MINNEAPOLIS - For a stretch Sunday, the Minnesota Vikings looked headed for a loss that would have left a bruise far beyond one game. Then came the kind of drive that only this rivalry seems able to produce: messy, absurd, and eventually decisive.
Down late and struggling to get anything cleanly done on offense, the Vikings pieced together a nine-play, 83-yard possession against the Green Bay Packers that should have ended more than once. Instead, three Packers penalties handed Minnesota automatic first downs, and the Vikings turned that gift into a go-ahead touchdown and 2-point conversion for a 25-22 lead. From there, the fourth quarter turned into a 22-point avalanche that buried Green Bay.
“Football’s a funny game,” said quarterback Carson Wentz, who entered in the third series after Kyler Murray left with a head injury. “Things can change fast.”
The Packers had controlled the game for most of the first 40 minutes, keeping Minnesota’s offense quiet and using Brian Flores’ blitz-heavy defense against it on the way to a 22-10 lead with five minutes left in the third quarter. Early in the fourth, Trey Smack’s 40-yard field goal would have pushed Green Bay ahead 25-17, a margin that felt even bigger given how little the Vikings had shown on offense.
But Minnesota got a break first. Dallas Turner was offside, turning a fourth-and-6 into a fourth-and-1 at the Vikings’ 17. Matt LaFleur chose to leave the points off the board and go for it, and rookie Domonique Orange stopped Jordan Love on the sneak to hand the ball back with a little more than 13 minutes left and Green Bay still up by five.
“Huge momentum swing, going into late in the game,” Vikings tight end TJ Hockenson said. “I understand what analytics say, but I think it was just huge.
We got the fans into it. We were able to swing everything, and then it just started rolling.”
The drive that followed was anything but smooth. Wentz was sacked for a 10-yard loss on third-and-11, but Javon Bullard’s illegal contact kept the possession alive. Then Chris McClellan was flagged for roughing the passer after landing on Wentz following an incomplete throw to Hockenson, another call that extended the series.
Minnesota still nearly gave it away. Wentz forced a throw into tight coverage in the end zone, Evan Williams picked it off, and Wentz hit the turf in frustration.
That too vanished when Xavier McKinney was called for defensive holding away from the play, setting the Vikings up at the Green Bay 3. Aaron Jones finished it with a touchdown run for a 23-22 lead.
“I’m not going to sugarcoat it,” Wentz said. “We had a couple flags that kept our drive alive.
I threw one to their safety right in the chest and that was a flag, too, so praise God for that. It’s better to be lucky than good.”
Wentz then found Justin Jefferson for the 2-point conversion, and U.S. Bank Stadium erupted.
Green Bay never recovered. On the next possession, Love was sacked twice in a row, fumbling on the second hit after Andrew Van Ginkel and Blake Cashman combined to punish him.
Van Ginkel recovered and advanced the ball to the 1, where Jordan Mason scored. Two plays later, James Pierre intercepted Love, and Wentz hit Jefferson again, this time for a 9-yard touchdown.
In 2:42, Minnesota had stacked 22 points.
Jones, who spent his first seven seasons in Green Bay before joining Minnesota in 2024, said he’s seen the rivalry swing plenty of times, “but not as quickly as this one,” he said. “This one switched pretty quickly. … It was crazy to see.”
The comeback made history, too. The Vikings became the first team in NFL history to trail by at least 12 points with 20 minutes or fewer remaining and still win by at least 17, according to OptaSTATS.
Still, the numbers behind the win were rough. Minnesota was outgained 419-239, averaged 3.1 yards per carry after changing its running game, and looked out of sync while Murray was in, including an interception on his first throw in purple. Defensively, the Vikings gave up 6.3 yards per play and were gashed by Love, who threw for 387 yards, and Christian Watson, who had 147 yards and two touchdowns.
“Honestly, we tried to screw it up. I tried to screw it up.
And we got another (flag),” Wentz said. “We took advantage of it today, and the defense stepped up and helped us.”
The rivalry itself has produced plenty of strange chapters since 1961, from Brett Favre changing sides to Antonio Freeman’s overtime catch off Cris Dishman’s fingertips to Randy Moss mooning Lambeau Field in the playoffs. Sunday’s entry belongs in that file.
And for the Vikings, the lesson was plain enough once the chaos settled.
“Good throw, bad throw, whatever - there’s another play. Things can change quickly,” Wentz said.
“I think tonight we can look back as the year goes and point to that. Stay the course.”
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