The Packers played their first two regular-season games on the road for the first time since – wait for it – 1924.
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New quarterback Sam Bradford has been outstanding in his Minnesota debut with 286 yards and two touchdowns, but the status of the franchise’s best player casts a dark cloud on one of its biggest nights. They held the Packers to 65 total yards in the first half, withstanding an early touchdown pass by Rodgers to Jordy Nelson on a drive aided by two penalties by cornerback Terence Newman.
(Run defense) I thought we stayed in the gaps. The Packers managed to bottle up the Vikings star last season at Minnesota, holding him to 45 yards on 13 carries.
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. His favorite target was Stefon Diggs, who had nine catches for 182 yards and a touchdown.
There’ll be hiccups. They could come as early as Week 3, when Bradford and the Vikings travel to face the defending NFC champions, the Carolina Panthers, potentially without Peterson.
He fumbled three times – there was a big element of luck that the Packers recovered two of them – and threw a crunch-time interception on a third down with the Packers trying to drive for the potential game-tying or winning score with less than two minutes to play. Sunday, they established that they can beat the Packers in their spiffy new home and that they have a quarterback in Bradford who can at least do what Bridgewater did a year ago.
Vikings coach Mike Zimmer refused to reveal his decision all week. And struggle they did, allowing Rodgers to be sacked five times.
It’s not a good sign that teams gave up on Bradford in back-to-back offseasons, but the Rams needed a change and the Eagles were investing in the future. If Minnesota’s offense is unbalanced and an offensive line that Pro Football Focus a year ago ranked 31st in the league in terms of pass-blocking efficiency can’t keep it together, Bradford could be in trouble. But this was its first truly big moment, with a showdown against the hated Packers in front of a primetime, national television audience serving as the ideal backdrop.
Packers: DT Letroy Guion hurt his knee in the second quarter and didn’t return.
Safety Morgan Burnett exited in the fourth quarter with a hamstring injury.
” Tight end Kyle Rudolph forever will be immortalized for scoring the first Minnesota touchdown in U.S. Bank Stadium, an eight-yard reception from Bradford at the 10:14 mark of the second quarter”.
And when the Minnesota Vikings unveiled their shiny new $1.1 billion domed stadium that dwarfs the downtown Sunday night, it was – you guessed it – the Packers who showed up hoping to spoil the party.
Waynes, who was targeted by Rodgers much of the night and took several pass-interference penalties, stepped in front of a pass intended for Davante Adams. But Adams drew another flag in the fourth quarter.
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Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson (28) is helped off the field after getting injured during the second half of an NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers Sunday, Sept. 18, 2016, in Minneapolis. “He’s a natural leader, so I love that about him”.
