What a game....what I liked/didn't like

[purplefaithful]

I am glad to see they won a game with as much adversity as this one...Road games are tough, divisional road games are tough x2

[Riphawkins]

While I wasn’t in on the 4th down call, he made the first down! It was a terrible spot by the ref. I don’t think enough has been said about that. The announcers tried to cover it up and said his knee was down, but it wasn’t. With that first down, the game is over. Packers can’t stop the clock.

It’s why the conspiracy theories exist. Give GB a chance and let it have the possibility to be one of those unbelievable endings. Sells drama, sells tickets, sells merchandise.

You could say the same thing about the interception that should have been reversed.

As it was, O’Connell had to use 3 challenges for them to get it right. I don’t understand the NFL’s choice to not use college football’s review system. It works, and doesn’t slow the game down.

[MAD GAINZ]

In fairness, some of those catches were tough to call. Both the Packers and the JJ sideline catch. That said, the INT was clear as day and should have been overturned in replay. Clearly didn't have possession with two feet in bounds.

I'd almost rather see the NFL change the challenge rule to you get two, but if you win the first two you can continue to challenge until you get it wrong instead of just getting a 3rd challenge and then you're done.

[purplefaithful]

Packers shocked by Air K.O. series
No one expected O’Connell to come out throwing right after the Packers turned a strip-sack takeaway into a touchdown to make it a six-point game with 10:16 left. The situation screamed for the Vikings to play it safe. Nope. The first play was a 17-yard bullet from Sam Darnold to Justin Jefferson. “Got the kind of look that I was hunting for on the play,” O’Connell said. “I knew we would give Sam a clean pocket to be able to step into that thing.” O’Connell called five of six passes and kicked a field goal for a two-score game. “I loved what K.O. did on that drive,” said left tackle Christian Darrisaw. Said Smith, “I like how he trusts his players.”

O’Connell outclasses LaFleur
The 31-29 final doesn’t do justice to Kevin O’Connell outcoaching Matt LaFleur while improving to 2-1 at Lambeau Field. O’Connell was aggressive and won the maximum three replay challenges while LaFleur lost an ill-advised challenge and drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on first-and-goal at the 1. O’Connell went for it on fourth-and-1 at the Packers 4 and failed when a field goal would have made it a 12-point game with 2:18 left. That led to a 96-yard touchdown drive and ample time for Green Bay to win with a field goal had it recovered the onside kick. “Looking back on it, I’m sure people will wonder why that decision happens,” O’Connell said. “But I can’t really make those decisions based upon the, ‘Oh no, what could happen.’ I got to be aggressive and always smart.”

Smith not happy with late-game lapse
Harrison Smith’s mind was on an awful fourth-quarter missed tackle when his awesome fourth-quarter pressure was mentioned. “We did a lot of good things, but I need to play better,” said Smith, referring to a missed tackle that turned what should have been a 1-yard gain by Tucker Kraft into a 13-yard touchdown and a 28-22 ballgame. Four minutes later, Smith was a free runner on a blitz off the front side on first down. Love panicked and threw a deep ball up for grabs that cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. intercepted. A horrible decision by Love. “It’s an all-out blitz; I felt Smith, and it’s one of those critical mistakes,” he said. “I should have thrown the ball away.”

Love never saw Grugier-Hill
Linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill is proving to be one of the league’s best backups. His second start came with his second interception, a thing of beauty that caught Jordan Love by surprise and led to a 21-0 edge. “The guy made a good play,” Love said. “I didn’t see him.” Pre-snap, Grugier-Hill was hugging the left A-gap like he was going to blitz on third-and-7. A blink later, he was 16 yards downfield doubling and taking the ball from receiver Christian Watson. “We were running a Tampa-2 there,” Grugier-Hill said. “They ran a dagger concept with a receiver, and I just came off of it and went and made a play” — one of the best plays of the season.


Cashman, run defense rise early
The Packers’ No. 1-ranked running game (204.0) tried to outmuscle the Vikings on first down early. Made sense, but it failed, which is one reason the one-dimensional Packers trailed 28-0. “Green Bay was booking the key matchup as their front against our front,” Vikings nose tackle Harrison Phillips said. “We had a chip on our shoulder to establish what we did.” After opening the game with an 8-yard run on first down, Green Bay’s next six first-down runs netted 4 yards, including tackles for loss on back-to-back plays by linebacker Blake Cashman (minus-2) and Phillips and lineman Jerry Tillery (minus-1). “One of our top goals was stopping the run on first down because they’ve been so good at it,” Cashman said.

Source: Startribune