Dec 29, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; A Minnesota Vikings fan reacts during the fourth quarter against the Green Bay Packers at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images
The Minnesota Vikings won their ninth straight game on Sunday, defeating the Green Bay Packers by a score of 27-25.
Similarly to Minnesota’s Week 4 game against the Packers, it was a very narrow margin for a game that fell well in hand for much of the afternoon. Still, the Vikings improved to 14-2 on the season, ensuring their first 14+ win season since 1998. The win also means that Minnesota’s Week 18 matchup against the Detroit Lions will officially be for the NFC North title and the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
With the Green Bay game now in the rearview, here is a look at the Vikings’ snap counts from that victory.
For the majority of Sunday afternoon, the Vikings offense was humming on all cylinders, totaling 27 points for the second consecutive week and 441 total yards of offense, the unit’s second-highest total of the season.
From this group, of course, the usual names of Sam Darnold, Jordan Addison, Justin Jefferson, and T.J. Hockenson showed up, Jalen Nailor put together one of the better games of his young career, totaling five catches for 81 yards and a touchdown.
It is very fitting that both Blake Cashman and Byron Murphy were among the snap leaders for Minnesota’s defense on Sunday because it seemed like whenever a play needed to be made, it was one of those two names to get it done.
Cashman finished Sunday with 11 tackles to lead the team along with 1.5 sacks to boost his season total to 4.5, setting a new career-high. In the secondary, Murphy made life very difficult for the Green Bay Packers receivers on Sunday, allowing just two receptions on his six targets that went for 26 yards.
Finally, Dallas Turner got in the box score again as well, totaling his third sack of the season and his second in the past three games. Slowly but surely, the rookie has been getting more playing time in Brian Flores’ defense, which is a positive sign for 2025 and beyond.
It was a bit of an ugly afternoon for Vikings kicker Will Reichard as he missed not one, but two field goal attempts on Sunday. Had it not been for a penalty on the Packers during a 55-yard attempt, it would have been three misses on the afternoon.
Considering the kicking history of the Minnesota Vikings in big games, it surely didn’t leave Vikings fans with a ton of confidence in the rookie with the playoffs quickly approaching.
Editor’s Note: Statistics for this article were found via Pro Football Focus and Pro Football Reference.