Vikings Territory Breakdown
In the 132-game history of the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers rivalry, there have been some doozies. And the game played on Sunday at U.S.
Bank Stadium ranks right up there with the most remarkable ones. The Vikings beat the Packers 39-22 at home in the opening game of the season, outscoring the visitors 29-3 in the second half of a game that looked all but over in the third quarter. The game turned on head coach Matt LeFluer’s decision to take points off the board, and then the floodgates opened, leading to an improbable victory in downtown Minneapolis that will long be remembered. The game featured a Minnesota a defense that played alternately decent and porous for the first three quarters, turned up the heat in the fourth and turned over Packers quarterback Jordan Love twice, leading to three Vikings touchdowns in a span of just over two minutes. The home team was aided by some great quarterback play from Carson Wentz, several helpful and questionable calls by the referees and that regretful decision by the Packers coaching staff. But when it comes to Packers-Vikings lore, how it happens doesn’t matter. What does matter is the Vikings are tied for first place in the NFC North and a game ahead of their rivals to the east.
The Vikings got the win but do not escape the game unconcerned or unscathed.
Quarterback Kyler Murray left the game with a concussion on the 11th offensive play, there was some poor play from the offensive line and the defense, at times, made Love look like his two league-MVP predecessors in Green Bay. But in the final analysis, the Vikings won and live to fight another day–turning what could’ve been “Oh, no, here we go again” into “Okay, let’s see what we’ve got here!”
The Purple moves on to play the Bears next week in Chicago in a battle for first place in the NFC North.
And until that happens, the fellas at the Vikings Territory Breakdown podcast—Joe Oberle, senior writer at vikingsterritory.com and purplePTSD.com, and Mark Craig, NFL and Vikings writer for the Star Tribune and startribune.com, have the good, the bad and the ugly of this first one and a preview of the next one. Tune in and check it out. Skol! Listen to Vikings Territory Breakdown Podcast here or on your favorite podcast network.
Joe Oberle is a veteran sportswriter/editor/reporter and has covered the Vikings since 2008. The author of three books, he … More about Joe Oberle
