The Packers would go up and down the field on the Vikings defense in the first half, scoring on four of their five first half drives. That was the good news. The bad news is that three of those drives ended in just three points. On Green Bay’s first drive, Aaron Rodgers connected with James Jones for 25 yards to move the Packers inside the Vikings 40 to help set up the Mason Crosby 42-yard field goal.
Minnesota would respond with a touchdown on a Teddy Bridgewater 47-yard pass to tight end Kyle Rudolph to give the Vikings the 6-3 lead. The extra point was missed by Blair Walsh, so it remained a three point game.
Jeff Janis would return the kickoff 70 yards to the Vikings 34, which would set up Crosby for another field goal. Crosby’s 47-yard field goal was good to tie the game. Crosby would tack on another field on the next drive to put the Packers back in front.
The biggest drive of the first half came on Green Bay’s final possession. Facing a 3rd-and-15 with less than two minutes to play in the first half, Rodgers rolled out and launched a deep pass down the right sideline intended for Jones. Vikings cornerback Terence Newman had his arm around Jones, preventing Jones from coming back to the ball, so he was ruled for a pass interference putting the ball at the Vikings 35.
Green Bay was able to get a fortunate call on an Anthony Barr illegal contact penalty on another third down, so the Packers were able to get a fresh set of downs. After two incomplete passes by Rodgers to Randall Cobb, he finally was able to connect with Cobb with six seconds left before halftime on a rope over the middle to give the Packers a two score lead.
Green Bay picked up right where it left off in the first half, as the Packers went on a 12-play drive, spanning 61 yards, setting up the Packers up for another Crosby field goal to make it 19-7. Of those 61 yards, 30 of them came on one play, a Rodgers pass to James Starks to give the Packers a first down on the Vikings 45.
It took the Vikings little time to get right back into the game, as the Vikings just needed four plays to cover 63 yards to cut the deficit to six. The big play came on a Bridgewater pass to Rudolph for 33 yards down to the Packers 13. Adrian Peterson ran it in from six yards out to complete the drive.
With the season hanging in the balance and the Vikings having momentum, Green Bay went on a big-time drive to help right the Packers season.
Green Bay faced a 3rd-and-6 from its own 35. Rodgers went back to pass and was flushed to the left and uncorked a pass down the field to Jones, who bobbled and caught it down the left sideline down to the Vikings 28.
Three plays later, on another third down play, Rodgers rolled out to the right and fired a dart in the end zone to Jones, who stretched out and caught it along the sidelines before falling out of bounds. The two-point conversion was also successful, as Rodgers went back to pass before stepping up and flipping it to Jones in the end zone.
Peterson had trouble holding onto the ball early on in his career, but has done better in recent years. But with the Vikings on the march, Peterson rumbled for a first down, but Morgan Burnett came from behind and knocked the ball out and Sam Shields recovered. The Vikings would not get that close to scoring again.
Mason Crosby, who missed the game-winning field goal the previous week against Detroit, atoned for the missed kick with five field goals against the Vikings, including the dagger, a 52-yard field goal to put the game out of reach.
The Packers would fall the following week at home against Chicago before rebounding with three consecutive wins.
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