Ascending Packers make noise with dominating 34-0 win over Vikings

Ascending Packers make noise with dominating 34-0 win over Vikings
By Pete Dougherty
pdougher@greenbaypressgazette.com

With each passing week, the Green Bay Packers are making an increasingly convincing case they're one of the NFC's top Super Bowl candidates.

On Sunday, coach Mike McCarthy's ascending young Packers played their best game by demolishing the quarterback-challenged Minnesota Vikings 34-0 in front of 70,945 spectators at Lambeau Field.

The Vikings (3-6) have lost three games to the NFC's top two Super Bowl challengers, two to the 8-1 Packers and one to the 8-1 Dallas Cowboys, 24-14, three weeks ago at Texas Stadium.

"If (the Packers) are at home (for the NFC championship game), I could see them being in the Super Bowl," said Darren Sharper, the former Packers safety who's in his third season with the Vikings. "They've beaten everybody they've played. Do they have a better record than Dallas right now? No? We'll see what happens."

The shutout was the Packers' first against Minnesota in their 94-game series — which dates to 1961 — and their first since defeating Buffalo 10-0 in 2002.

It convinced another former Packers player, Vikings kicker Ryan Longwell, that the Packers might be better than Dallas, even if oddsmakers favored the Cowboys coming into the weekend (3-2 odds to win the NFC, as opposed to the Packers' 3-1).

Asked whether Dallas gets the edge over the Packers, Longwell said, "I don't think so. We played 'em both. We saw (Cowboys quarterback) Tony Romo and T.O. (receiver Terrell Owens) do their thing. I think the Packers have a better offense. It could be a draw on offense, but the defense is definitely better for the Packers. The sky's the limit, really."

The most astonishing development in Sunday's game was the Packers' ability to run the ball against the NFL's best run defense of the last couple of years. Last season, Minnesota led the NFL in fewest rushing yards allowed and fewest yards per carry and came into Sunday's game ranked second in both categories this year. Yet the Packers' struggling run game, ranked last in the NFL in yards and 30th of 32 teams in yards per carry, had by far its best day of the season.

Ryan Grant gained 119 yards on 25 carries (4.8 yards a carry) and left no doubt he's the best back on McCarthy's roster for the zone-blocking scheme because of his physical, hard-charging running style.

That the Packers finally ran well wasn't much of a surprise. The surprise was that it came against the Vikings, whose defensive-tackle tandem of Pat Williams and Kevin Williams usually dominates the middle of the line, and thus the run game.

The Packers used three- and four-receiver sets most of the day to get the Vikings to replace a linebacker with a defensive back, taking a run-oriented defender off the field.

But that wasn't the only time Grant picked up ground. He had 92 yards in the first half, including a 30-yard touchdown run when the Packers were in their base offense (two receivers, two backs and a tight end) and the Vikings in their base defense.

Grant's running was like an unexpected punch to the Vikings' nose.

"They were effective whatever way they tried," Sharper said, "and that hasn't happened to our defense in a long time."

Vikings coach Brad Childress said: "I'm not used to seeing the ball run on our defense that way. Generally, what happens when someone is running the football is they are exerting their will on somebody, and somebody is not exerting it back."

Grant's numbers suggest neither of the Williamses dominated the line. That also means embattled starting guards Daryn Colledge and Jason Spitz held their own after McCarthy challenged them by opening their starting jobs to competition last week. The Williamses combined for only four tackles.

"You have to be held accountable for all times," Spitz said. "You can't slip up once, at any second. It's a show-me world."

Conversely, the Packers' defense shut down the NFL's new rushing phenom, rookie Adrian Peterson, just a week after he set the league's single-game rushing record with 296 yards against San Diego.

Peterson had only 45 rushing yards on 11 carries before leaving the game with 1 minute, 28 seconds left in the third quarter with a sprained right knee. By that time, the game was in hand for the Packers at 27-0.

In meetings and practice all week, the Packers' coaches emphasized stopping Peterson. It helped that the Vikings were limited at quarterback with weak-armed Brooks Bollinger (65.5 passer rating).

McCarthy activated nine defensive linemen, more than he had in any other game in his two seasons as coach, so they could rotate regularly and stay fresh against Peterson. It capped a week in which it was Peterson ad nauseam as far as the Packers' players were concerned.

"Constantly Adrian this, Adrian that, Peterson this," defensive tackle Corey Williams said, "'All Day' was what they were calling him, his nickname. It was a motivator to us, and I believe that's a reason they were doing it. They knew it would make us want to go out there and show them and the world what type of defense we have."

That left the game to the difference at quarterback, which was greater than even the final score suggests.

The Packers' Brett Favre continues to play at an elite level at 38. He had his sixth 300-yard passing game in the last seven weeks. He mostly worked the short to intermediate game while going 33-for-46 for 351 yards against the undermanned Vikings, who played without their best cornerback, Antoine Winfield (hamstring injury).

But Favre also hit a couple of downfield throws: a 37-yarder to rookie James Jones that set up the final touchdown, and a 34-yard underthrown jump ball that second-year pro Greg Jennings came back to snag over cornerback Cedric Griffin and Sharper. Jennings' catch set up an early third-quarter touchdown that put the Packers ahead 20-0.

Favre spread the ball around by completing passes to 10 players and finished with a passer rating of 115.4, surpassing 100 points for the sixth time in nine games this season.

"Their young guys are making plays for them," Sharper said.

"You have some veteran guys that are doing well, (receiver Donald) Driver, on the offensive line there's some veteran guys, but the young guys are stepping up and making plays. Jones is playing well, Jennings is playing at a Pro Bowl level. You have to respect them."