Unser Chat » Once Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings took the lead on

Green Bay http://www.seahawksauthorizedshops.com/authentic-marquise-blair-jersey , they played with a fierce refusal to let it go.They held onto the ball with the same determination.Cousins bounced back from his worst game of the season with 342 passing yards and three touchdowns without a fumble or an interception, and the Vikings overcame some early gaffes to outlast the depleted Packers for a 24-17 victory on Sunday night.Article continues below ...Completing 29 of his 38 attempts, Cousins found Dalvin Cook , Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen for scores. Diggs and Thielen had eight receptions apiece.“It just kind of shows his character, shows what kind of player he is, to be able to just not really care what people talk about him, not really care about what happened last week,” Thielen said of Cousins, adding: “The throws he was making, his full game was really impressive. That’s what you expect out of him.”Sheldon Richardson had two sacks to lead the defense’s game-long stifling of Aaron Rodgers, and the Vikings (6-4-1) pushed the Packers (4-6-1) further back in the NFC wild card race.The Vikings won a night game for the first time this season after losing to the top three teams in the NFC: to the Rams in Los Angeles, at home to the New Orleans Saints and at Chicago in a two-interception game by Cousins against the first-place Bears. The Vikings entered the weekend with the fourth-most turnovers in the NFL, and Cousins has been charged with 13 of the 16 giveaways. Coach Mike Zimmer was so impressed by the way Cousins played against the Packers that he gave him the game ball in the locker room afterward .“Last week left a bad taste in our mouths,” Cousins said, “and the chance to come back on Sunday night football against a division rival at home was a great opportunity, and I’m glad we made the most of it.”Rodgers threw a touchdown pass to Davante Adams and Aaron Jones scored on a short run for a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter, but the Packers fell to 0-6 on the road this season and 1-5-1 against the Vikings in their last seven meetings. Their final seven possessions produced only one field goal, with five punts and one turnover on downs.“We’ve all got to play better, myself included,” Rodgers said. “Started off the game nice. We had a couple good drives. We’re rolling there. We hit our unfortunate typical lull and didn’t get it going again.”With Randall Cobb out (hamstring) for a sixth game this season and rookies Equanimeous St. Brown (elbow) and Trevor Davis (hamstring) forced out in the second half, Rodgers didn’t have much to work with down the field. Left guard Lane Taylor (quadriceps) departed in the first half and left tackle David Bakhtiari (knee) was sidelined in the second half, leaving the protection shaky at best. Rodgers finished 17 for 28 for 198 yards, without a turnover.The Packers failed to move the chains on eight of 10 third downs. Jones was stuffed on fourth-and-inches by Harrison Smith T.J. Hockenson Jersey , Danielle Hunter and Eric Kendricks midway through the third quarter, giving the Vikings the ball at the Green Bay 44. That set up a 37-yard field goal by Dan Bailey for Minnesota’s first lead of the game.“We’re definitely not in the position, record-wise, we thought we would be in coming into the year or even after this game. We thought we could get the victory. But unfortunately we ran out of gas,” Packers linebacker Clay Matthews said. “We’re beat up, no doubt about that. But give them credit: They put in a full four quarters.”SLOW STARTThe Vikings outgained the Packers 280-139 in total yardage in the first half, but they had to settle for a tie at the break. About to go for it on fourth-and-inches on the opening drive following a timeout to strategize, they were penalized for 12 men on the field and had to punt.Diggs collided with Thielen when Jaire Alexander crashed their pick play on the second possession, and after Diggs tried to circle back the other way with an ill-fated salvage attempt he lost 10 yards on that reception to lead to another punt.Bailey’s wide left 48-yard try wasted another highlight-reel catch by Thielen in between Alexander and Josh Jones that went for 33 yards. Later in the second quarter, after some mismanagement of the clock, the Vikings had to hustle to set up a 51-yard kick for Bailey. That one was good, but Rashod Hill was called for a false start. The 56-yarder sliced right, the fifth straight missed field goal against the Packers after rookie Daniel Carlson went 0 for 3 in Green Bay and was cut the next day.PACKED AND HAPPY HOUSEThe announced attendance of 66,872 was the largest for the Vikings in three years at U.S. Bank Stadium. A handful of Minnesota players were introduced in the first quarter with Paul Bunyan’s Axe, the trophy the Gophers repossessed from the rival Badgers in Wisconsin on Saturday to end a 14-game losing streak. Randy Moss kept the crowd fired up in a halftime ceremony to receive his Pro Football Hall of Fame ring.INJURY REPORTPackers: In addition to the carnage on offense, SS Kentrell Brice aggravated an ankle injury in the first quarter and was knocked out of action in the third quarter with a possible concussion. CB Kevin King and CB Bashaud Breeland were already inactive with injuries.Vikings: RT Brian O’Neill left in the third quarter for evaluation for a possible concussion. … CB Xavier Rhodes limped off with an apparent injury to his right hamstring in the fourth quarter.UP NEXTPackers: Host Arizona (2-9) next Sunday afternoon.Vikings: Play at New England (8-3) next Sunday afternoon. EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Vikings followed their NFC championship game appearance by signing the most accomplished quarterback on the market and adding a premier defensive tackle. They put themselves squarely in the offseason conversation about legitimate contenders for the Super Bowl.That turned out to be just talk , for many reasons that were perhaps part of the mystery and unpredictability of major sports.“This football team through four years that I’ve been here had that ‘nasty, we’re going to win regardless of what the situation is’ mentality, and I don’t know that we had it this year,” Zimmer said. “I talked to a couple people during the season around the building, and I actually said to them, ‘It’s just kind of a different vibe with this football team Jahlani Tavai Jersey , and I can’t figure out why.’ Because we had a lot of the same guys back. We have good football players. I wasn’t really different than I normally am. But for some reason we didn’t finish the games like we’d finished before.”The Vikings went 8-7-1, missing the playoffs when defending champion Philadelphia, the team that beat them so soundly in the semifinals a year ago, leapfrogged them on the last day of the season. Losing 24-10 at home on Sunday to division-rival Chicago , with a mostly lethargic offense, a couple of critical lapses on defense, and special teams lacking a momentum-changing play, was a fitting conclusion.“But we’re going to get that mentality back,” Zimmer said on Thursday at his wrapup news conference. “I can promise you that.”If not, there’s no guarantee Zimmer will last in Minnesota past 2019. Asked whether he’d be comfortable working on the final year of his contract without an extension in place, Zimmer didn’t flinch.“Sure, I’ve got no problem with that,” he said. “Free agent after that, right?”One of only 11 current head coaches in the NFL who would have five or more years of tenure with their team, Zimmer is now the dean of the NFC North with Green Bay firing Mike McCarthy last month and Chicago and Detroit making their changes after last season. This much, at least, was certain surrounding the 62-year-old Zimmer’s status: He didn’t consider retiring or resigning.“I’m not a quitter,” he said.The sudden death of beloved offensive line coach Tony Sparano took quite an emotional toll on Zimmer and his team three days before training camp began. Sparano’s absence was clearly felt intangibly throughout the season. The rift that developed between Zimmer and offensive coordinator John DeFilippo, for one, could have been bridged by Sparano, who was a friend to both.“This guy was a type-A personality. He was very innovative in the running game and had a strong voice in that room and a strong voice with me,” Zimmer said. “Yeah, I do feel like we lost a bit of our identity. We’re going to get that back.”Zimmer vowed a thorough evaluation of all that went wrong for the Vikings this season Will Harris Jersey , including his own decisions and performance. He didn’t have to wait to acknowledge Thursday his responsibility for the deterioration of his relationship with DeFilippo, who was fired with three games to go after less than a year on the job . Zimmer wanted the Vikings to run the ball more, and DeFilippo’s play calls didn’t always strike the balance he sought.“I still think Flip is a good football coach. I just didn’t like the direction that it was going at the time, and I was trying to make something to get us going again,” Zimmer said, adding: “I’ve learned a lot about the questions, the interview process, about things that I probably should do a lot better than what I did, and hopefully I’ll do better this next time.”The first order of business for Zimmer, just like last year, will be to hire his top assistant.Interim offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski’s contract will expire on Tuesday, and he’s a candidate for other open jobs around the league, including the head coaching vacancy in Cleveland, according to multiple reports. Zimmer valued Stefanski enough to block him from moving on last year.“I’m looking at all kinds of options there. We’re sitting down and evaluating everything. I think Kevin’s a really good football coach, a very smart guy. I thought he did a good job for the three weeks, in a tough situation that we had to do,” Zimmer said. “It’s fair to the organization, to myself, to the fans, that we look at everybody.”