- Defense struggles against run and pass
Green Bay was able to move the ball with the run and the pass.
Running backs repeatedly gained yards after contact, and receivers were able to streak and find large gaps away from Minnesota’s defenders on multiple occasions.
Aaron Jones rushed 20 times for 120 yards, averaging 6.0 per carry. AJ Dillon added 27 yards on seven carries, and Patrick Taylor added 30 on eight, helping Green Bay rack up 177 yards on the ground.
Practice squad promotion Bo Melton led Green Bay’s receivers with six catches for 105 yards, which included a 9-yard touchdown from Love on third-and-1 late in the third quarter.
That score ended a 13-play, 91-yard drive that lasted 8:00 and made it 30-3. The Packers averaged 8-yard gains across six first downs during the possession.
Love finished 24-of-33 passing with 256 yards and three scores for a passer rating of 125.3. He was replaced late in the game by Sean Clifford, who completed his only pass for 37 yards to Melton.
Love was not sacked, as the Packers finished with 470 yards, compared to 211 net yards for Minnesota.
- First downs, second downs, third downs
Green Bay totaled 28 first downs, compared to 13 for Minnesota.
Part of that was converting 9-for-14 on third downs, compared to 3-for-10 by the Vikings, but the success on early downs positioned the Packers to keep attacking.
Every time Minnesota appeared to have something going, a sack or penalty halted momentum in its tracks.
In addition to the sack fumble, the Vikings also lost 10 when Hall was sacked on second-and-6 from the Green Bay 35-yard line when the score was still 10-0. The Vikings managed to get the sack yardage back on the next play to set up Joseph’s field goal.
The next Minnesota possession also suffered a sack for a loss of 10 on a second-and-6 when a blitz by Quay Walker got home.
The following possession ended with a sack fumble on second-and-2.