While Kirk Cousins did his best to give away another Vikings win, the Packers’ Darnell Savage could not put the finishing touches on a game turning pick attempt, allowing Minnesota to escape with the win.
The Packers seems to be fighting a strong upstream current all game as they watched the Vikings score on their first three possessions. After Mason Crosby misfired on a 32 yard field goal, Cousins led the Vikings on a 7 play, 78 yard drive resulting in their second straight touchdown drive and a 16-3 lead.
Rodgers and company responded with a touchdown drive of their own, cutting the lead to 16-10. This drive had to overcome a first down penalty on the second play of the drive, which was a theme that seemed to impact drive after drive Sunday. The offensive line was called for a penalty on four straight drives in the first half. Only their opening drive which ended in Crosby’s 54 yard field goal and the 1 play kneel down to end the half escaped a potential drive killing penalty.
The second half began with the home team stretching their lead to 13 with a 75 yard touchdown drive. The Packers again began their next drive with an offensive line penalty and again overcame it to score on a crazy final play. Rodgers seemed to be calling timeout as the third and six snap came firing back at him. He grabbed the ball and found Davante Adams in the end zone after Adams broke free after a great inside fake followed by an outside cut that left cornerback Mackenzie Alexander in the dust.
Minnesota then drove 79 yards for what they hoped was a game sealing touchdown. Kirk Cousins repeatedly found Justin Jefferson for big gains and clutch catches including the 23 yard score. Jefferson ended the game with 8 receptions for 169 yards including 2 touchdowns.
Aaron Rodgers had two minutes and a few seconds to score a go ahead touchdown, but he only needed one play and nine seconds. A perfect strike to MVS for a seventy five yard score tied it at 31. Then Kirk Cousins did what he has done so many times before. He threw a perfect interception to Darnell Savage. The only problem: Savage dropped it. It was the second Cousins pick that was not to be in this game. Savage had an earlier pick nullified by a roughing the passer penalty on Kingsley Keke. The Vikings took advantage of Savage’s drop and kicked a game winning filed goal as time expired. A crucial injury, another ugly recurring theme for the 2021 Packers, was the late knee injury to Elgton Jenkins. Jenkins has played a crucial role for the Packers and with David Bakhtiari not ready to return, this injury is concerning. The Rams and Aaron Donald come to town next week and their pass rush will require elite offensive line play. Today’s penalty filled play must be eliminated for Packer fans to have something to celebrate next Sunday.