Packers Improve to 9-0
The Packers maintained their so far perfect regular season by blowing out the Minnesota Vikings 45-7 Monday night in Green Bay.
Aaron Rodgers had another superb performance with four touchdown passes, two of which were hauled in by Jordy Nelson. Meanwhile, James Starks actually out-rushed Adrian Peterson with 63 yards on 13 carries.
Things were threatening to get away from the Vikings very early. Just one minute and 18 seconds into the game, Randall Cobb returned a punt 80 yards for a touchdown to put the Packers up 7-0. Green Bay then went on to lead 14-0 after the first quarter and 17-0 at the half.
The Packers would lead 24-0 before a Cobb fumble on a punt return gave Minnesota the ball on the Green Bay 14. This would lead to the Vikings’ only score of the game, which came on a three-yard touchdown run by Peterson.
While their oft-criticized defense held the Vikings to seven points, the Packers offense scored 45 points for the second straight contest. Green Bay leads the NFL with 35.6 points per game.
Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder, who had a passer rating of 102.7 against Carolina in week eight, struggled in his third NFL start. For the night he had 16 completions on 34 attempts, 190 passing yards, 0 touchdowns and 1 interception. Ponder is now 1-2 as a starter, both losses coming against Green Bay.
The Packers, who lead the NFC North at 9-0, gained a game on the Detroit Lions because of Lions’ 37-13 loss at the hands of the Chicago Bears Sunday. However, a new threat may be growing in Chicago now that the Bears have won four straight and are tied with Detroit at 6-3. The Vikings, on the other hand, fell to 2-7 with their Monday night loss to the Pack and sit in last place in the division.
Also notable is that with one sack in the game Jared Allen jumped ahead of DeMarcus Ware and now sits atop the NFL sack leaders list with 13.5 on the season.
Minnesota cornerback Antoine Winfield returned from a neck injury to play Monday night and he also had a sack.
The Packers will now play Tampa on Sunday, November 20 in Green Bay, while the Vikings host Oakland.
