Vikings nearly blow huge lead, hold on against Packers to remain perfect

A 28-0 start for Minnesota turned into a nerve-wracking fourth quarter for their fans, but they got the job done.

Sep 29, 2024; Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA; Minnesota Vikings running back Aaron Jones (33) reacts after earning a first down during the second quarter against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. / Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

A Vikings first-half romp nearly turned into a historic Packers comeback on Sunday, but Minnesota dug deep for a late response, held on, and moved to 4-0 on the season with a 31-29 win at Lambeau Field.

When the Packers scored a touchdown and two-point conversion to make it 28-22 in the fourth quarter, it felt like the roof was caving in on the Vikings. All the momentum was in Green Bay's favor, and the crowd at Lambeau Field was absolutely rocking. That's when Sam Darnold and the Vikings' offense — which had come up empty on five consecutive possessions at that point — found a way to put together a gritty drive to restore their two-score lead.

Darnold completed his first four passes of the drive for 60 yards, setting up a Will Reichard field goal that made it a nine-point game. It was big-time football from a quarterback who had just been stripped for a fumble on the previous series amid quite the cold stretch from Minnesota's offense.

Two more takeaways by the Vikings' defense — giving them four in the game and ten on the season — helped seal the deal, although it still came down to the very end. Byron Murphy Jr., who had been struggling, came away with an interception in the end zone and a forced fumble on consecutive possessions. An incredible toe-drag catch by Justin Jefferson then helped the Vikings kill some clock, but they turned it over on downs and allowed a five-play, 96-yard drive by the Packers to make it a two-point game.

Fortunately for Minnesota, they were able to recover a critical onside kick for the second time in three weeks to finally close out a rollercoaster victory.

Vikings fans get to exhale and celebrate this one, but they were holding their breath for quite a while as they watched a 28-0 lead nearly evaporate. An incredible start almost turned into a nightmare, as their offense went cold and Jordan Love threw three touchdown passes to get the Packers right back into the game — and then a fourth to make it interesting in the final minute. In the end, the Vikings were just good enough to avoid blowing a lead that big.

This was a tale of two halves for the Vikings, but 4-0 is 4-0. Darnold finished the game 20 of 28 for 275 yards and 3 touchdowns, giving him 11 TD passes in four contests to start his Minnesota career. He also lost a fumble and threw an interception, which looked a bit iffy but held up after replay review. Aaron Jones racked up 139 yards from scrimmage in his return to Lambeau, Jefferson had another typically strong game with 85 yards and a TD, and Jordan Addison scored twice in his return to action.

Defensively, the Vikings allowed a whopping 465 total yards to the Packers, who were trailing for basically the entire game, and they needed all four of their takeaways to get this one done. Crucially, they held Green Bay to 4 of 12 on third down and 0 for 2 on fourth down.

It didn't seem like this one was going to come down to the wire at first. For the second week in a row, the Vikings opened the game by absolutely steamrolling a high-quality opponent in the first quarter. They scored on the game's first drive, with Darnold hitting Addison from 29 yards out. After the Packers doinked a short field goal, the Vikings got in the end zone again on their second drive. The quarter ended with Kamu Grugier-Hill snagging an interception for the second straight week.

The good times kept rolling for most of the second quarter. Addison ran in an end-around for a touchdown to make it 21-0, the Packers missed another field goal, and after the Vikings' first punt of the game, they promptly got an interception from Shaq Griffin that set up a Darnold touchdown pass to Jefferson. That made it 28-0 and left the home crowd stunned.

Late in the second quarter, a muffed punt by Jalen Nailor — who was back there for a banged-up Brandon Powell — led to a Packers touchdown that gave them some life. Then, in the second half, things got really dicey, but the Vikings did just enough to survive.

Minnesota will look to move to 5-0 next week against the Jets in London, which will lead into their bye week.