Packers: Top five performers in Week 2 tie vs. Vikings
By Jesse Fry
The Green Bay Packers’ top five performers in their Week 2 tie with the Minnesota Vikings.
When does a game you don’t lose feel like a loss? When you give up an eight-point lead with less than two minutes to go and end up with a tie. The Green Bay Packers had a golden opportunity to go 2-0 in the division while defeating against the NFC North champions.
Through three quarters, it looked like the Packers would do just that.
The game looked to be sealed with 2:13 left to play, when a pass tipped off of receiver Laquon Treadwell and into the hands of safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. Clinton-Dix returned the ball to the Vikings’ 13-yard line and set the Packers offense up with an opportunity to increase the lead and put the final nail in the coffin.
Poor clock management and inefficiency only took 11 seconds off the clock. The Packers didn’t force the Vikings to use any of their two remaining timeouts. After a three-and-out, Mason Crosby kicked his fifth field goal of the day and gave the Packers an eight-point lead. It wouldn’t hold up.
The game then looked to be clinched again when a Kirk Cousins pass landed in the arms of cornerback Jaire Alexander. But a roughing the passer penalty on Clay Matthews negated the play and allowed the drive to continue. Unlike last week against the Bears, the defense couldn’t get another stop.
Cousins then drove the Vikings offense down the field for a touchdown and game-tying two-point conversion.
In overtime, both offenses had drives stall. The Packers couldn’t even get inside Crosby’s range, while the Vikings missed two chances to win the game.
The fact it finished as a tie can add some comfort, but there were still too many missed opportunities for the Packers to feel good about the game as a whole.
You can blame poor officiating, but Davante Adams said it best:
“That’s why you can’t put the officials in position to determine the outcome of the game,” Adams said, according to ESPN’s Jason Wilde.
That said, there were some players who had performances worth mentioning.
Here are the top five players from Week 2.