Cook, Vikings Throw Packers Into Fryer
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Aaron Rodgers called the Green Bay Packers’ loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers two weeks ago an “anomaly” and a needed kick in the pants after a 4-0 start.
On Sunday at Lambeau Field, the last-place Minnesota Vikings kicked the Packers in the butt and punched them in the face and any other cliché you can think of. With running back Dalvin Cook topping 200 total yards and scoring four touchdowns, the last-place Vikings upset the first-place Packers 28-22.
The outcome, clinched on D.J. Wonnum's sack-strip in the final seconds with Green Bay in Hail Mary range, showed the Packers' well-known flaws. Offensively, there is not much margin for error because of the lack of playmakers. Defensively, running backs continue to have their way, no different than last year.
“This definitely qualifies as one of those games where if you want to be a great team, you’ve got to handle business at home,” Rodgers said. “Look, it’s not the same type of home environment, I get it, but it’s 2020 and we’re in a different NFL this year. It’s still a game we should win, a team with the trade deadline coming and questions about their coach during the week. Yeah, these are one of the games we need to win. Hopefully it’s just a reality check for us. Thankfully, we have a short week, but we need better performances moving forward.”
Cook ran circles around the defenseless Packers – not a good sign for, A, their championship hopes and, B, a looming Thursday night showdown at the San Francisco 49ers.
Minnesota’s first four possessions all ended with Cook touchdowns. He broke a 14-14 tie on the opening possession of the third quarter when he scored from the 1. After the Vikings finally got their first defensive stop, Cook weaved his way through the Packers’ defense for a 50-yard touchdown on a third-and-8 screen.
Just like that, it was 28-14. With the wind making any pass an adventure and with running back Aaron Jones inactive again, the Packers simply didn’t have the ability to get back in the game even against a weak Vikings defense until it was too late.
Green Bay pulled within 28-22 with 2:42 remaining on Aaron Rodgers’ third touchdown pass of the day to Davante Adams.
The Packers desperately needed a stop and forced a third-and-9 with 1:44 remaining. They got it, with the Vikings punting with 57 seconds remaining.
Taking possession at their 28 with 47 seconds remaining, two short completions to Jamaal Williams and a leaping 17-yarder by Robert Tonyan moved the ball to the Vikings’ 41. The offense scrambled to the line and, after some miscommunication getting lined up, Rodgers clocked the ball with 12 seconds remaining.
Green Bay lined up for a couple Hail Mary attempts but Wonnum sacked Rodgers from behind. The ball bounded forward 20 yards and was recovered by linebacker Eric Wilson to end the game. The play was confirmed by review, and coach Matt LaFleur suffered his first NFC North loss after winning his first eight games.
“Obviously, there’s a lot of mistakes that we made in all three phases as well as coaching,” LaFleur said. “We knew that in order to win this football game a couple of things had to happen: We knew we had to stop the run; that didn’t happen, we knew we had to play penalty-free; that didn’t happen. The penalties were a big part of it. When you do that, you’re going get beat and that’s exactly what happened today.”
Among Green Bay’s problems:
Cook: Cook had 30 carries for 163 yards and three touchdowns and two receptions for 63 yards and one touchdown. He had 226 of the Vikings’ 324 yards. His four touchdowns tied Carolina’s DeAngelo Williams in 2008 and Chicago quarterback Bobby Douglass in 1973 for the most touchdowns against the Packers since at least 1950, according to Stathead.com.
“You start tackling the man with the ball,” safety Adrian Amos said. “We've got to look at film and see where we're out of gaps, but it comes down to tackling the man with the ball and getting off blocks.”
Penalties: Green Bay entered the game having been found guilty of 30 penalties, the sixth-fewest in the league. Moreover, it had been guilty of five offensive holds all season. Against the Vikings, they were victimized by nine penalties for 85 yards, including five for holding.
“Penalties. A lot of penalties,” Rodgers said. “Nine for 85 on penalties obviously hurt us. A number of holding calls on strange, strange plays.”
Adams: Adams did his damage, to be sure. He beat rookie cornerback Jeff Gladney badly for a pair of first-half touchdowns. He added a 7-yard touchdown with 2:42 remaining to get the Packers within a touchdown. However, comparatively speaking after catching 14 passes for 156 yards and two touchdowns at Minnesota in Week 1, it was a quiet day with seven catches for 53 yards.
On top of that: Nobody stepped up in a supporting role. In the opener, Marquez Valdes-Scantling had four catches for 96 yards and one touchdown, Allen Lazard had four catches for 63 yards and one touchdown and Jones had 66 rushing yards and one touchdown. On Sunday, Valdes-Scantling one catch for 19 yards and Lazard and Jones were inactive.
The 14-14 tie at halftime hardly did justice to the offensive efficiency displayed by both teams in the first 30 minutes.
Green Bay took the opening kickoff and consumed 7:59 off the block before Adams caught a 5-yard touchdown pass. Minnesota answered with a drive that took 6:14 off the clock, with Cook running 21 yards without so much as a finger touching him for the tying touchdown.
Green Bay retaliated with its longest drive of the season in terms of time, 8:54, with Adams catching a 1-yard touchdown pass. The Vikings answered again, with Cook scoring from the 1 to cap a drive that took 6:22 off the clock.
Those four possessions gobbled up all but 31 seconds of the first half.
Cook was the story of the half. With 13 carries for 74 yards and one reception for 13 yards, he had 87 of Minnesota’s 140 yards.
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Penalties, bad defense lead to upset
