3 - 37 - 0 (7 targets) |
Greg Jennings had a great touchdown pass called back on an offensive line penalty. It could have been a great day with better offensive line play. Jennings was not targeted very often because the plays did not have time to develop. Jennings was on many deep patterns and most of time the ball was dumped or Aaron Rodgers was on the ground before he was ten yards down the field.
| WR Jordy Nelson, Rec: 2 - 17 - 0 (4 targets) |
Jordy Nelson had some gutsy possession receptions once again, but it wasn't a great day for any of the Packers WRs. Nelson went the wrong way on one route and it could have been a big play for the Packers.
| TE Donald Lee, Rec: 1 - 6 - 0 (1 targets) |
If Aaron Rodgers had more time he could have thrown the ball to Donald Lee. However, Rodgers didn't even have time to dump the ball most of the day.
| TE Tory Humphrey, Rec: 1 - 13 - 0 (2 targets) |
Tory Humphrey was not a factor and was a target when Aaron Rodgers was trying to escape.
| PK Mason Crosby 2 - 3 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 9 points |
Mason Crosby had a 47 and 40 yard field goal and missed a 52 yarder. He didn't miss the 52 yarder by much.
| GB Rush Defense |
What rush defense would be the summary. It was Adrian Peterson they were facing but even Chester Taylor took Green Bay to the task. You cannot depend on this defense against the run. LB Nick Barnett experienced a knee injury that should be looked at later this week. His replacement Desmond Bishop did a decent job filling in.
| GB Pass Defense |
The pass defense was not too bad. But, one huge part of it was missing. There was no pass rush or pressure on Gus Frerotte. The defensive backs did all the work and made it almost impossible for any passes to Bernard Berrian. The interception return for a touchdown was a bad pass by Frerotte and great coverage by the defensive backs. Three interceptions is testament to today's coverage.
| QB Gus Frerotte, Pass: 15 - 28 - 151 - 2 TD / 3 INT, Rush: 1 - -1 - 0 |
Gus Frerotte had two touchdowns but three interceptions against one of the league's best pass defenses. He wasn't pressured as much as Green Bay usually applies. There were only two sacks and Frerotte did not have to take many hits. The defensive backs made it hard for Frerotte and he had three interceptions. There were no targets over twenty yards in the game. The two touchdowns were one short pass to Sidney Rice and one great play by Chester Taylor. Overall, it was not an impressive day at quarterback but it was enough for the win.
| RB Adrian Peterson, Rush: 30 - 192 - 1, Rec: 3 - 33 - 0 (4 targets) |
Adrian Peterson is Adrian Peterson. It was impressive to watch him wear the Packers down. Peterson literally took the Vikings on his back to victory in this one. Peterson recorded his tenth run this season for over 20 yards. He asked for the ball on a fourth down conversion and the whole stadium knew he was going to get the ball. He would have converted but Green Bay stripped the ball. Peterson only seemed to be more determined after the fumble. He had two big receptions and one huge run for a touchdown on the next possession. That won the game. This was Peterson's fourth straight 100 yard rushing performance.
| RB Chester Taylor, Rush: 10 - 29 - 0, Rec: 4 - 84 - 1 (5 targets) |
Chester Taylor made an amazing reception for a touchdown. He caught the ball then made a move that put Desmond Bishop on his face. He actually outran the defensive backs the rest of the way for a score. The leading third down receiving RB made a couple great reaching catches. He still wasn't used much like always but he did make it count on that play.
| RB Naufahu Tahi, Rec: 1 - 3 - 0 (1 targets) |
Naufahu Tahi once again earned one reception just so he could appear in the stat lines.
| WR Bobby Wade, Rec: 3 - 24 - 0 (9 targets) |
Bobby Wade was the most targeted by he also had the most drops today. He seemed to catch Visanthe Shiancoe's bug today and made some crucial drops. He only caught three balls and should have easily had twice as many. He did have one nice catch that he had to reach up to get.
| WR Sidney Rice, Rec: 1 - 3 - 1 (2 targets) |
On only his fifth reception of the year, Sidney Rice caught a touchdown. That makes three touchdowns on five receptions. Both of his targets today were in the end zone.
| WR Bernard Berrian (4 targets) |
The double coverage and single coverage by Al Harris was too much for Bernard Berrian or Gus Frerotte. The defense kept him reception poor today.
| TE Visanthe Shiancoe, Rec: 3 - 4 - 0 (4 targets) |
The most important stat that many miss on Visanthe Shiancoe is drops. Shiancoe had no drops Sunday. But, all of his targets were short drop offs with no one around. He didn't have to catch a pass down the sideline or crossing the middle.
| TE Jim Kleinsasser (1 targets) |
Kleinsasser was targeted on a check down only.
| PK Ryan Longwell 1 - 2 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 6 points |
Ryan Longwell had a 54 yard field goal. His 47 yard misses was not by much. He also remained perfect for extra points this season.
| MIN Rush Defense |
The rush defense did what they could to stop the Packers running the ball. On the first two possessions Green Bay had negative three yards. Ryan Grant found a way to make his own holes. The yards Grant was able to get was on second efforts and waiting to find a place to run to. The Vikings did not give many running lanes all day. Again the held a team under 100 yards rushing.
| MIN Pass Defense |
"The Firm" was once again amazing. There was so much pressure on Aaron Rodgers that he couldn't function. This front four made the Packers offensive line look like a high school JV line. It was amazing how these defensive linemen could man handle the Green Bay protection. The Vikings did not use many blitzes because they didn't have to. When they did it was devastating. There were two sacks for safeties. This was a show by the Vikings defense on how it is done.