Led by two sacks from Micah Parsons, the Packers’ defense held the Minnesota Vikings to six points, as Green Bay won its second divisional game of the season, 23-6 on Nov. 23.
Parsons closed out his fifth straight 10-sack season and second multi-sack game with the Packers.
On the defensive side of the ball, Parsons was joined by Isaiah McDuffie, who started in place of an injured Quay Walker, and Evan Williams as the standout players on the defensive side of the ball. McDuffie had his best game as a Packer this season, as he filled the box score with nine tackles, one interception and half of a sack. Williams added four tackles and one interception.
As a whole, the Minnesota Vikings were only able to muster 145 total yards in the game, while Green Bay came away with five sacks and two interceptions.
“It was great. It was amazing,” said Packers quarterback Jordan Love on the defense’s performance. “I think if you hold a defense to six points it is great. You know, (the defense) was getting after them, so it was just a great job by them.”
Success on defense was not the only thing that got Packers fans excited during this game. It was also the performance from running back Emanuel Wilson, who started in place of the injured Josh Jacobs.
Running behind an offensive line that looked like plow trucks on the field, Wilson registered his best game as a professional running back with 107 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries. Chris Brooks also added 21 rushing yards on eight carries.
“(Emanuel Wilson) did a great job. I thought Chris Brooks went in there and ran hard as well,” said Packers head coach Matt LaFleur. “It was kind of a weird game where our defense really had control of the football game. I have never called the same run so many times consecutively. It was like three yards and a cloud of dust, but it was effective. Bottom line was I just thought with the way our defense was playing, we just take the air out of the ball and said go win it for us.”
With the strong emphasis on the run game, Green Bay’s passing game was fairly silent in this one. Love finished the game completing 14-of-21 passes for 139 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions.
Christian Watson was the leading receiver for the Packers, catching five passes for 49 yards. Dontayvion Wicks added 32 yards on two receptions, while Romeo Doubs recorded 23 yards on two receptions.
For the Vikings, quarterback J.J. McCarthy finished the game completing 12-of-19 passes for 87 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions.
Justin Jefferson was the leading receiver for Minnesota, as he recorded 48 yards on four receptions. T.J. Hockenson was the other Vikings pass catcher with four receptions, but he was held to just 19 yards.
Much like the pass game, Minnesota’s run game struggled. Jordan Mason was the Vikings’ most effective runner, totaling 42 yards on eight carries. Former Green Bay Packer Aaron Jones Sr. added another 41 yards on nine carries, while catching three passes for 16 yards.
The win over the Minnesota Vikings now puts Green Bay at a 67-60-3 advantage in the NFC North rivalry. This game also featured the first time that the Packers held Minnesota to single digits points since 2011.
The win for the Packers also pushes the team’s record to 7-3-1 and with the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions both winning this week as well, there was no change in the divisional standings.
Currently slotted in as the six seed in the NFC playoff picture, the Packers now have the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears on its schedule for the next two weeks, meaning that two wins in those games would drastically boost the team’s chances to get back to the top of the division and lock up a playoff spot.
