The Green Bay defense and the ground game were the keys to the Packers’ 23-6 victory over the rival Minnesota Vikings at Lambeau Field.
Emanuel Willson stepped into the number 1 running back role with Josh Jacobs out with a knee injury, and took advantage of the opportunity.
He rushed for 107 of Green Bay’s 146 yards and both touchdowns while taking the most handoffs a single Packer rusher has all season.
Wilson said that his approach to the game was exactly the same, despite knowing that Jacobs was going to be out.
“I approached today just like it’s another game,” he explained. “It was my first start since college, so I had to go out there and take advantage of it.”
A lot of those rushing yards came on runs inside.
Center Sean Rhyan chuckled when recalling the success he and his two guards had on the day, saying, “It was one of those games where we kinda found what was working and just stuck with it. Caught that groove.”
Left Guard Aaron Banks called the win a full team effort.
“All three phases had a good game,” he noted. “Special teams got us the ball back, defense got us the ball back and shut them down, and we were able to answer on offense.”
On Rhyan’s right side, Jordan Morgan and Rookie Anthony Belton split time in the first half, but in the second half, the right guard spot belonged to Belton.
Rhyan praised his work, saying he “stepped up well in the second half,” especially since he was drafted as a tackle.
Belton told us he did take reps at the position in practice over the past couple of weeks, so this wasn’t a big surprise for him.
“I feel like the more reps I get, the more comfortable I get,” he explained. “It’s definitely different from tackle, but if I’m playing football, I’m good.”
Also involved in the blocking scheme was Wide Receiver Christian Watson, who was motioned inside on both short TD runs.
Watson downplayed the physicality he brings to the run game, saying “(Emanual Wilson) and Josh (Jacobs) and all those running backs do a lot to get us open when we are going downfield, so it’s just another part of the game.”
Defensively, Micah Parsons was a force, accounting for 2 of the Packers’ 5 sacks on the day, while being directly responsible for another which pinned the Vikings down at their own 1 yard line.
One guy who benefits from Parsons’ dominating play is D-Tackle Colby Wooden.
“Micah, he opens it up,” Wooden explained. “(Devonte Wyatt) was able to get two (sacks), (Rashan Gary) was able to get that thing going, we feed off of one a other. It’s not just one person you got to key in on. We have a dominant D-line.”
On the back end, second-year Safety Evan Williams secured his second interception in as many games when the pass rush caused Viking QB J.J. McCarthy to overthrow a ball, right into the hands of #33.
“’ Good heavens. Thank you lord, is what I was thinking,” he said with a smile. “It feels good when we’ve got the rush to force errant throws like that. I know, in those situations, especially when you’ve got a young quarterback, something’s got to break.”
Linebacker Isaiah McDuffie also got an interception, thanks to the dominant pass rush the Packers put together in the win.
The Packers improved to 7-3-1 with the win, and will continue their tour of the NFC North next week as they travel to Detroit for a week one rematch with the Lions.
Detroit is also coming off of a win, having to come from behind to take down the New York Giants 34-27 in overtime.
