Now that the dust has settled and the hangover has worn off, here are five more thoughts on the Green Bay Packers 23-14 win over the Minnesota Vikings.
Jermichael Finley is back… maybe
For the third week in a row, tight end Jermichael Finley has actually caught some balls and made some plays. Yeah, he gets way too excited when he catches a ball, but it’s good to see Finley is more than the afterthought he was earlier in the season. On Sunday, Finley had six catches for 60 yards. The six catches tied him for the team lead. He had 51 and 66 yards the two weeks prior to that. Hopefully, this continues to be the trend.
Welcome back Greg Jennings
He wasn’t a monster, but it was good to have Greg Jennings on the field again, particularly after Jordy Nelson got hurt. Jennings caught four balls for 46 yards. The 46 yards represent a season high for Jennings. It will be nice to have this guy for the stretch run because opposing defenses have to pay attention to him.
Hello, Don Barclay!
We wondered what would happen when this day came — when another offensive lineman got injured. The Packers had two undrafted rookies as backups. Well, T.J. Lang got hurt on Sunday and the Packers had to turn to one of those guys — Don Barclay — to fill in at right tackle. It wasn’t nearly the disaster we expected it to be. The Packers compensated in the passing game by getting rid of the ball quicker. However, in the running game, Barclay actually looked better than Lang. The Packers had no qualms about running to the right side and had a good deal of success doing so. Maybe the Packers found another undrafted gem when they found Barclay.
It’s official: Packers run defense is terrible
They got pounded by the New York Giants for 148 yards last week. What did they do for an encore? Gave up 210 to Adrian Peterson. Yeah, it’s Adrian Peterson, but there are some real issues here. Tackling is chief among them. The Packers, particularly the defensive backs, need to learn how to wrap up. Fortunately, there’s some hope for improvement. Getting Clay Matthews, C.J. Wilson and Charles Woodson back should help.
The Vikings are who we thought they were
One dimensional. Peterson is the only reason the Vikings have six wins on the season. He had more yards rushing than Christian Ponder had passing on Sunday. Ponder finished with just 119 yards and threw two picks. Certainly, playing without Percy Harvin was an issue, but good players compensate. Now, the Vikings are back to .500 and out of the division race, which is where they belong.