Minnesota Vikings vs Green Bay Packers Box Score on Dec 24, 2016

The Sports Xchange
Dec 24, 2016

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Aaron Rodgers is healthy and the Green Bay Packers are hot.

After playing through hamstring and calf injuries that left him hobbling the past month, Rodgers put on a clinic against the rival Minnesota Vikings. Rodgers was 28 of 38 for 347 yards with four touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 136.6 as the Packers extended their winning streak to five games with a 38-25 victory on Saturday at Lambeau Field.

The Packers (9-6) will play for the NFC North championship at Detroit on Jan. 1. The Lions (9-5) play at Dallas on Monday.

The Vikings (7-8) lost for the eighth time in 10 games and are eliminated from postseason contention.

If there were any doubts about Rodgers' health, he answered them late in the first half. On first-and-goal at the 6, Rodgers spun away from defensive end Everson Griffen at the 20 and dodged cornerback Xavier Rhodes near the goal line for the score and a 28-13 halftime lead.

Jordy Nelson was Rodgers' favorite target with nine catches for 154 yards and two touchdowns.

Sam Bradford threw for 382 yards and three touchdowns, with 12 receptions for 202 yards and two touchdowns by Adam Thielen. Linebacker Eric Kendricks had 2.5 sacks.

The Packers scored a combined 27 points in losing at home to Minnesota for the NFC North title in Week 17 of last season and at Minnesota in Week 2.

They put up 28 by halftime on Saturday behind a virtuoso performance from Rodgers, who was 19 of 22 from 268 yards with three passing touchdowns, one rushing touchdown and a near-perfect passer rating of 157.0. Of Rodgers' incompletions, two went through his receivers' hands and the other was a throwaway.

Green Bay extended its lead to 21-6 by capitalizing on an awful turnover by the Vikings. With Bradford lined up in shotgun, center Nick Easton snapped the ball as if the quarterback were under center. Defensive tackle Kenny Clark pounced on the loose ball at the Vikings' 42.

Rodgers hit Nelson for 33, scrambled for 7 and hit Nelson for the touchdown. Nelson caught the ball in the back of the end zone, sprinted to the 20 and spiked the ball. The crowd followed with "Jordy!" chants.

With Minnesota driving toward a potential score just before halftime, linebacker Clay Matthews' blind-side sack of Bradford jarred the ball loose, with defensive tackle Mike Daniels recovering at the Packers' 46. That set up Rodgers' touchdown run and Lambeau Leap celebration.

Both offenses got off to strong starts but Green Bay took a 14-6 lead because it scored two touchdowns while Minnesota settled for a pair of short field goals.

The Packers struck first on Rodgers' 21-yard touchdown pass to Nelson, who slipped a tackle from safety Andrew Sendejo and powered through Kendricks for the final few yards. Minnesota moved quickly into scoring position but settled for Kai Forbath's 22-yard field goal when Bradford missed a wide-open Thielen on second-and-goal and Matthews batted down a third-down pass.

The Packers answered with another touchdown. Nelson gained 48 when cornerback Captain Munnerlyn tripped and, one play later, Rodgers zinged a 20-yard, back-shoulder touchdown pass to Davante Adams. Once again, Minnesota mounted an excellent drive but couldn't get the final yards, with Forbath's 26-yarder making it 14-6.

NOTES: Green Bay's first touchdown was from QB Aaron Rodgers to WR Jordy Nelson. That was their 58th career touchdown connection, breaking Brett Favre to Antonio Freeman for the most in Packers history. ... Nelson has three seasons of 13-plus touchdowns, a first in team history, and moved past Hall of Famer Don Hutson for fourth on the team's all-time receptions list. ... According to the NFL, there have been three games this season with a player posting 100-plus receiving yards and two touchdowns in the first half. Nelson has two of the three. ... Rodgers had the first 300-yard game of the season against the Vikings. ... Vikings WR Adam Thielen had six receptions for 142 yards at halftime. That's the third-most receiving yards in Vikings history. His 71-yard touchdown was the longest of his career. ... Vikings RB Adrian Peterson (knee/groin) and Packers WR Randall Cobb (ankle) were among the inactives.