Minnesota Vikings: Studs and duds vs. Packers in Week 16

Stud: Jumping out to a quick start

The first stud effort from Minnesota as a whole was the fact that the Vikings were able to jump out to a quick start at home and steal some momentum early on in the contest.

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Led by its defense, Minnesota was able to steal a bulk of the momentum in the opening moments of the game and that resulted in the Vikings getting out to an early lead at home over their division rivals.

Looking back on the game, that was one of the bright spots in the opening half for Minnesota, although the Vikings would have hoped that they could have taken a bit more advantage of that momentum swing early on in the Week 16 contest to stretch their lead even more than they were able to against the Packers.

Dud: Second half production

While Minnesota was able to get out to a 10-9 lead in the first half and went into halftime with a one-point advantage, the Vikings disappeared in the second half and that allowed Green Bay to take over the game at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Minnesota ended getting outscored 14-0 for a remainder of the game and really didn’t appear to be in the game against Green Bay in the final two quarters at home to fall in Minneapolis and give up the NFC North title to the Packers.