The Packers elevated Tyler Goodson and Ramiz Ahmed from the Practice Squad and then did not play either of them. They did not even make Goodson active after it was determined that Keisean Nixon was healthy enough to play. It is very unusual for a team to elevate players and then not use them. In the end, it was a $27,667 gift to each player, but it worked out.
The inactive players were Krys Barnes, Jonathan Ford, Shemar Jean-Charles, Rasheed Walker, Caleb Jones, Bo Melton and Goodson. They were all healthy scratches. Ramiz Ahmed did not play, for reasons that completely elude me. I have no idea why he did not handle the kickoffs, given that Crosby only got 2 touchbacks on 7 kickoffs.
| Player | Snaps | % | STs |
| Runyan | 63 | 100 | 7 – 25% |
| Myers | 63 | 100 | 7 – 25% |
| Jenkins | 56 | 89 | |
| Bakhtiari | 56 | 89 | |
| Tom | 55 | 87 | |
| Nijman | 8 | 13 | 7 – 25% |
| Newman | 7 | 11 | 7 – 25% |
| Tenuta | 7 | 11 | 7 – 25% |
| Rodgers | 56 | 89 | |
| Love | 7 | 11 | |
| Dillon | 29 | 46 | 2 – 7% |
| Jones | 25 | 40 | 2 – 7% |
| Patrick | 12 | 19 | 6 -21% |
| Tonyan | 39 | 62 | 2 – 7% |
| Lewis | 23 | 37 | 7 – 25% |
| Deguara | 23 | 37 | 9 -32% |
| Davis | 10 | 16 | 23 – 82% |
| Lazard | 45 | 71 | 2 – 7% |
| Watson | 38 | 60 | |
| Doubs | 31 | 49 | |
| Cobb | 29 | 46 | 3 – 11% |
| Toure | 11 | 17 | 2 – 7% |
The Packers rode a dominant offensive line and a dynamic running back to victory against the Vikings. Aaron Jones gained 111 yards on 14 carries (7.92-yard average), including 90 yards on 9 carries in the first half. According to Pro Football Focus, only 35 of his yards came after contact, as Jones averaged 5.4 yards per carry before contact. Jones has now gained 1,073 yards for the season. The Packers need to think long and hard about finding a way to retain Jones in 2023, regardless of the quarterback situation.
A.J. Dillon had rougher sledding. He gained just 13 yards on 5 carries in the first half, and added 28 more yards on 7 carries in the second half, with a touchdown. Dillon finished with 41 yards on 12 carries for a 3.4-yard average. Dillon failed to gain the first down on a 3rd and one at the Minnesota 39 on a carry around the left end. I prefer Dillon running north-south. To be fair, Dillon got a couple carries in goal to goal situations, and Aaron Jones got stuffed on a run up the middle the play before on 2nd and one at the Minnesota 39. That led to the Packers going for it on fourth down, but Danielle Hunter beat Bakhtiari fairly quickly for a 16-yard sack of Rodgers. A veteran quarterback taking ill-advised sacks has been a bit of a problem lately. The Packers were ahead 7-3 at that time; turning it over on downs at the Green Bay 45 gave life to the Vikings. However, four plays later Tederall Slaton deflected a pass by Cousins to Darnell Savage who intercepted it and returned it 75 yards for a touchdown. Dillon needs 57 yards against the Lions next week to go over 1,000 yards from scrimmage.
The offensive line provided very good pass protection overall. On 29 passing attempts, the line allowed one sack and 3 pressures. Danielle Hunter had 2 quarterback hits and Davlin Tomlinson added another QB hit. Those two are quality players who are likely to make their fair share of plays. Zach Tom replaced Yosh Nijman at right tackle after just 8 snaps. He had no troubles with ZaDarius Smith. Runyan had a holding penalty on a running play. It is interesting that Nijman played the full complement of available special teams snaps since I assumed he stopped playing right tackle due to injury (and perhaps that is the reason).
Pro Football Focus has their fantasy article up with routes run. Here is that information:
| Player | Snaps | Routes | Targets | Recs | Yds | Yd/Rte |
| Lazard | 45 | 24 | 6 | 5 | 59 | 2.46 |
| Watson | 38 | 17 | 5 | 1 | 11 | 0.65 |
| Doubs | 31 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 20 | 1.67 |
| Toure | 11 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tonyan | 39 | 23 | 4 | 3 | 52 | 2.26 |
| Lewis | 23 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Deguara | 23 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1.0 |
| Davis | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dillon | 29 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jones | 25 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0.22 |
| Taylor | 12 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Rodgers finished with 15 completions on 24 attempts for 159 yards (6.25 yards/attempt), 1 touchdown and no interceptions. His passer rating was 95.7. Allen Lazard had a nice game. Four of his receptions were good for first downs, and three of them converted third down opportunities, some of them third and long situations. At this stage of the development of the receivers, when Green Bay needs it, the pass is likely going towards Lazard. It was good to see Doubs catch two passes for first downs, though the game was well in hand by that time. Tonyan also had a nice game and seemed to move better. Tonyan, Lewis and Deguara all threw some big blocks on running plays in this game. The Packers played a lot of tight ends, with an average of 1.51 TEs in the game on average.
| Player | Snaps | % | STs |
| Douglas | 58 | 100 | 14 – 50% |
| Ford | 50 | 86 | 8 – 29% |
| Amos | 46 | 79 | 6 – 21% |
| Alexander | 46 | 79 | |
| Savage | 45 | 78 | 9 – 32% |
| Gaines | 18 | 31 | 15 – 54% |
| Carpenter | 13 | 22 | 16 – 57% |
| Ballentine | 12 | 21 | 13 – 46% |
| Leavitt | 19 – 68% | ||
| Nixon | 3 – 11% | ||
| Campbell | 46 | 79 | 3 – 11% |
| Walker | 41 | 71 | 3 – 11% |
| Smith | 34 | 59 | 4 – 15% |
| Enagbare | 34 | 59 | 7 – 25% |
| Hollins | 26 | 45 | |
| Garvin | 18 | 31 | 9 – 32% |
| McDuffie | 12 | 21 | 16 – 57% |
| Wilson | 12 | 21 | 15 – 54% |
| Clark | 36 | 62 | 4 – 14% |
| Wyatt | 34 | 59 | 1 – 4% |
| Reed | 33 | 57 | 4 – 14% |
| Slaton | 24 | 41 | 12 – 43% |
| 22 on Defense | |||
| Crosby | 14 – 50% | ||
| O’Donnell | 10 – 36% | ||
| Coco | 10 – 36% |
There were several noticeable things about the defense. One was the tone they set early. The physicality and rallying to the ball were a full display. Someone asked where has this defense been all year and another person answered “about 10 yards farther downfield.” Not today. On the Vikings’ first possession, Cook ran twice up the middle for 6 yards, and then Douglas, playing tight coverage, broke up a short pass to Thielen to force a punt. After a blocked punt, Minnesota got the ball at the Green Bay one-yard line. After an incomplete pass to Thielen, Dalvin Cook tried the middle and then left guard, losing one yard over those two carries. The Minnesota center, Austin Schlottman, got injured after 5 snaps, but Schlottman, playing because the starter, Garrett Bradbury, was inactive, is terrible. He was replaced by Chris Reed., a veteran backup.
Another noticeable thing was the push the Packers got up the middle along with some stoutness. Clark had a sack during which he forced and recovered a fumble. Reed had two quarterback hits. Slaton had a tackle for loss and he deflected two passes to go with 4 overall tackles (3 solo). The pressure was good though not outstanding. It was clear that Cousins had a limited time in which to operate. Hollins (2 QB hits incluing a sack and a tackle for loss), and Enagbare (2 QB hits) have been pleasant surprises, but they are not Rashan Gary. Preston Smith has been consistent; he finished with 1 QB hit and 3 tackles. I also have to give credit to the defense for cleaning up a real problem this team has had with missed tackles. Part of that was rallying to the ball – if someone slowed a ballcarrier up there was someone there to finish the play. Nor did the Vikings gain yards in giant scrums.
Finally, the secondary seemed sound all day. I did not see head-scratchingly easy pitches and catches, or other blown coverages, other than a late blown assignment by Corey Ballentine late in garbage time. That play also featured Rudy Ford missing on a tackle. That was not important given the score at the time, but Mr. Ford is playing for next year. Obviously, Jaire Alexander traveling with Justin Jefferson was important. Jefferson had just one catch for 15 yards, and that came against quarters coverage. Even when the Packers were in zone, they passed the receiver off when appropriate and ran with them when the scheme called for that.
The Vikings running backs averaged 3.82 yards per carry. They ran the ball 17 times for 65 yards (20 for 101 yards if one counts scrambles by Cousins, and who knew he could do that?), but some of those yards came late. The Packers held Cook to 27 yards on 9 carries, and when it matter, 21 yards on 8 carries with a long of 9 in the first half.
Adrian Amos led the Packers with 8 tackles (7 solo), an interception, 2 passes broken up and a tackle for loss. He limited gains and seemed very competent. Campbell and Walker each had 8 tackles, while Slaton, Clark, and McDuffie (in garbage time) each had 4 tackles. It is noteworthy that Devonte Wyatt got more snaps than Jarran Reed, though I did not see Wyatt do anything. Wyatt finished with one assisted tackle. As noted above, Slaton had a possible breakout game.
SPECIAL TEAMS:
Keisean Nixon changed the momentum with a 105-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. He added a 10-yard punt return, while Randall Cobb had a 15-yard return. On the other hand, O’Donnell had a punt blocked and Keke Nwangwu had a 39-yard kickoff return and averaged 28.5 per return.
WR: 2.44
RB: 1.05
TE: 1.51
DL: 2.19
OLB: 1.93
ILB: 1.91
DB: 4.97
Photograph courtesy of Wm. Glasheen, USA Today.
Statistics by nflgsis and PFF where indicated.