Justin Jefferson caught eight passes for 101 yards and the Minnesota Vikings pulled away for a 16-3 win over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday afternoon in Minneapolis.
C.J. Ham rushed for a touchdown for Minnesota (9-8), which won its fifth in a row to finish the season. J.J. McCarthy completed 14 of 23 passes for 182 yards before giving way to Max Brosmer, who completed 7 of 8 passes for 57 yards. Jordan Mason rushed for a game-high 94 yards on 14 carries.
Chris Brooks had 13 carries for 61 yards to lead Green Bay (9-7-1), which rested many of its starters as it prepares for a wild-card playoff game next weekend.
“We’re in the tournament,” LaFleur said. “Everybody is zero-and-zero. We’re going to have to go on the road and embrace the opportunity.”
Packers reserve quarterback Clayton Tune made his second career start and completed 6 of 11 passes for 34 yards.
LaFleur tipped his cap to the Vikings’ defense. Minnesota outgained Green Bay 363-121 and averaged 5.7 yards per play, compared with 2.4 yards per play for the Packers.
“That’s a really good defense, one of the better defenses in the league,” LaFleur said. “They’re really aggressive. They got us on a couple things in protection when we tried to throw the football.”
The Vikings had four sacks and eight tackles for loss. Linebacker Dallas Turner recorded a pair of sacks.
“Going against one of the most aggressive defenses in the NFL, in a tough environment on a silent count,” LaFleur said of the passing-game issues in a scenario the coach described as “the perfect storm” for Tune.
Although the Vikings had been eliminated from the postseason for a few weeks, the game carried individual implications. The most significant milestone included Jefferson, who surpassed 1,000 receiving yards for the sixth consecutive season to start his career, joining Randy Moss and Mike Evans as the only players to achieve the feat.
The Vikings opened the scoring on their first drive. Will Reichard made a 43-yard field goal to give Minnesota a 3-0 lead with 10:27 remaining in the opening quarter.
Reichard made another field goal, this time from 25 yards, to increase the Vikings’ lead to 6-0 with 3:02 to go in the first half.
Minnesota made it 13-0 with 23 seconds left before the break. Ham took a handoff and powered through the middle of the line of scrimmage for a 1-yard touchdown.
Teammates congratulated Ham, a longtime special-teams leader who might have played his final game with the Vikings. The 32-year-old tallied his eighth touchdown in 141 career games, all for Minnesota.
“Unbelievable just to be the head coach to players like that and be so fortunate to come to work every day and have those guys on your team,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said of Ham and safety Harrison Smith.
Reichard added a 37-yard field goal to make it 16-0 with 4:09 remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Packers avoided a shutout as time expired on Brandon McManus’ 24-yard field goal one play after Smith was removed from the game to a standing ovation from the home fans. Smith had 39 interceptions in 14 seasons with the Vikings and is expected to retire.
–Field Level Media
