Minnesota Vikings 31, Green Bay Packers 29: Blowout Becomes Nail-Biter For 4-0

A big win for the Vikings to get to 4-0

On Sunday afternoon at Lambeau Field, the Minnesota Vikings got out to a huge lead over the Green Bay Packers, and it looked like they might coast to their fourth consecutive win to start the 2024 NFL season.

But this is the Minnesota Vikings, after all.

After getting out to a 28-0 lead, the Vikings had to hang on for dear life for much of the second half and eventually emerged with a 31-29 victory over the Packers at Lambeau Field.

It didn’t take the Vikings long to get into the scoring column, as they took the opening kickoff and marched 73 yards in six plays for a touchdown. The drive culminated with a 29-yard touchdown pass from Sam Darnold to Jordan Addison, Addison’s first catch since the season opener in New York, to give the purple a quick 7-0 lead.

The Packers marched down the field on their first possession but missed an opportunity to score when kicker Brayden Narveson’s 37-yard field goal attempt hit the right upright and fell no good. Minnesota took advantage and added their second touchdown of the afternoon. It was another touchdown pass for Darnold, as he found Josh Oliver for a 2-yard score to make it 14-0 with a minute and a half left in the first quarter.

That made four consecutive games with multiple touchdown passes for Darnold, who came into the week leading the NFL in touchdown passes.

The Minnesota defense then forced its first turnover of the afternoon as Jordan Love’s pass for Christian Watson was intercepted by a diving Kamu Grugier-Hill to give the Vikings the ball in Green Bay territory as the first quarter came to a close.

The Vikings cashed in on the turnover as Jordan Addison found the end zone again. This time, it was a jet sweep that Addison took and went around the right side of the formation, bouncing into the end zone for an 8-yard score to give the Vikings a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter.

The Packers got themselves in position to add points again, but Narveson pushed a 49-yard field goal attempt wide to the right again to keep the home team off the scoreboard. After a Vikings punt, the Packers turned the ball over again, as a pass from Love was tipped into the hands of Shaq Griffin for Griffin’s first interception as a Viking and the second of the afternoon.

Minnesota took advantage in just one play (after a Minnesota penalty) as Darnold found Justin Jefferson along the right sideline for a 14-yard touchdown and put the Vikings ahead 28-0 with just over five minutes left in the half.

The Packers turned it over on downs just before the two-minute warning, giving the Vikings the ball at their own 34-yard line. The Vikings then punted it back and it looked like the Vikings would go into the locker room with a 28-0 lead.

The Vikings then had a bit of a disaster at the end of the half as Jalen Nailor, in for an injured Brandon Powell on punt returns, muffed a punt and set Green Bay up at the Minnesota 3-yard line. After a play that was ruled not to be a touchdown, Packers’ coach Matt LaFleur was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct for running onto the field to an official. On the next play, the Packers finally got onto the scoreboard, with Love finding Jayden Reed for a 15-yard score to make it 28-7 going into the locker room.

Minnesota’s defense forced a three-and-out on the Packers’ first possession of the second half and looked to be driving for another score. But Darnold made one of his few mistakes of the day, throwing a pass intended for Aaron Jones that was intercepted by Xavier McKinney at the Green Bay 2-yard line. The Vikings’ defense held once again, however, and kept the lead at three scores.

The third quarter went by with nobody scoring, but the Packers changed that early in the fourth as Love found Dontayvion Wicks for a 6-yard touchdown pass to cut the Minnesota lead to 28-14 with just under 12 minutes remaining in regulation.

The Vikings’ offense then put the team in harm’s way again, as Darnold was sacked on the ensuing possession and fumbled with the Packers recovering at the Minnesota 20-yard line. Just two plays later, Love found Tucker Kraft for a 13-yard touchdown that saw him run over a couple of Vikings to make it 28-20. Love then found Kraft for the two-point conversion to make it 28-22 with just over ten minutes remaining.

Minnesota then got it back to a two-score game thanks to a 33-yard field goal from rookie Will Reichard to make it 31-22 with just over six minutes left. Love then threw his third interception of the day, this one going to Byron Murphy in the end zone to thwart a Green Bay scoring opportunity.

Murphy then came up big on the next possession as well, as Love completed a pass to Kraft that Murphy punched out of his hands for another turnover with the Vikings recovering in Green Bay territory. Minnesota then took the ball all the way to the Green Bay 4-yard line and went for it on 4th-and-1, but Jalen Nailor’s run attempt came up just short.

That gave the Packers the ball with just over two minutes left and no timeouts deep in their own territory. And the Packers went 96 yards in less than a minute, with Love finding Wicks for another touchdown, with the extra point making it 31-29 with less than a minute remaining.

The Packers went for an onside kick, but the Vikings got on the football and knelt out the clock to end the game and get to 4-0 despite their own best efforts.

The Vikings will head to the other side of the pond to host the New York Jets next week at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.

The Minnesota Vikings hold on to get a 31-29 victory over the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field in Week 4 NFL action. Thank you to everyone who got their coverage of this week’s game right here at The Daily Norseman!