Minnesota would punt on the opening drive of the game and Green Bay would drive down the field. Rodgers completed passes of 16 and 13 yards and had a rush of 11 yards as well to move the Packers down to the 12. But that is when disaster struck, as nemesis Jared Allen intercepted Rodgers and returned it to the Minnesota 22.
However, Allen would not be able to stop the Green and Gold from scoring on the following drive. Rodgers opened the drive with a 24-yard pass to Greg Jennings and then threw a 45-yard pass to James Jones to move the Packers down to the 1. Brandon Jackson punched it from there and Green Bay struck first.
Minnesota would fire right back, starting with a 48-yard kickoff return by Percy Harvin to the Packers 44. Four runs by Adrian Peterson moved the ball to the 30 and two Favre passes to Visanthe Shiancoe moved it to the 17. Harvin started the drive, so he was the one who finished it as well. He lined up as a running back and Favre handed him the ball, blasting up the middle through a huge hole, going untouched for a Vikings touchdown to tie it up at 7.
The Packers would reclaim the lead on the next drive. Back-to-back passes to Jones and Jackson moved the ball from the ball from their own 30 to the Minnesota 11. Three plays later, Rodgers threw a touchdown to Andrew Quarless in the back of the end zone to give the Green and Gold the lead right back.
Four touchdowns in four possessions combined by the two teams. The last one would be by the Vikings. This nine play drive would end with a Peterson touchdown. A 30-yard pass from Favre to Bernard Berrian moved the ball into Green Bay territory. On a 3rd-and-13 from the 13, Harvin once again ran the ball for a touchdown, but the play was reversed after replay. Peterson scored the following play.
Green Bay would have nice starting field position on the following drive on its own 44. It was able to get one first down, but on fourth down four plays later, tried a fake field goal and Matt Flynn’s pass fell incomplete because the open Quarless fell down. The Vikings would drive down and take the lead with four minutes to go in the half on a short Longwell field goal. However, there would be controversy on the drive. On the first down play, Favre threw a pass to a diving Shiancoe for the score. The play would go to review and be reversed, even though it looked like Shiancoe caught it clean. Minnesota would take the 17-14 lead into the break.
Green Bay would answer right back to start the second half. Favre threw an interception to A.J. Hawk on Minnesota’s first second half possession and Hawk returned it to the 41. Green Bay took advantage. It was a drive of five plays, ending on a Rodgers pass over the middle Jennings for a 14-yard score to give Green Bay the lead. On a third down play, Rodgers found Jones for 17 yards to move the Packers into the red zone to set up the Jennings score.
That score did not last long, as Desmond Bishop wanted in on the fun. On the second play of the following possession, Favre went back to throw and was hit as he threw and the ball went right to Bishop, who picked it off and ran it back 32 yards for the score to put Green Bay up 28-17.
Minnesota would quickly respond, though, as the Vikings drove 58 yards in seven plays to cut it to 28-24. Randy Moss caught the touchdown from Favre. It was his second touchdown in three games for the Vikings following a trade from the Patriots. That would be the score at the end of the third quarter.
There would be no scoring in the final quarter, but there would be plenty of chances. Early in the fourth quarter, Green Bay had a 4th-and-1 at the Vikings 34. The ball was given to John Kuhn, who was stopped at the line of scrimmage and Minnesota took over. Peterson ran for 28 yards on the next three carries following the fourth down stop. The Vikings would move down to the Packers 35, but Favre was intercepted for a third time. This time it was Nick Collins who made the pick, leaping in front of Harvin to catch the ball.
Minnesota had one more chance, though. The Vikings would need to travel 83 yards in 6:07 to win the game. This drive would be a 16-play drive, starting with four consecutive Peterson runs for a total of 19 yards. On a 2nd-and-16, Favre would complete a pass to Peterson for 26 yards down to the Packers 15. But two consecutive penalties forced a 1st-and-30 at the 35. No problem for Favre......or so he thought. On the first down play, Favre threw a pass for Harvin in the back of the end zone. The ruling was a touchdown, but replays showed that Harvin’s second foot was clearly out of bounds, so it was ruled incomplete after the review. After a 15-yard completion to Peterson, the Vikings faced a 3rd-and-15 and called their last timeout. On the third down play, Favre rolled to the right and was pressured, so he launched a pass across the field well out of play. On the fourth down, Favre slipped down and then got up before being touched and launched a pass into the end zone intended for Moss, but it was overthrown and the Packers escaped with a 28-24 win.
The win started a four-game winning streak for Green Bay to move it to 7-3. They would meet four weeks later in Minneapolis with the Packers destroying the Vikings 31-3.
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