Packers Player Of The Game
Ahman Green's rushing (137 yards) was outstanding. The offensive line was perhaps even better (261 yards rushing for the Packers). But Brett Favre was by far the best. Getting his third win in 12 chances at the Metrodome, Favre completed 18-of-28 passes for 194 yards and three touchdowns, with only one interception. One game removed from breaking his right thumb, Favre's passer rating against the Vikings was 105.4. Also deserving credit Sunday night was a Packers defense that limited Randy Moss to only one big play, a 43-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter.
Vikings Player Of The Game
In the end, it wasn't quite enough, but Daunte Culpepper kept the Vikings in the game to the very end, completing 21-of-34 passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. Culpepper also rushed for 16 yards and a touchdown.
Stat Of The Game
The Packers won the game by beating the Vikings on the ground, compiling 261 yards rushing, led by Ahman Green's 137 yards. The running game was especially effective in the Packers' last scoring drive, accounting for all but 18 yards of a 71-yard drive that lasted 6:40.
Play Of The Game
The Packers converted a handful of crucial plays en route to Sunday night's win, but perhaps none bigger than Javon Walker's 12-yard touchdown catch on third-and-11 in the fourth quarter, bringing in a pass that quarterback Brett Favre threw behind the receiver. Defensively, no play was bigger than Mike McKenzie's expert tackle of Randy Moss on third-down to stop a Vikings drive and set up the Packers' second scoring drive of the final stanza.
THEY SAID IT
GM/Head Coach Mike Sherman –
On Packers' 261 yards rushing: "I don't think anybody thinks they're ever going to run for 250. I challenged our staff that we had to get 150 yards rushing and they gave me 100 more than I anticipated. But it was going to take a heck of an effort against a good football team and that's the Minnesota Vikings. We knew we had to come in here and do the job and I thought our guys rose to the challenge today and did what they had to do."
On Javon Walker's performance: "It doesn't surprise me. Javon Walker is a heck of a player, he's going to be a great Green Bay Packers football player in the years to come and he made some big-time plays today."
On impact of game: "It's one game. It's a big one, however. This is the second half of the season. I told the guys what's happened has happened. Before this game we're 3-4. Things didn't always go our way. We didn't always let them go our way. We victimized ourselves many times. But I said let's just play the second half and play with the best effort, the best toughness, the best physicality we possibly could play and I thought they did a good job of that. I thought they were very physical today and they needed to be when they came over here."
On Brett Favre playing through injury: "It's just a credit to him, the type of guy that he is. As I told him last week, I said I know you're going to play the game of your life because when you're hurt you always accept that as a challenge. I think he did and I thought he had a heck of a ballgame tonight."
Defensive Coordinator Ed Donatell –
On limiting Randy Moss: "You didn't see chunks in this game. They had the one early one: they made a great play with Randy Moss on third-and-short, but other than that, you didn't see big chunks of yardage with him. I think that was the key to the game."
On covering Randy Moss: "There were some times that we had him frustrated a bit, because he was doubled and he doesn't like that. But I thought it was a great team effort."
Brett Favre –
On game: "Tremendous effort. The Vikings as well. Whether you're a Packers fan or a Vikings fan, watching this game you had to walk away saying, it was a great game. Either team that walks away from this with a win should realize they earned it. The Vikings have nothing to be ashamed of, because they played as flawless as we did. It came down to the end. I give them a lot of credit, I give them a lot of respect, just like after the first game, but I also give our team a lot too. For a team that's 3-4 and had our backs against the wall coming into this environment, what else can you say?"
On success of running game: "That's the key. I don't think any of us expected to come in and throw 45 times and be successful, we never have been … and our offensive line has gotten some good pub this year, but not enough. Tremendous effort on their part and it has been all year. Guys play hard and give great effort on every play. That's what it comes to, whether you're passing or running the football, the front five is the key."
On 6:40 drive late in fourth quarter that ended in Packers field goal: "That drive at the end, in my opinion, it shows what kind of character we have. I told the guys when we started that drive, hey, we can make a difference right here. If we go down and score, it's pretty much ours. They gave a great effort after that, meaning the Vikings … A statement, or whatever you want to call it, it was what we had to do."
On Javon Walker: "Javon didn't do anything that we didn't expect him to do. Maybe from everyone else it's like, hey, he showed up tonight. He's showed up every week, the ball was just thrown to him."
On injured thumb: "It hurt like hell every play … but you suck it up. If you're going to play, you suck it up. You know, I'd like to say the pick was the result of the thumb, but it wasn't. It was a bad decision. It's about overcoming it. I wanted this game, I don't want to say any more than the next, but considering that everyone but my teammates was against me, expecting me to play different, I felt I needed to come in here and prove everyone wrong. This is what it's about. It feels great."
Ahman Green –
On if it was best performance of the year from the offensive line: "No. They've had several good games this year. This is one of the best of the year so far. I just have to take my hat off to them guys. I love running behind them and they love blocking for me."
Al Harris –
On people counting Packers out: "It's fine if they write us off. What really matters is the guys in this room. That's how we look at it."
Marco Rivera –
On Vikings: "When you win, you can talk all you want. And I guess they forgot there's a second game involved. We listen to it all, we take a lot in and we hang it up on the blackboard there and that motivates us to practice and come in there and do the job, and we did."
On Ahman Green's 17-yard run, which started with a broken tackle and a reverse of direction: "I think I was battling with somebody. I didn't see it. I looked up and Ahman was running the other way and I was like, 'Uh-oh. That's not right.' But it's working, so run!"
On running game: "To put (261) yards on the Minnesota Vikings in their place, that's nice. That's special. That doesn't happen every year."
Mark Tauscher –
On game: "It was an exciting game. You put so much into something, you can get a lot out of it or it can really hurt, and today's one of those great days where you really feel good about it. And now we're going to try and turn the page here and get moving. Now we really feel like we're really getting going. Now we can turn that first half of the season (around), wipe that out."
Mike Wahle –
On success of running game: "It's one of those situations as an offensive lineman, you can't be any happier with the way things turned out. We had the opportunity to run the football and close the game and we did it. Those guys talked a lot of trash all week about how we weren't physical enough and they could dominate us in that aspect of the game. And we took that to heart and we showed them up today."
On impact of win: "We were saying all week this is a game we have to win, a division game. We're still playing for the NFC North championship. We still are. Coach (Sherman) said that today, before the game, and we really took that to heart. This is a huge win for us. Hopefully it will catapult us into a steak of wins, and we're really excited about the second half of the season."
On running game: "I tell you what, there's not a better feeling in the world than getting (261) yards in the Metrodome."
Javon Walker –
On if this was a breakout performance: "No. I mean, it's good to have two touchdowns, but there's a lot of other things that come with the game and I'm just happy to be playing. Any little thing that I can help contribute to a win is good for me. It so happened that tonight it was two touchdowns."
On reason for offense's success: "We just had the hunger. Our offense is very, very deadly when we want to be and tonight we just wanted to start of fast … We feel that when we get going, no one can stop us."
On second touchdown grab on ball thrown behind him: "That's just practice. Those chances that you guys see tonight have been made over and over at practice."
GAME NOTES
End of 4th quarter. Game over.
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Darren Sharper recovered the Vikings' onside kick attempt (0:32, 4th quarter).
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Daunte Culpepper pushed his way into the end zone for a 1-yard Vikings touchdown, 30-27 (0:33, 4th quarter). Culpepper was stopped on the 1-yard line by Antuan Edwards on the previous play at the end of a 7-yard run. Nate Burleson had a 24-yard reception on the drive. The Vikings scoring drive was 11 plays, 65 yards. Time of the drive was 2:04.
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Ryan Longwell's 27-yard field goal increased the Green Bay lead, 30-20 (2:37, 4th quarter). Earlier on the drive, Javon Walker had an 18-yard reception on third-and-2. Ahman Green had two 9-yard runs including one on third-and-1. Najeh Davenport had runs of 9 and 8 yards on the drive. Tony Fisher had an 18-yard run. The Packers scoring drive was 12 plays, 71 yards. Time of the drive was 6:40.
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Facing third-and-11, Javon Walker snagged Brett Favre's 12-yard pass for a go-ahead touchdown, 27-20 (13:14, 4th quarter). Earlier on the drive, William Henderson had a 10-yard catch-and-run on third-and-1. The most exciting play of the drive came on first-and-10 at the Green Bay 46-yard line. Rushing right, Ahman Green was nearly tackled for a loss by Chris Claiborne, but broke the tackle, reversed field and got a lead block by Brett Favre for a 17-yard gain. Later on the drive, a halfback pass by Green for Donald Driver drew a defensive holding penalty that moved the Packers to the Minnesota 11-yard line. The Packers scoring drive was 9 plays, 73 yards. Time of the drive was 4:12.
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End of 3rd quarter.
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Aaron Elling's 37-yard field goal tied the game, 20-20 (2:26, 3rd quarter). The Vikings scoring drive was 10 plays, 39 yards. Time of the drive was 5:09. The Vikings started in favorable field position after a personal foul penalty charged to Green Bay after Keenan Howry's punt return. One play earlier, a 62-yard punt by Josh Bidwell was nullified by penalty.
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Aaron Elling's 47-yard field goal brought the Vikings closer, 20-17 (8:53, 3rd quarter). Randy Moss had a 10-yard reception on the drive. Chukie Nwokorie dropped Michael Bennett for a 1-yard loss. The Vikings scoring drive was 12 plays, 48 yards. Time of the drive was 6:07.
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End of 2nd quarter. Halftime.
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Javon Walker took Brett Favre's pass and dodged Denard Walker en route to an 11-yard touchdown, 20-14 (0:21). Ahman Green started the drive with a 10-yard run and later had a 27-yard catch-and-run on third-and-6. Tony Fisher had a 19-yard run. The Packers scoring drive was 7 plays, 73 yards. Time of the drive was 1:46.
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Daunte Culpepper's 4-yard touchdown pass to Jim Kleinsasser moved Minnesota ahead, 14-13 (2:07, 2nd quarter). Michael Bennett had a 13-yard run on the drive. The Vikings drive started after Corey Chavous intercepted Brett Favre. The Vikings scoring drive was 7 plays, 45 yards. Time of the drive was 4:01.
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Facing third-and-9 at the Minnesota 43-yard line, Brett Favre's pass for Javon Walker was intercepted by Corey Chavous. After a 25-yard return, the Vikings take over at the Green Bay 45-yard line (6:08, 2nd quarter).
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Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila sacked Daunte Culpepper for a 1-yard loss on third-and-8 to force a Vikings punt (10:09, 2nd quarter).
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Brett Favre rolled right and hit Ahman Green for a 5-yard touchdown to put the Packers ahead, 13-7 (12:18, 2nd quarter). Green also had a 12-yard reception and a 11-yard run on the drive. Also on the drive, Donald Driver left his feet to make a 26-yard reception. Najeh Davenport had a 22-yard run and a 6-yard reception. The Packers scoring drive was 7 plays, 82 yards. Time of the drive was 3:23.
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End of 1st quarter.
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Chukie Nwokorie's 3-yard sack of Daunte Culpepper on third-and-6 forced a Vikings punt (1:00, 1st quarter).
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Ryan Longwell's 43-yard field goal brought the Packers within 1, 7-6 (5:42, 1st quarter). Previously an illegal motion penalty on Robert Ferguson negated a 25-yard touchdown pass to Donald Driver. Earlier on the drive, Driver made a career-long 45-yard rush down the right sideline on an end-around. The Packers scoring drive was 6 plays, 51 yards. Time of the drive was 2:51.
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On third-and-inches at the Green Bay 43, Daunte Culpepper faked a handoff and threw deep to Randy Moss for a 43-yard touchdown to put Minnesota ahead, 7-3 (8:33, 1st quarter). Moss had a 10-yard catch-and-run earlier on the drive. Nate Burleson had a 14-yard reception. The Vikings scoring drive was 5 plays, 71 yards. Time of the drive was 2:41.
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The Packers had first-and-goal at the Minnesota 2-yard line but were forced to settle for Ryan Longwell's 21-yard field goal, 3-0 (11:14, 1st quarter). Brett Favre threw incomplete for Javon Walker on third-and-3. Ahman Green had four carries for 45 yards on the drive. William Henderson had a 9-yard catch-and-run. David Martin made a 12-yard catch that gave the Packers first-and-goal at the 2-yard line. The Packers scoring drive was 9 plays, 66 yards. Time of the drive was 3:46.
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The following Packers players are inactive for tonight's contest: Brennan Curtin, Curtis Fuller, Nick Luchey, Craig Nall (third quarterback), Jamal Reynolds, Marcus Spriggs, Rod Walker, Marcus Wilkins. |
