Vikings’ flag-filled, go-ahead drive adds to annals of wild 65-year rivalry with Packers

MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Vikings were careening toward the kind of hapless, mistake-filled loss that results in hard questions and even harder implications about where this season, and so much more, could have been headed.

The absurdity of the drive that turned it into a rollicking victory over the hated Green Bay Packers will be studied for as long as this 65-year-old rivalry continues. The Vikings did not march down the field on the nine-play, 83-yard possession. They meandered. It should have been over three different times. But the Packers committed three penalties that brought automatic first downs, pushing the Vikings toward a touchdown (and 2-point conversion) that put them up 25-22 and ignited the 22-point fourth quarter that buried Green Bay.

“Football’s a funny game,” said quarterback Carson Wentz, who came off the bench during Minnesota’s third series after Kyler Murray left with a head injury. “Things can change fast.”

The Vikings were flatlining early in the fourth quarter. The Packers controlled the first 40 minutes, neutralizing Minnesota’s offense and burning Brian Flores’ blitz-heavy defense to take a 22-10 lead with five minutes to play in the third quarter. Ninety seconds into the fourth, Trey Smack kicked a 40-yard field goal that could have put Green Bay up 25-17, an 8-point lead that felt much larger considering how erratic the Vikings’ offense had been up to that point.

But Vikings defensive end Dallas Turner was offside on the play, turning a fourth-and-6 into a fourth-and-1 at the Minnesota 17-yard line. Packers coach Matt LaFleur decided to take the points off the board and go for it, believing that extending the drive and scoring a touchdown would have iced the game. Rookie Domonique Orange stuffed a sneak attempt from Jordan Love, giving the Vikings the ball back with just over 13 minutes to play and down just 5 points.

“Huge momentum swing, going into late in the game,” Vikings tight end TJ Hockenson said. “I understand what analytics say, but I think it was just huge. We got the fans into it. We were able to swing everything, and then it just started rolling.”

Did it, though?

Four plays into the drive, Wentz was sacked for a 10-yard loss on third-and-11, forcing a punt. But Packers defensive back Javon Bullard was flagged for illegal contact, giving the Vikings a first down and new life.

Three plays later, Wentz’s third-down pass to Hockenson was incomplete. But defensive tackle Chris McClellan was called for roughing the passer when his body landed on Wentz after the throw. It was difficult to see what McClellan could have done differently to avoid the call, but the rule is the rule, and the Vikings were again gifted a first down.

The Vikings tried one last time to give the drive away, this time when Wentz made an inexplicable throw into tight coverage in the end zone and was intercepted by Evan Williams. Wentz fell to the turf as he threw it, watched it hit Williams right between the 3 and the 3 on the front of his jersey, then pounded the ground in frustration at an opportunity lost.

Not so fast.

Xavier McKinney was called for defensive holding away from the play, giving the Vikings a new set of downs at the Packers’ 3-yard line. Aaron Jones then took the handoff into the end zone for a 23-22 Minnesota lead.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat it,” Wentz said. “We had a couple flags that kept our drive alive. I threw one to their safety right in the chest and that was a flag, too, so praise God for that. It’s better to be lucky than good.”

Wentz hit Justin Jefferson for a 2-point conversion that put the Vikings up 25-22, and the tremors created by the noise in a revived U.S. Bank Stadium triggered an avalanche from that point forward.

On the next drive, Love was sacked twice in a row, fumbling on the second after being crunched by Andrew Van Ginkel and Blake Cashman. Van Ginkel carried the ball to the 1-yard line, setting up a touchdown plunge from Jordan Mason.

Two plays after that, James Pierre intercepted Love, and Wentz hit Jefferson for a 9-yard score, capping a 22-point explosion in a span of 2:42.

This rivalry dates back to 1961 and has included all sorts of wildness, from Brett Favre switching sides like Hulk Hogan going to the NWO to Antonio Freeman lying on his back and catching a pass off of Cris Dishman’s fingertips in an overtime win to Randy Moss mooning the whole of Lambeau Field in the playoffs.

Jones, who spent his first seven seasons in Green Bay before coming to Minnesota in 2024, has seen the games in this rivalry flip more than he cares to admit, but “not as quickly as this one,” he said. “This one switched pretty quickly. … It was crazy to see.”

The Vikings became the first team in NFL history to be down by at least 12 points with 20 minutes or less remaining and come back to win by at least 17 points, according to OptaSTATS. A swing that violent usually cannot happen without some help, and the Packers gave them plenty of it on that fateful drive.

“It’s a gift,” Wentz said. “I’ve been on the other side of that, too, plenty, where you make a good play and the next thing you know it’s coming back. You’ve got to take advantage of them.”

They also served as a source of humility coming off the euphoria of a Week 1 win. Yes, the Vikings cashed in on the myriad chances the Packers handed to them. But they cannot expect that kind of luck every week. They were outgained by 180 yards (419-239). They averaged just 3.1 yards per carry after revamping their running game. And the offense looked completely out of sync in Murray’s brief time on the field, which included an interception on his first throw in purple.

For as well the defense played, it still gave up 6.3 yards per play and was torched by Love, who threw for 387 yards, and Packers receiver Christian Watson, who racked up 147 yards and two touchdowns.

“Honestly, we tried to screw it up. I tried to screw it up. And we got another (flag),” Wentz said. “We took advantage of it today, and the defense stepped up and helped us.”

In the afterglow, coach Kevin O’Connell focused on the resilience his team showed and on the culture he has tried to instill during his four-plus seasons on the job. When he gets back to his office and starts reviewing the film, he will likely see more bullets dodged than there were flags on the field during that go-ahead drive.

What mattered most in that moment for the Vikings was not the journey, but the destination. Twenty-eight of the 83 yards on that drive were gained via penalty. But it ended with Jones leaping into the arms of purple-clad fans and a lesson the Vikings can take with them the rest of the way.

“Good throw, bad throw, whatever — there’s another play. Things can change quickly,” Wentz said. “I think tonight we can look back as the year goes and point to that. Stay the course.”