The Minnesota Vikings continue to impress everyone and dominate. Although things got a little shakey at the end of Sunday’s matchup against the Green Bay Packers, the Vikings got another win and moved to 4-0 on the season, while the Packers are now 2-2. The game started very well for the Vikings, Samual Richard Darnold continues to play well although some turnovers almost cost the Vikings the game with an interception and a lost fumble. Darnold was 20 of 28 for 275 yards with touchdown passes to Jordan Addison, Josh Oliver, and Justin Jefferson.
The Vikings built an early 28-point lead and hung onto it until the end to beat the Green Bay Packers 31-29. The Minnesota Vikings ended up spoiling the return of Jordan Love, who came back to start against this dominant Brian Flores defense after missing two games with an injury. He did good, but too good too late. He threw for 389 yards and four touchdowns, both of those being a career-high for him, he also matched a career-high with three interceptions while going 32 of 54.
Minnesota Vikings Head Coach On The Team’s Performance And His Performance On Sunday
Some fans thought coach O’Connell may have gotten a bit overly aggressive, and maybe a bit reckless on Sunday’s victory over the Green Bay Packers for example, the Vikings were hanging on to a 31-22 lead with a fourth and one at the Packers’ four-yard line. If the Vikings kick a field goal that would force the Packers to score two touchdowns with zero timeouts to win.
Coach O’Connell didn’t hesitate to keep the offense on the field and go for it on fourth down, hoping to end the game then and there. The risk ultimately didn’t work as receiver Jalen Nailor was stopped for no gain on a jet sweep. Minnesota was fortunate to still hold out for the victory, but according to ESPN analyst and staff writer Kevin Seifert, this is what coach O’Connell had to say about those reckless calls.
Regardless of the decision the Vikings still had a 99% chance regardless of the decision. O’Connell also seemed to refuse to run the ball to kill time while the Packers offense was slowly scoring 22 consecutive points. If you’re an old-school football fan you may have found O’Connell’s game management to be wildly aggressive and reckless, but O’Connell’s view on the team is through the strength of his players.
Coach O’Connell has been working on building up Sam Darnold’s confidence, and his teammates trust him, since the start of training camp. He’s helped the Vikings win their first four games of the season despite being favored to start on the opposite end of the coin.
Green Bay Packers Head Coach Matt LaFleur On Him And His Team’s Performance Sunday
Packers head coach Matt LaFleur spoke to the media after Sunday’s loss saying.
“A lot went wrong in the first half, obviously, when they score on their first three possessions, It was tough because I thought early on we had some opportunities.”
Then he had this to say about his unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that ended up costing the Packers 15 yards, all because the officials didn’t grant him a timeout.
“I’m absolutely embarrassed that I got an unsportsmanlike, when you expect composure from your team and then you’re doing that, that’s a bad look. I think we all can be better, myself number 1 at the forefront of that.”
Coach LaFleur credited his players for continuing to fight all game long. Any momentum from the previous two weeks’ wins with Malik Willis in place with Love, what would this game have looked like from start to finish? would it still have been a blowout? would it have been closer? I guess we’ll never know.
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