So Packers fans (or this one, anyway) were in quite a mood after the Packers gave up 3 turnovers in the first half, while not getting any from the Vikings. The Jones fumble on the first drive reminded me of games from the past, most recently the 49ers disaster last month. You don't win many games when you are 0-3 in turnovers in the first half. Still, the Packers' defense was stifling. They held the Vikings to 3 points after that first fumble, they gave up a touchdown on a perfect pass to Diggs (Cousins' best pass of the night) after the Rodgers interception, and they gave up no points after the Adams fumble. Meanwhile, the Packers were moving the ball well in between turnovers, but they were stalling and settling for field goals.
At halftime, as I grabbed something to eat, it hit me. The Packers had given up 3 turnovers, but were otherwise moving the ball up and down the field. With the exception of the perfect touchdown pass to Diggs, the Packers' defense was shutting down the Vikings, in both the running and passing games, and the Packers were only down 1 point. The Packers had 13 first downs, to 2 for the Vikings. The Packers had 3 times more total yards in the half, and 6 times the passing yards. Despite the turnovers, the Packers were in great shape to win the game. All they had to do was keep doing what they were doing, but without the turnovers. And that is exactly what happened, with the Packers winning 23-10, in the process clinching the division, and keeping themselves alive to get a first or second seed in the playoffs and a bye week.
The heroes of the game, of course, were Aaron Jones and the defense, particularly the front seven. Jones ran for 154 yards and two touchdowns, including the 56-yard "dagger" touchdown in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, the defense was shutting down the running game, and bottling up Kirk Cousins and the passing game. Adam Thielen had no catches, while Diggs had 3 and Rudolph had one. Now in fairness, it has to be mentioned that the Vikings were down to their third and fourth string running backs, Thielen is probably still hobbled with an injury that kept him out a few weeks, and Kirk Cousins had, well, a Kirk Cousins special awful game. But you still have to make the plays on defense, and the Packers' defense did exactly that.
You could say that this was another ugly win, primarily because of the 3 turnovers. But the heck with that. Division games are always tough, and for the Packers to win a division game on the road against the Vikings, in a building where they have never won before, while overcoming the three turnovers, is good enough for me. If that was ugly, let's have another ugly win this week.
After the game, the emotion and joy in the locker room, with the team sporting their "The North is Not Enough" T-shirts, was just overwhelming. Later, I saw Tom Pelissero interview the "Smith Brothers" on the field, and I saw Za'Darius Smith literally choke up talking about how much the win meant to him, and how he had said that all he wanted for Christmas was a hat and a T-shirt. And Z. Smith was a huge part of the win. He had 3.5 sacks and 5 total tackles for a loss, the highest total in any game this year. He was a one-man wrecking crew on this evening, and if he and the rest of the front seven can keep that up, it will be huge for the Packers in the playoffs.
Speaking of emotion, I saw that in Rodgers' post-game press conference, he mentioned the fact that he had been jeered in this stadium 2 years ago when he broke his collarbone. I guess he has been holding onto that for awhile now. While I am not sure that holding grudges is Rodgers' best quality, it is clear that nobody is better at it than Aaron Rodgers. And if he can use that for motivation, more power to him. Now the truth is, he did not play particularly well on Monday night. The interception, his third of the year, was inexplicable to me. Was he that inaccurate that he under-threw the ball by that much? If not, what did he think he saw on that play? But he got it done when it counted, by engineering drives resulting in field goals in the first half, to keep the game close, and by engineering touchdown drives in the second half, to put the game away.
The very best thing about Rodgers' game on Monday, in my view, is that he repeatedly threw the short out passes that would gain 3, 5 or 7 yards, to move the chains down the field, while relying primarily on the running game. That is exactly what his critics have been asking for. Play within the contours of the LaFleur offense. Take what the defense is giving you. Move the ball down the field, rather than sitting back there looking for the big play and ending up being sacked. If he can keep working the offense as it was designed, while benefiting from the resurgent Packers defense, they can continue to win games. No need for heroics if they play like this and avoid the turnovers that almost sent the Vikings game off the rails.
The Packers have a great opportunity to win and secure a bye week against the Lions. There are no "gimmes" in the NFL, and let's not forget that the Lions crushed the Packers, 31-0, in the finale last year. But this is a very different year. Just get it done! And if the Packers do their job, and the Seahawks manage to beat the 49ers, the Packers will have the no. 1 seed for the first time in a long while.
Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all.
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