Down 22-10 late in the third quarter, the Vikings looked like a team that had lost its grip on the game. Green Bay’s offense was piling up yards, the defense was dealing with communication problems, and Minnesota had spent long stretches chasing the Packers instead of controlling them.
Then the whole thing flipped.
What followed was a 29-0 run that turned a two-score hole into a comfortable Vikings win, and the locker room afterward sounded like a group that never stopped believing the answer was still in front of them. The comeback was built on special teams, takeaways and a defense that finally settled in when it mattered most.
Harrison Smith said the turning point came from the basics. The veteran safety pointed to how Minnesota handled first and second down, which put Brian Flores in position to get aggressive later in the game. Smith also made it clear the early problems were real, especially in the first half, but the team kept correcting them instead of letting the mistakes snowball.
“We battled through them and we fixed them and just moved on,” Smith said afterward, crediting the offense and the collective resolve that emerged as the game progressed.
For Smith, the day carried extra meaning too. Less than two weeks earlier, he wasn’t even in the building.
Coming back to Minnesota felt strange at first, but once he got back into the routine and stepped into U.S. Bank Stadium, the feeling came right back.
“It feels like home,” Smith said.
The play that really jolted the game came with 5:03 left in the third quarter. Myles Price took a kickoff, found a lane and broke free for a 69-yard return that instantly changed the energy.
Price said he saw DeeJay Dallas come flying in and wipe out a Packers defender as the return developed.
“I said, ‘Oh, I got to go right there,'” Price recalled. Moments later, he was racing down the sideline.
From Price’s view, the mood changed in an instant.
“As soon as I got through that, I said, ‘Yeah, it’s all we needed. A spark,'” he said. “At that moment, I knew we were about to win this game.”
Dallas, who wasn’t even a Viking 11 days ago, was part of that moment in a way that didn’t show up in the box score. The veteran running back was signed and elevated before helping swing a division game, and he kept his explanation simple.
“You’ve got to be ready to go anywhere,” Dallas said. “It’s professional football.”
Even though he’s usually the one returning kicks, Dallas embraced the job he was given Sunday.
Block.
“It’s a team sport,” Dallas said. “I come here to play team ball. I come here to win, and we won today.”
Josh Metellus said that’s exactly the kind of team Minnesota is trying to be. One play can light the fuse, and once it happens, everybody feeds off it.
“It’s a complimentary team,” Metellus said. “All it takes is one guy to send that spark throughout the whole team, and we’re firing from there.”
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