GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Minnesota Vikings remained unbeaten by outlasting a late surge by the Green Bay Packers Sunday at Lambeau Field
Cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. came up with two of the game's biggest plays in back-to-back possessions to help Minnesota escape with a 31-29 victory.
The first play was an interception in the end zone that killed a promising drive that could have brought the Packers to a single score.
After Minnesota's offense went three-and-out, Murphy punched the ball out of Packers tight end Tucker Kraft's hands for another turnover that allowed the Vikings to burn another two minutes off the clock to all but seal the victory.
"He's got that closer's mentality," said Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell of Murphy, who was awarded a game ball following the victory. "He's tough, physical, smart, loves football, great scheme fit for us — plays a variety of different spots. The smarts come into play, knowing the call, knowing the possibility that that ball is gonna come out, one way or the other."
Quarterback Sam Darnold came out of the gates hot, throwing for three touchdown passes in the opening half, before cooling off in the second half. He finished the game 20 of 28 for 275 yards and three touchdowns, but threw an interception and fumbled to allow the Packers to claw their way back into the game.
"Tough place to come win," said O'Connell. "Really loved the start we got off to. Knew it was going to be more than likely a four-quarter game. Give (Packers coach) Matt (LaFleur) and his team a lot of credit for taking advantage of some mistakes by us."
The Vikings (4-0) turned the ball over twice in the second half, including an interception in the red zone early in the third quarter and a fumble deep in their own territory in the fourth.
Green Bay (2-2) cut the game to one score before Murphy caused the two turnovers to allow Minnesota to escape with the win.
"A lot of things still to clean up — starts with me — we'll make sure we're keeping on refining this football team, but make no mistake about it, I've got a lot of confidence in the guys in the locker room, I've got a lot of confidence in our coaching staff," said O'Connell. "What happened today means absolutely nothing moving forward other than we've got to go back to work and continue to improve as a football team."
Vikings running back Aaron Jones rushed for 93 yards and caught four passes for 46 yards in his return to Lambeau. The longtime Packer didn't find the end zone — promising to do a Lambeau Leap if he did — but was still able to do plenty of celebrating as the Vikings improved to 4-0 for the first time since 2016.
"It feels great. This is what I came here for," said Jones. "If somebody would have told me, 'Hey, you'll go in, you'll have a good game, you won't score but you guys will come out with the 'W,'' I would say, 'Hey, that's what I'm here for.'"
The Vikings are one of just four teams still undefeated, and here are three reasons why:
Winning the turnover margin
Byron Murphy's interception and forced fumble helped Minnesota win the turnover battle and escape Lambeau with a narrow victory.
Coach Kevin O'Connell is now 21-0 when the Vikings break even or win the turnover margin after Minnesota forced three interceptions and a fumble against the Packers. Green Bay led the league entering Sunday by forcing nine turnovers while turning the ball over just twice. On Sunday, the Packers lost the turnover battle for the first time this season, and it resulted in a loss.
Minnesota has yet to lose the turnover battle this season, and have forced multiple turnovers in each of its first four games.
"Proud of our guys for finishing that off the way that we did," said O'Connell. "Won the turnover battle, even though we had one (turnover) for sure that should have been avoidable."
Welcome back, Jordan Addison
Minnesota Vikings receiver Jordan Addison returned to the field after missing the last two games with an ankle injury and immediately made an impact.
The second-year pass-catcher hauled in the first pass thrown in his direction for a 29-yard touchdown on the game’s first drive. Addison beat Packers cornerback Corey Ballentine with a double move and pulled down a perfect throw from Sam Darnold for the game’s first score.
Addison scored again on a 7-yard sweep to give Minnesota a commanding lead early in the second quarter.
The former first-round pick was injured in the season opener against the New York Giants and returned to practice this week on a limited basis. It didn't take him long to back up to speed as he finished with 72 yards on three catches.
Jefferson's hot start
Justin Jefferson became just the second receiver in team history to have a receiving touchdown in each of the first four games to open a season. Jefferson found the end zone on a 14-yard pass from Sam Darnold after Packers quarterback Jordan Love threw his second interception of the afternoon.
Jefferson finished the game with 85 yards on six catches, including a crucial toe-tapping catch along the left sideline on a late third down to allow Minnesota to burn another 1 minute, 47 seconds off the clock.
Extra points
Playing with the lead: The Vikings went wire-to-wire on Sunday for the third straight game after scoring 28 unanswered points to open the content. Minnesota has trailed for just 3 minutes, 26 seconds total through four weeks.
Vikings contain Packers rush attack: The Packers entered Sunday with the leading rushing attack (204 yards per game) in the league, but were forced to abandon the run game early on as a result of the Vikings' big lead. Green Bay running back Josh Jacobs was able to average 5.7 yards per run, but was limited to just nine carries.
