Pack in the groove
Green Bay reminds Vikings who's boss in NFC North
MINNEAPOLIS — The Packers were in a funk, booed by their loyal fans the week before and passed by the Vikings in the NFC North.
Aaron Rodgers and the Packers responded with a resolute victory, fending off the Vikings like Clay Matthews waving his finger after tackling Adrian Peterson for a loss.
Rodgers threw for a pair of touchdown passes without a turnover, Datone Jones had two of Green Bay’s six sacks and Eddie Lacy contributed a seasonhigh 100 yards rushing to help the Packers beat the Vikings 3013 on Sunday and stop a threegame losing streak.
“Maybe we’ll get you guys off our back for a couple days,” Rodgers said. “We’ve been taking it on the chin, rightfully so, the last three weeks after a couple real poor performances. This was an important week for us. We really stuck together.”
James Jones had six catches for 109 yards after several quiet games and Mason Crosby made all five of his field goal tries, lifting the Packers (73) to their 10th win over the Vi kings in the last 11 meetings with Rodgers at quarterback. He has thrown for 28 touchdown passes with just three interceptions in those games.
From Lacy to Crosby to the twotime NFL MVP Rodgers, the underperforming Packers bounced back in a big way to post the highest score against the Vikings this season.
“I think sometimes we play a little better when we start to get questioned,” said Rodgers, who was a hohum 16for34 for 212 yards but brilliant when he needed to be on thirddown scoring passes to Jones and Randall Cobb.
The Vikings (73) had their fivegame winning streak shoved back in their face by a proud Packers team that clearly wasn’t ready to concede a division it has won four straight times. The rematch is on Jan. 3 in Green Bay.
“This team you saw play today, it wasn’t us. We were out of sync, out of whack,” said Peterson, who was held to 45 yards on 13 carries with one touchdown. He lost a fumble at the Packers 21 early in the fourth quarter.
Teddy Bridgewater took backtoback sacks to prompt a punt on the next possession, all but sealing the first loss by the Vikings at home in eight games since the Packers won here almost exactly a year ago.
“We’ve got to fix this. You’ve got to be able to win when the whole world is watching,” cornerback Captain Munnerlyn said.
Right after the ugliest of their three straight defeats, an 1816 decision at home against Detroit, Rodgers and the Packers roared back with a vintage performance against the Vikings to the delight of the enemy fans chanting, “Go, Pack, Go!” throughout the evening.