Photo Credit: Kyle Hansen
Trae Waynes was out of gas. The Packers were marching for a potential go-ahead score in the third quarter, and the Minnesota Vikings’ second-year cornerback had been called twice for penalties on the drive. Head coach Mike Zimmer pulled him and went with the rookie Mackensie Alexander as Waynes watched the defense come up with a massive fourth down stand to maintain the lead.
Little did Waynes know he’d be the defensive hero an hour later. Despite three penalties and numerous lapses in coverage on the night, the Wisconsin native jumped in front of Davonte Adams for a game-sealing interception with under two minutes remaining.
“That interception he made was huge, obviously,” said Zimmer. “He competed good all night long.”
Waynes looked almost bashful following the interception – and then in the locker room after the game. His performance left a great deal to be desired as he was incessantly picked on by Aaron Rodgers and lost battles against Jordy Nelson and Davante Adams, who were targeted 18 times combined.
The former first-round pick got fooled on the Packers’ first touchdown and let Nelson sneak off in the front left of the end zone. He missed a pass breakup and subsequent tackle against Nelson that led to a 21-yard gain. His late third quarter pass interference call against Adams bailed the Packers out of a 2nd and 14 and helped expedite a touchdown drive.
You could feel the nervous energy emanating from the 66,813 in attendance as Rodgers began carving up Waynes’ side of the field piece by piece. It was an impending disaster that turned into atonement in the blink of an eye.
“Football is a game of ups and downs,” said Waynes. “There’s a point where you have to have a short memory.”
It was by far the greatest challenge of Waynes career to face Rodgers for an entire game. Last year, the rookie played approximately three halves of football. In Week 1, he faced a punchless Tennessee Titans passing game. Sunday at US Bank Stadium, he faced the best passer the NFL has to offer and, despite taking several hits to his pride along the way, came up with a play that induced pandemonium and turned the tables on Rodgers, he of 14 career game-winning drives.
“He had his ups and downs, they were calling flags on him, and he was giving up some passes,” said nickelback Captain Munnerlyn, “and then bam, in the fourth quarter when we needed it he got a big interception. That’s being in the life of a defensive back … You always got to forget the past and move forward to the future.”
Zimmer says it’s all part of the learning process for Waynes, who has shown signs of significant improvement in his proverbial sophomore season. There was also a learning curve for Xavier Rhodes, the fourth-year corner who missed Sunday’s game with a knee injury. Rhodes, who struggled early in his career at avoiding penalties, offered up some encouragement for Waynes on the sideline, and it might have been just the boost the youngster needed. “Xavier mentioned it during the game,” said Waynes. “He had a game like that last year or a couple of years ago. You just keep playing.”
Peterson Down
Casting a somber asterisk over Sunday’s win was Adrian Peterson’s exit with a knee injury. Peterson struggled getting to his feet after a five-yard run and was helped off the field by trainers, putting no weight on his right leg.
Though it initially appeared to be an ankle injury, Peterson’s knee was examined on the sideline before he was helped back to the locker room. The Vikings later confirmed that Peterson was dealing with a knee injury. Zimmer said he is scheduled for an MRI Monday morning.
Speculation over Peterson’s injury has been rampant, which often leads to misinformation, though there were several doctors coming out of the woodwork on Twitter claiming a meniscus was likely the affected area.
#Adrian Peterson. Seeing him in LockerRoom with Knee Fully Extended in Brace is Key for MRI evaluation of Meniscus.MRI sees through swelling
— Dr. Robert Klapper (@DrRobertKlapper) September 19, 2016
Peterson was seen on crutches, wearing a full-length leg brace in the locker room. Neither of those are encouraging signs, but Zimmer did offer up one nugget of optimism in his press conference. “Whatever [the injury] was, it’s calmed down now, so we’ll see.”
The Vikings’ top back had just 19 yards on 12 carries at the time of his injury.
Diggs Explodes
As much as Vikings fans were likely freaking out over Minnesota’s shortcomings in the secondary, Green Bay was probably having greater qualms in their inability to control Stefon Diggs.
Sam Bradford: 9-of-9 for 182 yards and a TD targeting Stefon Diggs tonight.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) September 19, 2016
The second-year wide receiver came within 29 yards of breaking the team’s regular season, single game receiving record (Sammy White, 210 yards). Much of the damage came against Packers CB Damarious Randall. “I just didn’t have it tonight,” Randall said.
Diggs simply did it all. He made a video game-like spin move to get free for a first down. He made a gritty catch over the middle on a 4th and 2. He sprawled out on a dead run to make a catch for 42 yards. He burned Randall for a touchdown with an inside-outside move. He was elusive, gaining 78 yards after the catch. And he drew the pass interference call that kept the Packers from having one last chance on offense.
“It’s a lot of passion to open up the stadium, and you want to get a win,” said Diggs, who was still irked at taking a personal foul penalty in the fourth quarter. “I had a real bad play with a penalty that could’ve cost my team the game. It hurt me and it won’t happen again.”
Diggs said after last Sunday’s game in Tennessee – in which he had 103 yards – that he wasn’t satisfied with his performance. Likewise, his 182-yard day, the eighth-greatest in Vikings history, wasn’t up to his standards either. “I got to do better on the next one,” Diggs said.
Though Diggs wasn’t eager to heap praise on himself, his teammates were, especially winning quarterback Sam Bradford, who leaned on Diggs for 64 percent of his passing yardage. “When I first got here and started watching tape, he just kind of popped,” said Bradford. “You just kind of notice him. He’s always getting separation, he seems to always be finding a way to get open. Then tonight, he was pretty much unstoppable out there tonight.”
“I love him,” said left guard Alex Boone, “He gives you 110 percent every single time. Never lays down, never slows down. If you don’t love a guy like that, I don’t know what you’re doing.”
Tweets and Deets
—Bradford’s passer rating was 121.2. Rodgers’ was 70.7.
—Alex Boone wasn’t thrilled with every aspect of the crowd, saying fans need to “shut up” when the team is on offense. Minnesota had three false start penalties.
—Kyle Rudolph referenced the Josh Freeman Game.
Kyle Rudolph: “The last time that I was around a quarterback that had about two weeks preparation was the Monday Night Football disaster.”
— Sam Ekstrom (@SamEkstrom) September 19, 2016
—The Vikings unveiled a new chant that they executed three times throughout the night. It went something like this.
#VikingsChant pic.twitter.com/vkpDMeofjk
— Sam Ekstrom (@SamEkstrom) September 19, 2016