You can be disappointed. You can be upset. Heck, you may want to stick your head out the window and yell, “I’m mad as hell!”
All those things are warranted after the Vikings squeaked out a 34-31 win thanks to a 29-yard field goal by Greg Joseph as time expired.
“Everything matters,” said Vikings coach Mike Zimmer. “The wins matter, too.”
That is true in the pro game. All you have to do is keep winning games because that’s all that matters. Think back to how many ugly wins the Packers have had this year. The Bengals in Week 5 and the Washington Football Team in Week 7 come to mind.
This Green Bay loss actually reminded me a lot of the Kansas City loss. Obviously, with Aaron Rodgers being the glaring difference. Even with a bad toe, Rodgers played amazing without his top running back, top tight end, starting left tackle and starting center. Oh and the second-best offensive lineman on the team in Elgton Jenkins tore his ACL and is now lost for the season.
The fact that Minnesota needed a field goal in the waning seconds says more about Green Bay’s resiliency after being down 16-3 midway through the second quarter.
I knew that Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson was good, but he is starting to approach Randy Moss and Cris Carter territory. He’s tied for first in the NFL with 21 catches on third down that went for a first down and is tied for third in the NFL with 11 catches that went for at least 25 yards.
The Vikings were finally getting healthy as the Packers were also without Rashan Gary, Whitney Mercilus, Jaire Alexander and Za’Darius Smith. And even with those losses, the Packers still hurried Kirk Cousins 16 times — which is more than the Packers had against Kyler Murray (14) and Patrick Mahomes (8).
Let’s be honest, the NFC North is awful. Even if the Packers would’ve won this game, what would it have said? Granted, Green Bay would’ve buried a division rival even farther but division titles don’t do it for the Packers anymore. The Packers have won two straight NFC North titles and are on pace to have it wrapped up by mid December.
Cousins threw for 341 yards and three scores but he could’ve had three picks — including one on the final drive to Darnell Savage that would’ve sewn the game up. I really hate to blame games on officiating but it is beyond frustrating to have to consult the rulebook just to see if a player caught a football or not. In a pass-happy league, that needs to be streamlined.
And I know that many Vikings fans were screaming “Karma!” afterwards as an ode to the Dez Bryant non-catch in the 2014 NFC Divisional Playoff. I get that, but even as I watched that game at Lambeau Field, I felt odd because there were so many people that had no idea what to make of a simple football play.
Either way, the Vikings had a chance to put the Packers away and didn’t do it. Even without a full arsenal, the Packers aren’t going to stop fighting.
“It’s a good offense, and they got the better of us today,” said Packers coach Matt LaFleur.
That’s a direct reflection of the head coach. If you want to say that I’m chalking up a moral victory, I’m fine with that. At the very least, Green Bay gets to overtime because the ground cannot cause a fumble.
The sky isn’t falling. The Packers may have lost the No. 1 perch in the NFC playoffs, but if they keep playing this hard, they will be just fine.
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Cory Jennerjohn is a graduate from UW-Oshkosh and has been in sports media for over 15 years. He was a co-host on “Clubhouse Live” and has also done various radio and TV work as well. He has written for newspapers, magazines and websites. He currently is a columnist for CHTV and also does various podcasts. He recently earned his Masters degree from the University of Iowa. He can be found on Twitter: @Coryjennerjohn