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GB-MIN Grades: Packers bottle up Peterson

Green Bay Packers' Clay Matthews celebrates after sacking Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith during the second half of an NFL football game Monday, Sept. 28, 2015, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Here are the top takeaways and highest-graded players from the Packers’ 30-13 win over the Vikings:

Green Bay Packers

– This wasn’t the cleanest game for the Packers offense as QB Aaron Rodgers (+0.7) often looked out of sync with his receivers and misfired on a number of throws as well, notably at 7:43 of the first quarter, while his defense did much of the heavy lifting. He particularly struggled to connect with Randall Cobb with seven targets resulting in just two catches and 24 yards. Otherwise, Rodgers delivered a couple of big time throws to James Jones, who caught six of nine targets, and when pressured, he was outstanding with a +3.2 passing grade on those plays.

– DE Mike Daniels continued his string of monster games, pressuring Teddy Bridgewater five times and sacking him once while providing a steep challenge for LG Brandon Fusco (-2.9). Daniels beat Fusco for a tackle for loss on the team’s second defensive snap (1Q, 14:40), and he later added two more run stops, pushing his run defense grade to the top of the 3-4 DE rankings, while his overall grade trails only JJ Watt at the position.

– RB Eddie Lacy avoided his fifth straight game at -1.0 or below with his best rushing grade of the season (+2.6) after breaking four tackles and gaining 100 yards on 22 carries. He was particularly strong running to the left B-gap and wider, gaining more than eight yards per carry on those rushes. But much of his success was in spite of poor blocking – the Packer offense combined for a -5.0 run blocking grade, while Lacy gained 76 of his 100 rushing yards after contact.

Top performers:

DE Mike Daniels (+3.8)
DE Datone Jones (+2.5)
RB Eddie Lacy (+2.0)
CB Casey Heyward (+1.8)
WR James Jones (+1.8)

Minnesota Vikings

– The Vikings were playing from behind for the final three quarters of the game, and that made for a tough afternoon for QB Teddy Bridgewater (+0.1 passing), who saw pressure on close to 60% of his 47 dropbacks. He was terrific when given a clean pocket, compiling a +1.3 grade on those plays, but the otherwise constant pressure, coupled with Bridgewater’s risk-averse game (24 of his 32 aimed passes came within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage), made it difficult to mount a comeback.

– Despite some great rushing by Eddie Lacy, the Vikings defensive front mostly controlled the line of scrimmage, particularly tackles Sharrif Floyd and Linval Joseph. All three of Floyd’s tackles counted as defensive stops, including his play to beat LG Josh Sitton at the start of the third quarter, which resulted in a season-high +3.1 run defense grade. Joseph likewise added three stops with multiple wins against Sitton and center J.C Tretter at the point of attack.

– CB Xavier Rhodes lost James Jones deep on a scramble drill at 1:27 of the third quarter, but the rest of his day was good enough to secure just his second positive grade this season. Rhodes spent more than 40 snaps in coverage but saw just two more passes go his way for 12 yards to Jones and Davante Adams, while Aaron Rodgers more frequently targeted Captain Munnerlyn (-0.8) and
Terrence Newman (-0.1).

Top performers:

DE Brian Robison (+3.2)
DT Sharrif Floyd (+2.8)
C Joe Berger (+2.4)
CB Xavier Rhodes (+1.9)
DT Linval Joseph (+1.7)

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