It didn’t take long for Dalvin Cook to get back into the swing of things after missing the Vikings contest against the Falcons two weeks ago with a groin injury. Cook, who was deemed questionable early Sunday morning, didn’t seem to show any bit of an injury during this career performance against the Green Bay Packers. He even did something that hadn’t been done in 50 years… he scored a touchdown on each of his team’s first four possessions of a game (21 yard rushing, back to back 1 yard rushes, and a career long 50 yard receiving score). To make things even more impressive, Cook became the first player ever to score four touchdowns and net over 200 scrimmage yards in a game against the Packers at Lambeau Field.
The Minnesota Vikings did everything they needed to do to win. They kept the ball on the ground and they contained Aaron Rodgers enough to hold on to a six point victory. Rodgers, who threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, connected with Davante Adams on each one of those passes.
In the first quarter, on the first drive of the game, the Packers drove down the field with a methodical, 13 play/75 yard series that lasted eight minutes. This was capped off by a five yard touchdown pass from Rodgers to Adams. In response to that, the Vikings answered with a 10 play drive of their own that ended with a Dalvin Cook 21 yard rushing touchdown. After one quarter of play, the Vikings and Packers were tied at seven.
The Packers would slowly respond to the Cook touchdown with a nine minute drive that saw Adams retrieve his second touchdown catch of the game. This would give the Vikings a little under seven minutes to find the back of the end zone, and that is exactly what they did as Cook rushed in from the one yard line to even up the score once again. At the end of the first half, it was tied yet again, this time at 14 apiece.
The third quarter was all Minnesota as the Vikings came out on their first two possessions and scored both times, courtesy of Dalvin Cook, to double up the Packers and take a 14 point lead.
It wouldn’t be until the middle of the fourth when the Packers could finally respond. They did that with another Davante Adams touchdown and a successful two point conversion to make it a six point game. A defensive stand by the Packers would allow them one more shot to take the lead and ultimately win the game as Aaron Rodgers was given the ball back with 47 seconds and the ball on his own 35 yard line. After driving 30 yards and almost in Hail Mary range, Rodgers would find himself on the ground after being sacked and striped by rookie D.J. Wonnum that saw the Vikings walk away with the win against their bitter rivals.
With the victory, the Vikings now stand at 2-5, but still in last place in the NFC North. Luckily for them, they were the only member of the NFC North to win a game on Sunday, which means the Vikings gained a game on everyone in their own division. The Packers, on the other hand, dropped to 5-2 and and now only hold a half game lead on the Chicago Bears.
The Vikings will welcome back Adrian Peterson and the Detroit Lions to U.S. Bank Stadium next week for a noon time showdown. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. CST/1:00 p.m. on Fox.
