Packers Take Down Vikings | Ticket King Green Bay

The Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings met at Lambeau Field Sunday afternoon in a crucial early NFC North matchup. The winner would stake out to an early division lead through two weeks, and that winner proved to be the Green Bay Packers. The team raced out to a 21-0 lead, and held on for a 21-16 victory. Here are some rapid reactions to the game.

Packers: This game could not have started any better for the Packers. After going deep to Davante Adams on the first play from scrimmage. From there, an Aaron Jones run set up a 15-yard touchdown pass to Jamal Williams. The Vikings first drive ended with a missed field goal. The Packers got the ball back and marched on a methodical, eleven play touchdown drive. The Vikings failed on their next drive when Kirk Cousins fumbled, and the Packers took that gift and scored. That was pretty much the end of the highlights for the Packers offense. Mike Zimmer made adjustments, and the Vikings defense clamped down, keeping the Packers off the scoreboard for the rest of the game. The second half of the game revealed the much expected growing pains for Matt LaFleur.

Vikings: The loss falls upon Kirk Cousins. Cousins finished the day 14-32 for 230 yards, a touchdown, two interceptions, and a lost fumble. The interception in the fourth quarter was a ball Cousins simply should not have thrown. It was first down, the Vikings were running the ball on the Packers, and he had three shots at a touchdown if he just makes the right decisions. Cousins made bad decisions all game and missed open receivers. In the second half, the Vikings didn’t abandon the run game, but they also put too much on Cousins, asking him to throw thirty-plus passes. Cousins is not a game changer, literally. The Vikings will adjust, and their run game is for real. Also, give credit to the Packers defense yet again. They kept the Vikings out of the end zone just enough times to give the Packers the win. It’s another home game for Green Bay this Sunday, when the Denver Broncos come to town.

Top Ten Packers Defensive Players Of The Modern Era

It’s June, and for us football writers, that means it’s time for some creativity in terms of story ideas. In other words, it’s time for lists. While some people may make lists of best of all time, I’m going to take a different approach. Since I’m only 27, I decided to make a list of the best Packers defensive players I’ve seen play with my own eyes.
 

10. Ryan Pickett- In his seven seasons in a Packers uniform, Ryan Pickett hasn’t been anything spectacular, but just good old reliable along a shaky Packers defensive front. Pickett has indeed been a stalwart, and even though he doesn’t come with the fanfare as the rest of the players on this list do, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t belong here, because he does.

9. Nick Barnett- When healthy, Barnett was a tackling machine in Green Bay, and one of former head coach/general manager Mike Sherman’s better decisions. Despite his lack of size, Barnett brought speed and athleticism to the middle linebacker position in Sherman’s defense.

8. Gilbert Brown- There is a fine line between being fat and being good. Brown walked that line every day of is NFL career. A castoff of the Minnesota Vikings, Brown blossomed as the cog in the middle of the Packers defense in the mid-90’s, and was one of the biggest reasons as to why the 1996 Packers defense gave up the fewest points in the NFL that season.

7. Nick Collins- If a player like Randall Cobb is fast, than Nick Collins is Flash Gordon fast. Collins could fly. Oh boy could he fly. Collins covered more ground than any other safety in recent memory. It’s a shame his NFL career ended the way it did. People don’t realize, that when Nick Collins suffered the Spinal Cord injury in week 2 of the 2011 season, Dom Capers entire defensive scheme blew up in his face, and the Packers have been scrambling to rebuild it ever since.

6. Darren Sharper- Darren Sharper had a very simple scouting report. He wasn’t a tackler, he wasn’t a range player, he was a centerfielder. Sharper was a ball hawk who played centerfield better than anyone league wide in recent memory, and he played a large portion of his career in Green Bay, which is why he is officially recognized on this list.

5. Al Harris- In 2002, Mike Sherman traded a 6^th round draft choice to Philadelphia in exchange for a little known defensive back named Al Harris. Safe to say that was a 6^th round draft choice well spent. Harris was the ace cover corner of the Packers for a number of years and will forever be remembered for his walk-off interception against the Seattle Seahawks in the 2004 Wildcard game.

4. Clay Matthews- Everyone scratched their heads as Ted Thompson traded back up into the back of the first round of the 2009 NFL draft to select USC’s third best linebacker. Ironically enough he used the third round draft choice he received from the Jets in the Brett Favre trade to do so. Four years later, nobody is scratching their heads anymore. Matthews is the only defensive player in NFL history to be selected to the Pro Bowl in each of his first four seasons. The Packers rewarded Matthews with a big old fat contract extension this offseason.

3. Charles Woodson- In eight seasons as the general manager of the Green Bay Packers, Ted Thompson has handed out one big name free agent contract. That was to Charles Woodson in 2006. Turns out that might be one of the most important free agent contracts handed out in league history, as Woodson went from draft bust to first ballot hall of famer in a Packers uniform.

2. Reggie White- Very few free agent signings work out. It’s even rarer that a free agent signing works out as well as this one did. White signed with the Packers, and led them on their glorious Super Bowl run in 1996. I could go on and on forever about White, but you all know the story. Before you cut my head off for not having him number one on this last, let me explain myself.

1. Leroy Butler- Charles Woodson may be headed for the Hall of Fame and Reggie White may already be there, but no Packers defensive player and I mean nobody, played in a Packers uniform for longer and played at such a high level for so long. Butler spent his entire 12-year career in a Packers uniform, and it is a crying shame he is not in the Hall Of Fame.