Well it turns out Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer had a plan for stopping Nelson that the team’s defensive backs just made a decision to ignore.
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That’s all Rodgers needs, especially with wide receiver convert Ty Montgomery emerging as a quality option at running back and top target Jordy Nelson finding a deep groove with 16 catches for 278 yards the last two weeks.
The score doesn’t accurately reflect just how dominant Green Bay was in this game, throwing the ball all over the Vikings and just shredding them through the air. Rhodes shadowed the veteran receiver in the second half, and he only caught two passes for 9 yards. Next time you might want to listen to the dude who has been a highly-respected defensive coach in the National Football League since 1994, OK?
When Rhodes was eventually confronted by Zimmer on the sideline, he explained the hard decision he faced: Listen to his coach or Newman, a respected leader of Minnesota’s defense. In the process, he shot past fellow wideout Stefon Diggs for the team lead in receiving yards with one game left to play.
Quarterback Sam Bradford and the Vikings were unable to go touchdown for touchdown with Rodgers and the Packers in a first-half shootout.
“I talked to them all yesterday”.
“That’s what he was supposed to do the whole game”, Zimmer said after the game. “Damarious is just working through some things”, head coach Mike McCarthy said Thursday. And though six-time Pro Bowl linebacker Clay Matthews has been seen more often on State Farm commercials with Rodgers this season than he has been in highlight reels, his presence must still mean something because he missed the majority of that losing streak and has been healthy for the entirety of this winning streak.
“I’ve been here for 10 years and think I’ve done some OK things”, Peterson said.
Plenty has changed since the Vikings’ win in September, when the Packers were held to a season-low 14 points.
In his MVP season two years ago, Rodgers threw for 4,381 yards, 38 touchdowns with five interceptions, while rushing for 269 yards and a pair of touchdowns. “I felt good all year long”, Nelson said of his late-season binge of big plays. Rhodes said after the game that he stayed on his side of the field regardless of where Nelson lined up because he and his fellow defensive backs thought better of their coach’s instructions.
The Vikings (7-8) are headed in the other direction, the loss extinguishing their faint playoff hopes. “So someone decided they weren’t going to do that”, Zimmer said. He may have already played his last game as a Viking if he doesn’t play next week in Chicago.
Nelson’s 154 yards were the fourth-most in his career – and his most in a game against the Vikings.
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Players should absolutely be allowed to have input; all good coaching relationships involve feedback that goes both ways. It was a second straight no-show by Zimmer’s defense, which got stampeded six days earlier in an embarrassing 34-6 loss to the Indianapolis Colts at home.
