Week 17 Report Card: Packers Rout Vikings

The Green Bay Packers played their best game of the season in dispatching the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers did whatever they wanted against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday night, their 37-10 romp their most thorough performance of the season.

Here’s our weekly report card.

Passing Offense

Aaron Rodgers was 29-of-38 passing for 288 yards and two touchdowns. It was his sixth consecutive game with two-plus touchdowns and zero interceptions.

Rodgers gets it. His offensive line isn’t great so he throws it quickly. There’s not many extending of plays. He’s just so good at making big plays – the 30-yard pass to Davante Adams on third-and-3 on the first scoring drive – but avoiding big mistakes. He wasn’t even close to a turnover. The back-shoulder throws to Adams are impossible to stop. Adams caught 11 passes for 136 yards and one touchdown in a performance so routine that it’s easy to take his greatness for granted. Allen Lazard had a big-time game, catching all six targets for 72 yards and a leaping 20-yard touchdown.

I take zero credit for the main stat here - h/t @doug_clawson and @SchroederWBAY - but here's a little bit of a deeper look at #Packers QB Aaron Rodgers' total destruction of the NFC North.https://t.co/it3URtlyLZ

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) January 4, 2022

There were some missed opportunities, such as a dropped pass in the end zone by tight end Josiah Deguara that led to the first red-zone failure, a ball thrown too far outside to Adams on fourth-and-goal for the second red-zone failure and a fourth-quarter swing pass in which Aaron Jones was open by 20 yards but had to make a shoelaces catch and stumbled twice. That’s mostly nitpicking, though, given the January cold. The offensive line was tremendous – Pro Football Focus charged left tackle Yosh Nijman with three of the eight pressures allowed – and Deguara had the only drop by our reckoning.

Grade: A-minus.

Rushing Offense

AJ Dillon carried 14 times for 63 yards and two touchdowns, and runs of 28 and 27 yards highlighted Aaron Jones’ eight carries for 76 yards.

It’s cliché to say that nobody wants to tackle a 240-some-pound running back on a cold night but, as the game wore on, the Vikings didn’t have much interest in tackling a 240-some-pound running back on a cold night. Dillon only broke a couple tackles, by our count, but he routinely pushed the pile for additional yards. For a big man, he has a remarkable ability to get small and find a crevasse, such as on his 4-yard touchdown run. Jones is just so explosive but he needs the bye perhaps more than anyone.

The Packers are fortunate to have right tackle Dennis Kelly and center Lucas Patrick, and there aren’t many quality runs that don’t have an impact block from receiver Allen Lazard and/or tight end Marcedes Lewis. It’s news when they’re stuffed on third-and-1, like what happened to Dillon at the end of the first quarter when the Vikings fooled them with a stunt and Patrick was forced to block two guys. Green Bay remains the best third-and-1 team in the league with a conversion rate of 89 percent.

Grade: A-minus

Passing Defense

In a matchup against a hapless backup quarterback – Sean Mannion entered the game with zero touchdowns in seven seasons – it’s hard to judge anything based on production. Justin Jefferson caught 6-of-11 passes for 48 yards and tight end Tyler Conklin caught 5-of-9 for 47 yards. Until garbage time, when K.J. Osborn had a 30-yard catch against Isaac Yiadom, Minnesota’s only pass play of 20-plus yards came on a reception by center Garrett Bradbury. PFF charged that to safety Adrian Amos, for what it’s worth.

At least Jefferson wasn’t running wide open like he did in the November game at U.S. Bank Stadium. That performance wasn’t all on Eric Stokes but it was a rare poor game by the first-round pick. He probably gave up more yards in that game than the last five combined. Imagine a secondary with Stokes, Rasul Douglas and a healthy Jaire Alexander.

Rashan Gary had one of his best games with two sacks and four quarterback hits (official count) and eight pressures (PFF). Preston Smith also had a sack.

Grade: A.

Power Rankings!

The #Packers remain No. 1 for the fourth consecutive week in our Composite Power Rankings, a combination of our rankings and those from seven national media outlets.

Video: Super Bowl odds.
Plus, just because, some Jones/Dillon photos.https://t.co/4Qj4OKYtwv

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) January 4, 2022

Rushing Defense

The Packers got an “F” last week after Nick Chubb ran circles around the defense. In the previous three games, Green Bay had allowed 1.5 yards per carry more than any other team. It was truly awful.

Not having to worry about Kirk Cousins and Adam Thielen, the Packers dominated their matchup against Minnesota’s elite running back, Dalvin Cook, and its quality offensive line. To be sure, life was easier with defensive coordinator Joe Barry getting to line up to stop the run rather than trying to thread the needle to deal with Cook, Jefferson and Thielen. At times, including the first play of the game, he lined up with a goal-line look with four defensive linemen. Three-time Pro Bowler Cook was limited to 13 yards on nine carries – the second-lowest output of his career by yards and average. Of that, 14 yards came after contact by our count. Preston Smith missed the only tackle of the game, resulting in a back-breaking gain of 3. Smith and Gary were excellent on the edge to keep Cook contained.

Grade: A-plus.

Special Teams

It was a mixed bag in this phase.

Punter Corey Bojorquez dropped the snap on Mason Crosby’s first field goal. He also shanked a punt. Minnesota’s Kene Nwangwu, who had two kickoff-return touchdowns on the season, had returns to the 34, 35 and 19.

On the plus side, Crosby made all seven kicks and David Moore had a 21-yard punt return in his debut – the team’s longest since 2018. Moore looked smooth and natural fielding the ball. He should be back deep for every kick the rest of the season and, quite possibly, until the end of time.

Grade: C-plus.

Coaching

There were three points of emphasis. One, don’t look past the Vikings just because they didn’t have Cousins. Two, stop Cook and improve the tackling. Three, show some killer instinct after hanging on by the hair of their chinny-chin-chins the previous two games. Check, check and check as the Packers crushed a team that hadn’t lost by more than one score all season.

If there was any doubt about whether this was a team good enough to win a Super Bowl, those doubts have been eliminated.

Grade: A.

Packers WR Allen Lazard vs. Vikings