GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) – The Minnesota Vikings did their best to make life rough for Aaron Rodgers, sacking him three times and smacking him virtually every time he took off running.
In the end, their NFC North nemesis just walked away with another victory.
Rodgers threw four touchdown passes and Minnesota couldn’t get anything going against one of the NFL’s worst pass defenses, and the Vikings were blown out 45-7 at Lambeau Field on Monday night.
“Anybody can be stopped,” defensive end Jared Allen said. “We were hitting him. It comes back to guys doing their jobs. We’ve got to cover guys better, we’ve got to get to him, we’ve got to capitalize on third and long – I don’t think we got off the field on third down. He’s in the zone, though. He’s a hell of a player. I hope they win it all now.”
Worse yet, the Vikings could be without cornerback Antoine Winfield for the rest of the season because of a broken clavicle. Monday was Winfield’s first game back from a neck injury.
It was a rough night all around for Vikings coach Leslie Frazier.
“You got to take a look at where we are and you look at the team that’s undefeated in our division,” Frazier said. “And you try to use this game as a gauge as to how far you have to go. And if the score’s any indication we have a long ways to go.”
Rodgers threw four touchdown passes, Randall Cobb returned a punt 80 yards for a touchdown and the Packers (9-0) held Adrian Peterson to 51 yards and a touchdown.
“They’re good,” Peterson said. “They’re 9-0 for a reason. I felt like, in the first half, we really put ourselves behind the eight ball. There were a couple conversions that we could have kept the drive alive if we would have been able to complete, but we weren’t able to do that.”
Green Bay’s defense came into the game giving up nearly 300 yards passing per game, second-most in the NFL. Their last time out, the Packers nearly blew a big lead in the fourth quarter at San Diego, holding on for a 45-38 victory.
The Packers finally played to their potential against the division rival Vikings, holding rookie quarterback Christian Ponder to 190 yards passing with an interception.
“I felt as a defense we owed it to ourselves to play a game like that,” cornerback Charles Woodson said. “Owed it to our fans, our team, especially our offense who’s been playing out of their minds this year. We needed a game like that. It feels good, but it’s still one game.”
Meanwhile, the Vikings’ pressure didn’t force any uncharacteristic mistakes from Rodgers, who was 23 of 30 for 250 yards without an interception.
“Our performance tonight was very disappointing,” Frazier said.
McCarthy put backup quarterback Matt Flynn in the game with 10:30 left in the fourth quarter – and the Vikings couldn’t keep him out of the end zone, either, as he scrambled 3 yards for a touchdown with 4:27 left.
But it was Cobb, a second-round rookie out of Kentucky, who got it all started for the Packers.
After the Packers’ defense forced the Vikings to go three-and-out on their first possession, Cobb fielded a punt from Chris Kluwe and squeezed through a seam in the middle of the field.
Cobb accelerated down the left sideline and danced the final few steps into the end zone, tossing the ball in the air as if he was shooting a basketball before doing a “Lambeau leap” into the stands.
Rodgers finally got the ball and directed an 11-play, 70-yard drive that included conversions on third-and-8, to Donald Driver, and third-and-7, to running back James Starks. Rodgers then finished the drive with a perfect pass to Jennings in the middle of the field for a touchdown, and the Packers led 14-0.
With the Vikings driving near the end of the first quarter, Woodson wrestled a ball away from Visanthe Shiancoe for what initially was ruled an interception. Frazier challenged the call and it was overturned, giving Ryan Longwell a shot at a 47-yard field goal.
But the Vikings committed a penalty, and Longwell came up just short on a 52-yard attempt.
Rodgers then put together another drive, and Rodgers hit tight end Jermichael Finley for 25 yards on a fourth-and-5 conversion attempt at the Vikings 34-yard line. Allen sacked Rodgers on first-and-goal, and the Packers ended up settling for a 25-yard field goal by Mason Crosby to take a 17-0 lead with 12:04 left before halftime.
Ponder then threw an interception to Packers cornerback Tramon Williams, misfiring on a deep ball after a flea-flicker toss back from Peterson.
Rodgers was sharp on the first possession of the second half, leading an eight-play, 69-yard drive that included a fourth-down conversion to Nelson.
Rodgers found Nelson on the right sideline two plays later, Nelson threw a stiff arm at Vikings cornerback Cedric Griffin and broke free for a touchdown, giving the Packers a commanding 24-0 lead with 10:45 left in the third quarter.
The Packers forced another punt but Cobb fumbled, and the Vikings recovered deep in Packers territory.
Ponder threw to Percy Harvin, then handed to Peterson for a 3-yard touchdown up the middle. The Vikings cut the Packers’ lead to 24-7 with 8:41 left in the third quarter.
Cobb then made up for his mistake with a long kickoff return to give the ball to the Packers at midfield. Rodgers led yet another precision drive, finishing it off with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Kuhn for a 31-7 lead.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)