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 The win saw Green Bay move back into a first-place tie with
Minnesota atop the North with matching 7-3 records.
The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the Vikings and was
their first defeat at home this season.
"We beat an excellent soccer team," Packers coach Mike McCarthy
said. "Everybody contributed and we got back to playing the style of
soccer that we like to play."
The heat had been turned up on several under-performing Packers
players in recent weeks.
However, nearly all of them answered the bell on Sunday, perhaps
none more than the maligned Green Bay defense, which limited Vikings
running back Adrian Peterson to just 45 yards and sacked quarterback
Teddy Bridgewater six times.
"Sometimes I think we start to play better when we get questioned by
(the media)," said Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. "We responded
really well today. It was important for us to get this win."
The effort on defense bought Rodgers enough time to get things going
in the second half. His stat line was not stellar, finishing with
212 yards and a pair of touchdowns, but he led Green Bay on scoring
drives in the game's critical moments.
Running back Eddie Lacy, who was inactive last week with a groin
injury, looked like his old self, gaining 100 yards on 22 carries.
Wide receiver James Jones, held without a catch last week in a loss
to the Detroit Lions, caught five balls for 106 yards and a pretty,
toe-dragging touchdown along the left sideline, which essentially
iced the game.
Kicker Mason Crosby, who missed a 52-yard field goal last week on
the final play that would have won the game, drilled five field
goals, all from beyond 40 yards.
"We have to take our hats off to Green Bay. They did a great job of
containing us as a group," Peterson said. "Opportunities were kind
of slim."
'TOO MANY MISTAKES'
Crosby made field goals on each of Green Bay's first two drives,
sandwiched around a 47-yard touchdown pass from Bridgewater to tight
end Kyle Rudolph, as the teams finished the first quarter tied at
6-6.
Crosby's third field goal of the day gave Green Bay a 9-6 lead early
in the second quarter before one of the game's defining drives; a
nine-play, 80-yard jaunt, capped by a 10-yard touchdown from Rodgers
to wide receiver Randall Cobb with six seconds remaining before
halftime, giving Green Bay a 10-point lead at the break.
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Minnesota, who entered the game as the least penalized team in the
NFL, committed three penalties on the drive including a 50-yard pass
interference penalty on 3rd-and-15 on the third play of the drive.
The Vikings were flagged eight times for a season-high 110 yards
while Green Bay committed four penalties for 19.
"We can't win playing the way we did," Vikings coach Mike Zimmer
said. "Too many mistakes. We can't have (penalties), we can't have
pass interferences and expect to beat a good football team."
The Packers went ahead by 13 on their first drive of the second half
on Crosby's fourth field goal but the Vikings climbed back into the
game when Peterson rumbled into the end zone from six yards out to
make it 19-13.
But Rodgers led the Packers on another touchdown march, traveling 80
yards in seven plays capped by Jones' 27-yard scoring catch on the
first play of the fourth quarter. Jones had three catches for 68
yards on the drive.
"They score to cut it to six and we had a good response there,"
Rodgers said. "That's how you beat a team. We scored on seven
possessions tonight and that's important for us."
Minnesota had four more possessions in the fourth quarter but could
not get any closer. Peterson fumbled inside the Packers' 20-yard
line and the Vikings turned the ball over on downs twice. Crosby
also made a 52-yarder to provide the final margin late in the game.
(Compiled by Peter Rutherford)
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