Diggs also logged his second consecutive game with over 100 receiving yards, logging 182 yards on nine receptions with one touchdown.
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Diggs was irrepressible for the hosts, catching two 40-plus yard passes from Bradford which demonstrated the former Eagle’s arm strength.
It was Diggs again who put Minnesota in a scoring position, diving to catch a 44 yard throw and move the Vikings into field goal range. He did not return.
“In the fourth quarter when we were going back on the field in the fourth quarter, Coach Zimmer said this is why we do this”, he said.
Greenway and the Minnesota Vikings pulled out a 17-14 win over the archrival Green Bay Packers on the backs of a strong performance from the Purple’s defense, turning over Aaron Rodgers and the Packers three times, including late on a Trae Waynes interception to salt the game away. We gotta go back and be harsh in our critiques of ourselves, myself included, and we’ve got to get better.
“Nights like tonight make me enjoy the moment, where I’m at and the journey it took to get here”, he said. The Packers were tied for last in the NFC last season with 5.7 yards per pass attempt, and they’re at 5.0 now. “I watched every game Sam played last year, and the last three games, I thought he was playing as well as anyone I saw last year”.
The Packers (1-1) got 50 yards on the ground from Eddie Lacy, but they trailed by 10 points entering the fourth quarter. The previous drive was killed when Brian Robison knocked the ball out of the hands of Rodgers, who ran for 29 yards and a touchdown. Minnesota was whistled 13 times for 137 yards, but a late pass-interference penalty on the Packers enabled the Vikings to hold onto the ball. While completing 20 of 36 passes for 213 yards, throwing for a touchdown and running for one, he still played subpar to what most are accustomed to seeing from him. But when Bradford had a little time he made several superb throws, right on the money with rushers in his face. “He was pretty much unstoppable”. But he didn’t miss a play, and completed 22-of-31 passes for 286 yards and two touchdowns on a night when Adrian Peterson was lost to a knee injury and wasn’t very good before leaving.
No. 1 overall pick-turned-journeyman Sam Bradford-25 total wins and zero playoff appearances six years into his career-is now the quarterback, and there are clear concerns about the running game regardless of how badly Peterson is hurt.
“They didn’t do nothing new”.
“We just stood up and every personnel group we brought in, everyone was getting exhausted and we just kept playing”, he said. “It’s just a tough loss, and (we’re) just going to bounce back from it”.
The Packers’ defense will have to quickly erase Sunday’s loss with Detroit rolling into Green Bay next week for the Packers’ home-opener at Lambeau Field.
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It’s a strong start for Smith and the defense, who are aiming to be among the league’s elite by season’s end. In a physical, hard-hitting, low-scoring affair more reminiscent of the Packers-Vikings games at the old Metropolitan Stadium in the 1960s than anything since the rivalry was rekindled in 1992, the Packers dropped a 17-14 decision to the Vikings before 66,813 mostly purple-clad fans.
