The Green Bay Packers had a victory snatched from their grasp on Sunday, instead tying the Minnesota Vikings 29-29 after a series of unfortunate events. Those circumstances were a combination of situations of their own making — thanks to some atrocious play in the secondary by veteran players and poor execution in the red zone — and the help of some atrocious officiating. We’ll touch on both of those topics in today’s cheese curds, as we gnash our teeth about how a 1-0-1 record could impact the rest of the season. However, let’s not forget that the Packers went toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the NFL, outplayed them for nearly an entire game, and should have emerged from the game with a victory. When the initial sting of disappointment wears off, this game could well be a building block forward as the 2018 season rolls along. Jerry Kramer enjoys one more ‘wonderful moment’ | Packers.com Before we get into the game itself, let's take a moment to celebrate Kramer, whose name was unveiled in the Packers' ring of honor at Lambeau Field. It's a long-overdue honor, and one that Kramer described as "surreal." Packers Clay Matthews left frustrated by late roughing passer penalty | Packersnews.com Now to the game. Referee Tony Corrente has some serious explaining to do for his roughing the passer call on Matthews, even after trying to explain it once on Sunday afternoon. He tried to make the case that Matthews picked up Kick Cousins and drove him forcibly into the ground, which anyone with a working pair of eyes can see is not what happened. The only acceptable explanation would be "I blew it." Winners and losers from Packers’ Week 2 tie with Vikings | Packers Wire While the refs clearly show up in the "losers" category, it's also worth noting that a pair of veteran defensive backs -- Davon House and Kentrell Brice -- both had awful games. Vikings-Packers tie will have major NFC North, NFL playoff implications - SBNation.com We'll look at this a little more closely this week, but the fact that this game ended in a tie means that the week 12 matchup on Sunday night after Thanksgiving very well could be the deciding factor in the division -- and maybe a first-round bye. Vikings' Carlson on OT misses: 'I let my team down' - NFL.com Carlson missed all three of his attempts in the game, from 48, 49, and finally 35 yards. It was a surprise, given Carlson's solid track record in college, but it's clearly an issue with his confidence, as he indicated. Dozens of flights delayed after suspicious car abandoned at Sky Harbor | AZCentral.com Lesson learned: don't leave your car idling in the dropoff area at an airport to help your significant other check in, because you might end up getting the bomb squad brought in and delaying flights across the entire airport.<doc-sep>It’s the first installment of the Border Battle on Sunday, as the Minnesota Vikings will travel to Lambeau Field to take on Aaron Rodgers (and the rest of the Green Bay Packers, too, I suppose). Both of these teams are 1-0, so the winner will be taking an early edge in the race for the NFC North division crown. So, how can you follow all of the action from Lambeau Field on Sunday afternoon? Well, that’s what we’re here to help you figure out. Television Info This all-NFC battle will be aired on FOX, which is KMSP-9 in the Twin Cities, with kickoff scheduled for noon Central time. If you’re outside of the Twin Cities area and are wondering if your local affiliate will be carrying the contest, here is the coverage map from 506 Sports. The Vikings/Packers game is shown in red. If you’re looking for this one on your DirecTV Sunday Ticket package, you can find in on Channel 711. The play-by-play team this week will be the same as last week, with Charles Davis and Kevin Burkhardt manning the booth. I still don’t have a decent site for Canadian television listings, so no insight on where to see this one north of the border. My apologies. If anyone has a decent source, please pass it along. For our friends in the United Kingdom, it doesn’t appear that the game will be shown on any of the usual networks that you can find the NFL on. Kickoff is at 6:00 PM UK time, and your best bet is likely going to be on NFL Game Pass. For our men and women in uniform overseas, this game will, surprisingly, be shown live on the American Forces Network, and specifically on AFN Sports 2. Kickoff time is set for 1800Z, which means a 1900L kickoff for viewers in Central Europe, 2130L for everyone in Afghanistan, and Monday morning at 0200L for fans in Japan and Korea. Radio Info If you’re not going to be anywhere near a television for this one, you’ll be able to hear the call from Paul Allen and Pete Bercich on the Vikings Radio Network. That link goes to a list of Vikings Radio Network affiliates across the Upper Midwest. See if yours will be carrying the game. There are a couple of other places you can find it online as well, including the TuneIn radio service as well as the KFAN site (if you’re on a desktop or laptop computer only. . .it won’t work on phones or tablets). If you’re going to be listening via satellite radio, you can have the Vikings’ feed on Sirius Channel 99. If you have an XM radio, you’re going to be stuck with the Packers’ feed on Channel 225. If you’re using the SiriusXM Online App, the Vikings’ permanent home there is Channel 819. Referee Info Per the good folks at Football Zebras, the officiating crew for Sunday’s contest will be led by Tony Corrente. Corrente was the head referee for one Vikings’ game in 2017, as he officiated the team’s 30-23 victory over the Detroit Lions at Ford Field on Thanksgiving Day. Weather Info Well, hey, look at that! It’s an outside game! That means we need to take a serious look at the weather forecast with our friends at WeatherNation. From the looks of the forecast, it might be a bit of a warm one on the other side of the border, with the temperature at kickoff time of about 80 degrees and holding steady at that mark throughout the game. Winds will be coming out of the southeast at 5-10 miles an hour. Streaming Info There are several legal subscription services that are available in order to stream the game legally. Among them are Fubo.tv, USTVNow, and Sling TV. If you’re overseas, your best bet is going to be NFL GamePass. Since it has recently been brought up, I want to make it perfectly clear that streams from Reddit or other places are not. . .I repeat, not. . .legal. If you’d like to argue about that, you can argue it somewhere else, because the moderators won’t listen to that garbage. Until Reddit, or anywhere else, has a deal with the National Football League, those streams are illegal and not welcome to be put up on this site. If you want to use them, go find them on your own and don’t be plastering them in the comments section here unless you’d rather not be in the comments of the Game Thread. . .or any other thread. . .here at DN. That should be all of the information you need in order to keep track of all the action from U.S. Bank Stadium between the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers on Sunday afternoon. We’ll have our Open Thread for the first quarter up about an hour before kickoff or so, and we hope that you’ll join us here for all of the fun!<doc-sep>Well, that was certainly...something. The Week 2 game between the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers had just about everything. All three phrases on both sides of the ball had a roller coaster ride on Sunday afternoon. There were blocked kicks, missed kicks, terrible penalties, missed penalties, amazing passes, awful drops, incredible catches, and crushing heartbreaks for fans of both teams. There were enough intertwining storylines to fill a dozen tomes of football annals all crammed into three hours and 37 minutes at Lambeau Field. The takes extracted from this game will fill the sports radio airwaves for days to come. The only thing the game didn’t have? A victor. While both teams had numerous chances to win the game that they’ll be kicking themselves over (pun intended) on Monday, the game ended in a 29-29 deadlock. It was easily one of the most bizarre chapters in the storied Border Battle rivalry’s history. While we could easily expand our weekly list to twenty plays in recapping this crazy back-and-forth affair, we’re going to try and whittle down the absurdity and insanity to the five biggest plays from yesterday’s action. Play 1: Vikings ball, 4th & 16 at the Minnesota 15. First quarter, 7:33 remaining. M. Wile punt is BLOCKED by G. Allison , Center-K.McDermott, RECOVERED by GB-J. Jackson at MIN -1. TOUCHDOWN. The first score of the game was an omen for how awful the Vikings’ kicking game would be on Sunday. It appeared that Anthony Harris incorrectly diagnosed where the pressure was coming from right before the snap, because Geronimo Allison came through unabated to block Matt Wile’s punt. Josh Jackson snagged the ball in the end zone and suddenly it was 7-0 Packers halfway through the first quarter. The sudden touchdown for the opposition felt a lot like the pick six in last year’s NFC Championship Game—a deflating blow that the Vikings might not be able to recover from. Thankfully, the Vikings kept fighting despite this play launching them into catch-up mode for the majority of the contest. It was a wild way to start the scoring. But if only we knew just how wild it was about to get... Play 2: Vikings ball, 1st & 10 at the Minnesota 25. Fourth quarter, 2:13 remaining. (Shotgun) K. Cousins pass short middle intended for L. Treadwell INTERCEPTED by H.Clinton-Dix at MIN 37. H.Clinton-Dix to MIN 13 for 24 yards (D.Cook, T.Compton). Skipping all the way from the first score of the game to the final minutes of regulation is truly doing this game an injustice, as there were some incredible plays in between that deserved to be documented: We had Laquon Treadwell’s first (and possibly last) touchdown as a Viking. We had Davante Adams breaking the ankles of Xavier Rhodes and Anthony Barr as he waltzed into the end zone. We had Ben Gedeon making a great pass defense downfield against Jimmy Graham, but probably starting said defense a bit too early. We saw the referees call subtle push-offs on Packers pass catchers while largely ignoring some blatant holds by their offensive linemen. We had Daniel Carlson shank a field goal just after the two-minute warning, followed by Eric Kendricks called for what would turn out to be only the second worst roughing the passer call of the game, leading to Mason Crosby giving the Packers giving a ten point lead at the halftime whistle. We had Stefon Diggs make an incredible grab on a low throw for a short touchdown after leaving Tramon Williams in the dust with his pre-snap motion. We had Aaron Rodgers “heroically” scrambling away from pressure and making sure everyone knew how bad his knee hurt by doing an exaggerated limp only after going out of bounds. We had Everson Griffen spearhead a huge third down stop to force a field goal and keep the Vikings within striking distance halfway through the fourth quarter. We had Kirk Cousins throw a gorgeous pass over 60 yards in the air to Diggs to get the Vikings back within two. But the last twelve-plus minutes of this game were so unhinged that we simply have to gloss over all of that and get to the really important stuff. Like this interception that went directly through Treadwell’s hands and seemingly sealed the game for Green Bay. After the Vikings defense held Green Bay to Mason Crosby’s fourth field goal of the game to keep within one score, this is what happened on the very first play of the ensuing drive. It was the play that made me officially throw in the towel on any lingering hope I had for the third year receiver. Ok NOW I'm officially done with Laquon Treadwell. — Eric Thompson (@eric_j_thompson) September 16, 2018 The Vikings have seemingly started to agree on Monday, signing Aldrick Robinson to a deal. Unfortunately, they weren’t done with him during the game, as they threw to him on back-to-back plays in the ensuing overtime...but we’re getting a bit ahead of ourselves here. There is lots of craziness left in regulation to cover. Play 3: Vikings ball, 1st & 10 at the Minnesota 25. Fourth quarter, 1:45 remaining. (Shotgun) K.Cousins pass short right intended for S.Coley INTERCEPTED by J. Alexander at MIN 23. J.Alexander to MIN 18 for 5 yards (G.Iloka). PENALTY on GB-C. Matthews , Roughing the Passer, 15 yards, enforced at MIN 25 - No Play. Even after Treadwell’s boner (stop giggling—I’m using the word correctly here), the Vikings defense once again held firm and held Green Bay to a field goal. Somehow, it was still a one score game with just under two minutes remaining. Once again, an interception on the first play of the drive seemed to negate all hope for Vikings fans. But wait! Someone touched the quarterback! For the second straight week, Clay Matthews gave the opposing team new life with a roughing the passer penalty! But unlike the opening week in Chicago, where Matthews obviously hit Mitchell Trubisky too late, this one was...well, it was a bad call.<doc-sep>It didn’t happen immediately, but the Minnesota Vikings eventually took advantage of the Green Bay Packers losing talented second-year cornerback Kevin King to a groin injury on Sunday at Lambeau Field. King left after playing 26 snaps in the first half. In the fourth quarter, the Packers pass defense cracked, punctuated by a 75-yard touchdown from Kirk Cousins to Stefon Diggs with Davon House – King’s backup – trailing in coverage. Coach Mike McCarthy said the Packers are still assessing King’s injury and could have an update by midweek. Teams must present the first injury report of the week on Wednesday. “I’ll have a better gauge on Kevin’s injury, probably by the middle of the week,” McCarthy said. “Once we get a better gauge on how serious it is, we’ll just deal with it.” McCarthy also said his team didn’t respond well to King’s departure. “We’re different when he’s in there,” McCarthy said. House played 23 snaps in place of King. Rookies Jaire Alexander and Josh Jackson played 56 and 37 snaps, respectively. Cousins finished with 425 passing yards and four touchdown passes in the 29-29 tie at Lambeau Field.<doc-sep>
Everson Griffen mumbled an expletive as he walked to his locker after the game. Eric Kendricks, normally a social guy, spoke in short, pained sentences. “This feels terrible, honestly,” the Vikings’ linebacker told The MMQB. “It’s weird. We play for wins. This is my first tie ever. In my life.” Across the stadium, things weren’t going much better in Green Bay’s locker room. “It crushed us just knowing that we did a good job out there and it just sucks that we don’t have [the win],” said Packers linebacker Nick Perry. “I look at it as a loss because we didn't get the win. It’s a different feeling knowing that you didn't really win or lose a game, it’s a stalemate.” Sunday’s Week 2 game between the two NFC North favorites had it all—Aaron Rodgers scrambling for a first down on one good leg, two controversial roughing-the-passer penalties, four total missed field goals, a blocked punt for a touchdown, a 75-yard touchdown and an overtime period. Well, everything except a winner and a loser. Get the full Sunday breakdown from Andy Benoit and Gary Gramling on The Monday Morning NFL Podcast. Subscribe to The MMQB Podcasts now and it will be in your feed first thing Monday morning One Vikings player was a little more easygoing about the 29–29 tie, given the overall weirdness of the game. “This was just a fun game altogether,” said defensive tackle Linval Joseph. “You got a chance to see both sides of it—[behind the Packers], come back, overtime, tie. I’ve been playing football for awhile and this is my first time I’ve ever experienced something like this.” “After all the crazy stuff that went on today, I was like, you know what, maybe this [tie] is what it’s supposed to be,” Joseph said. Despite not practicing all week with an “unusual” knee injury sustained in last week’s comeback win over the Bears, Rodgers was declared active on Sunday and played the entire game. He wore a large brace on his left knee, proving to be more mobile than he was last week when he played immediately after getting hurt. On second-and-seven in the Packers second drive of the first quarter, Rodgers scrambled up the middle for a first down. It wasn’t pretty, but it got the job done, and showed the Vikings defense that he wasn’t just going to sit in the pocket all day. The Packers QB ended the day completing 30 of 42 pass attempts for 253 yards. Rodgers worked exclusively from shotgun or pistol, like he did last week, in order to accommodate his knee and encourage quick throws to avoid the Vikings pass rush. But the Packers quarterback showed a glimpse of his mortal side this week. He was sacked three times for 21 yards, the first of which he leaned into, going down to protect his knee before he was actually hit, which minimized the force of the sack itself. The old Rodgers, the one with two good legs, would typically try everything possible to avoid that sack. And in overtime, Rodgers had an uncharacteristic fumble on second-and-one. He faked a handoff to Jamal Williams and was pulling the ball back when he dropped the ball and fell on it to recover. “If I pull that one without fumbling it—Jamaal didn’t know I was fumbling it, he was trying to grab it for a bit—but if I had been stronger in pulling it, both the end and Harrison Smith were flying over the top. I’m definitely getting a first down and we’re inside 50-yard field goal range, so that’s disappointing.” In his post-game press conference, Rodgers said he hopes to keep playing all season and that his knee won’t continue to be an issue, but also admitted it’s not going to be cured overnight. “We’ll see,” he said. “It’s the type of thing that could linger for awhile. Kirk Cousins’s First Vikings Moment, A Bortles Day as Jaguars Put the AFC on Notice, Fitzpatrick on Verge of Ending the Jameis Winston Era in Tampa, Browns Can’t Kick Losing On the Vikings side of the ball, Kirk Cousins and the offense were fortunate to get a roughing-the-passer call on Clay Matthews late in the fourth quarter, which negated a Cousins’ interception and extended that game-tying drive. Later in that drive Cousins dropped a dime in a teensy window to a double-covered Adam Thielen at the right pylon to bring the Vikings within two points.