Brian Flores’ defense spent most of Sunday doing the hard part: keeping Minnesota alive long enough for the offense to catch up.
The Vikings were buried early, then needed nearly 45 minutes to shake off the sluggish start on that side of the ball. But even as the offense labored, the defense never let the game get away. That mattered because Minnesota’s late 22-point push would have been enough to force overtime even if it all had come in the fourth quarter.
What saved the day was a unit that looked scattered at first, then settled into the kind of aggressive, pressure-heavy identity Flores wants. The opening half belonged to Green Bay’s playmakers.
Jordan Love had Tucker Kraft wide open for a 30-yard gain down the left sideline, and Christian Watson was on his way to a monster afternoon, finishing with 147 yards and two touchdowns. One of those scores quieted U.S.
Bank Stadium in a hurry, and for a stretch the Vikings looked behind both the route concepts and the snap count.
Three false-start penalties from the Packers in the first half were a hint of what was coming. Minnesota’s pressure kept building, and once the Vikings started getting home, Green Bay’s offense lost the clean pockets it needed.
J.J. Watt kept pointing out the issues with the Packers’ offensive line, and the matchup started tilting toward Minnesota as the pass rush forced Love to speed things up.
That change was obvious after halftime. The Vikings were still frantic, but now the urgency had purpose.
Their secondary played with more confidence, the blitzes came with sharper timing, and Green Bay stopped finding the easy answers it had early. If Minnesota had done it again, it probably would have brought even more blitzes.
When the pressure kept coming, the Packers could no longer keep their receivers in rhythm.
The second half turned into a slog for Green Bay. The Packers punted only once after the break, on their opening drive of the third quarter.
Their only points after halftime came on a field goal after a drive that lasted nearly six minutes. Everything else ended in failure, whether on downs or by giveaway.
Minnesota, meanwhile, squeezed the life out of the game with a defense that turned the field smaller and the windows tighter.
It also gave the Vikings a strong opening statement in the NFC North after a damaging injury. They became the only team in the division to allow fewer than 30 points in Week 1, and they did it by coming back from two nine-point deficits without ever letting the game slip beyond reach.
The finish came with the building roaring and Andrew Van Ginkel delivering the kind of play that stamped the comeback. By then, Minnesota had already made its point: this was a win built on defense first, and on a second half that looked nothing like the first.
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