What was expected by many to be a tightly-contested encounter between the NFC North division rivals eventually turned out to be a one-sided affair. The Green Bay Packers asserted dominance and stole a 43-34 win against the Minnesota Vikings on their home turf.
Vikings coach Mike Zimmer stood on record during training camp, expressing confidence despite their work-in-progress defensive side claiming – “I’ve never had a bad defense.” He also vowed to bounce back after his team allowed the Packers to score a total of 43 points.
“Luckily we had one goal-line stand,” Zimmer joked, via Chip Scoggins of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “Otherwise it would have been really ugly…”
“There’s a lot of football left to be played, but we got to get better quick.”
Safety Harrison Smith also sounded off on the performance of the Vikings' defense after the loss:
“That’s not what we’re used to here,” he said. “It’s not what we’re about here. We’ve got to do everything we can to move on from this and improve drastically from 43.”
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers also took control of the game's possession advantage, keeping a total of 41:16 minutes to his team as opposed to the Vikings' 18:44.
“We just kept allowing them to drain us,” Smith continued. “That’s what happens when you’re on the field for [41 minutes]. You’re not going to win a lot of games that way.”
The Vikings defense took a huge blow as it saw four-time Pro Bowl defensive end Everson Griffen relocate to the Dallas Cowboys during the offseason. His apparent replacement in newly-acquired defensive end Yannick Ngakoue had himself a quiet debut as he failed to tally a single statistic during their opening game.
The Purple and Gold would need a lot more from their defensive rotation if they want to score their first win as they go up against another capable team in the Indianapolis Colts on September 20.
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