Packers Report Card: Grades From Victory Over Vikings

The Green Bay Packers scored a touchdown in all three phases in routing the Minnesota Vikings. Here is the weekly report card.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The highest compliment you can give a coach is his team played complementary football. That was the case for Matt LaFleur’s Green Bay Packers in a 41-17 romp over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.

The special teams scored a touchdown on Keisean Nixon’s 105-yard kickoff return. The defense scored a touchdown on Darnell Savage’s 75-yard pick-six. Aaron Rodgers ran for one touchdown and threw for another and Aaron Jones topped 100 rushing yards. The defense produced four takeaways and had a goal-line stand.

“You talk about four turnovers and getting 28 points off of that, that’s just going to give you a great chance to win the game,” LaFleur said afterward.

This marked the first time the Packers had a kickoff-return touchdown and a pick-six in the same game since 1967. And it was the first time in NFL history that a team had a kickoff return of at least 105 yards for a touchdown and an interception return of at least 75 yards for a touchdown in the same game.

“For us to have a blocked punt, (be) backed up on the 1-yard line and just get three, that was a huge, huge stop for us,” Rodgers said. “And then what happened? Kei runs it back for a touchdown. It’s 7-3, then we have a pick-six, next thing you know it’s 14-3, we’ve done absolutely nothing on offense and we’re up by two scores.

“A little different feeling, for sure,” Rodgers continued with a laugh. “Really haven’t had that over the years.”

Here are the grades from this week’s Packers report card.

Passing Offense

For years, the Packers have gone exactly as far as Aaron Rodgers has taken them. These Packers could win the Super Bowl if Rodgers ever becomes a smoldering ember, let alone catches fire.

Sunday was mostly a forgettable performance from the passing game. Rodgers finished 15-of-24 for 159 yards. Robert Tonyan had the only receptions of longer than 16 yards, a 24-yarder to set up one touchdown and a 21-yarder for a touchdown.

Rodgers was 1-of-5 on passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield. The lone deep completion was the 21-yarder to Tonyan, who was open an hour ago, was open now and will be open tomorrow. Aaron Jones had a deep drop on the opening series and Rodgers missed on a couple opportunities to Christian Watson.

Rodgers took a horrible sack on fourth-and-1 from Minnesota’s 39. That sack was on right guard Jon Runyan as well as Rodgers. Mostly, Rodgers played from a clean pocket as Green Bay’s front wall provided exemplary protection. Za’Darius Smith acted the bad ass when he refused to shake hands before the opening coin flip, then acted the baby when he ran off the field without shaking hands. He had zero tackles, zero quarterback hits, zero pressures and zero impact of any sort.

Grade: C.

Rushing Offense

Coach Matt LaFleur’s usage of Aaron Jones will forever draw the ire from fans. To be sure, there are times when LaFleur somehow forgets about No. 33, but there’s always the big picture to keep in mind. Jones is not a big man, and while he’s as tough as overcooked round steak, he’s not impervious to injury. Looking rejuvenated against Minnesota after a light day of work last week, he carried 14 times for 111 yards, a robust 7.9-yard average.

Jones on the perimeter is a thing of beauty because tight end Marcedes Lewis is a beast at the point of attack, tight end Josiah Deguara is excellent as the de facto fullback and receivers Allen Lazard and Christian Watson never are shy from the dirty work. If there’s a big run, you can bet that most of those players are involved. On third-and-1 in the third quarter, Deguara lined up directly behind and to the right of Aaron Rodgers and led a toss to Jones for 31.

Jones and AJ Dillon each broke four tackles, by our count. Dillon carried 12 times for 41 yards, a meager 3.4-yard average. He gained just about every inch of that after contact. He broke two tackles on a 10-yard run to end the third quarter and rightly got the payoff with a 2-yard touchdown to open the fourth.

Grade: B.

Passing Defense

Sunday’s performance has been the expectation all along. No secondary with Jaire Alexander, Rasul Douglas, Adrian Amos and Darnell Savage should be even mediocre. On Sunday, against the high-powered Vikings, that group provided excellence.

The Vikings’ final numbers were inflated by a bunch of fluff at the end of the game. Through the first 46 minutes, Kirk Cousins was 16-of-29 passing for 149 yards and three interceptions. Justin Jefferson, who had topped 100 receiving yards in 10 of the first 15 games, caught 1-of-5 passes for 15 yards.

Alexander lined up wherever Jefferson lined up. Oddly, the Vikings rarely motioned Jefferson away from Alexander. It’s almost as if Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell was saving stuff for a potential playoff rematch. Stuck against Alexander, Jefferson had to beat Alexander’s initial jam and safety help. There were times when Jefferson won but didn’t get the ball. But this was a clear victory for Alexander.

According to PFF and its best estimate of coverage responsibilities, Alexander was targeted twice – a completion to Dalvin Cook for 1 yard and an incompletion that Alexander broke up at the sideline and drew Jefferson’s ire when he did the Griddy. Jefferson thought that should have been unsportsmanlike conduct, as if any defender who sacked Aaron Rodgers and did Rodgers’ “championship belt” celebration ever was flagged.

It wasn’t just Alexander. Douglas’ breakup of a fourth-down pass to T.J. Hockenson turned into Savage’s pick-six and T.J. Slaton’s deflection of a pass to Jefferson turned into an interception by Amos. Rudy Ford added an interception in the fourth quarter and Kenny Clark had a sack/strip. The Packers finished with 10 passes defensed (Amos, Douglas and Slaton had two each) and eight quarterback hits (Jarran Reed, Kingsley Enagbare and Justin Hollins had two each). PFF credited Clark and Enagbare with four pressures apiece.

The grade here really should be like Ralphie in a Christmas Story for his story about wanting a Red Ryder rifle in which – in his dream, anyway – he got an “A plus, plus, plus, plus …”

Grade: A-plus.

Rushing Defense

Here’s why Green Bay’s defensive performance was encouraging: It could have been preoccupied with Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson and T.J. Hockenson and so on and let Dalvin Cook run wild. That didn’t happen. Cook gained 27 yards on nine attempts. Minnesota’s 102 rushing yards included 37 on Cousins’ three scrambles.

The defensive line dominated, which was the key and the expectation after Minnesota lost its No. 2 center and standout right tackle to injuries in the first half. With Dean Lowry on injured reserve, T.J. Slaton turned in the best performance of his career. His back-of-the-shirt stop of Cook on third-and-goal from the 1 was the understated play of the game.

The tackling was sharp, with Darnell Savage having the only miss until garbage time.

Grade: A.

Special Teams

Minnesota almost blocked a punt in Week 1 and did block one on the opening series. That’s not what you want to put on film in January.

But the Packers survived, then turned the tables moments later on Keisean Nixon’s 105-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. Josiah Deguara had a big block at the point of attack, Patrick Taylor had the final block and Nixon ran past kicker Greg Joseph. They’ll get the credit from special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia; Jalen Nailor will get the blame from the Vikings’ coaches for running several yards to the right of his gap.

Keisean Nixon is a great returner. But good heavens, even my 49-year-old legs are getting me to the 30. pic.twitter.com/1LaMVoyY5f

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) January 2, 2023

Nixon is making $965,000 this season. He’ll make many times that much in free agency this offseason.

Mason Crosby made a 56-yard field goal and the kickoff coverage against explosive Kene Nwangwu was good enough considering his open-field speed. Tariq Carpenter had two tackles for the second consecutive game

Grade: B.

Coaching

Why didn’t the Packers put Jaire Alexander on Justin Jefferson, the fans said after Week 1.

Why didn’t the Packers try someone – anyone – other than Amari Rodgers at kicker returner, the fans said after Week 1 (and Week 2 and so on).

Coach Matt LaFleur is pulling the right strings, whether it’s the belated personnel decisions or in keeping a sinking ship afloat. Who knows where this season is headed. With a loss against Detroit next week? With a win in the Super Bowl next month? Either way, the Packers have done well to get to 8-8 with a chance to reach the playoffs next week. Credit to LaFleur for navigating stormy seas.

In 2010, the Packers were 8-6 and chasing a playoff spot when they destroyed the Giants in the next-to-last game of the season. That team won the championship. In 2022, the Packers were 7-8 and chasing a playoff spot when they destroyed the Vikings in the next-to-last game. You know, if you like parallels.

Grade: A.

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