The Minnesota Vikings narrowly escaped Lambeau Field with a 31-29 win over the Green Bay Packers in Week 4 — but it was too close for comfort for edge rusher Jonathan Greenard and many other defensive players.
“No doubt about it, we definitely… we’re treating this like a loss,” Greenard told KFAN’s “Power Trip Morning Show” on Tuesday, October 1. “We literally were not happy about how we won this past game. We left so many plays out there. We messed up so many times on our end. Just a lot of self-inflicted stuff.”
The Vikings jumped out to a 28-point lead before letting the Packers crawl back into the game. Minnesota allowed three touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
The defense appeared dominant in their previous three games, allowing the second-fewest points (10.0 per game) of any team in the league — a reminder of the vaunted defense Minnesota fielded for the first 15 quarters of this season.
“I think that’s one of the good things I noticed about this team. … We’re just going back to the drawing board and looking at ourselves in the mirror and understand, ‘Hey look, what type of team do you want to be? Do you want to be a team that’s standing there at the final dance?’ We gotta make sure that these things don’t happen,” Greenard said. “A lot of people trying to ask, ‘How do we go about this being 4-0? Or how do you deal with adversity when you’re always up against opponents?’ I feel like we shouldn’t have to be playing from behind or being in a situation where we have to be down 14 or multiple scores just to show us that we’re a good team.
“That’s the beauty of it, knowing we have a pretty good team, because no one’s satisfied about how we won.”
Jonathan Greenard Proves Vikings Right, Moving On From Danielle Hunter
Signing a four-year, $76 million deal in March, Greenard was the Vikings’ biggest free agency signing of an uncertain offseason.
The Vikings decided to move on from Kirk Cousins and Danielle Hunter in hopes of improving the roster as a whole by not awarding massive contracts to the longtime Vikings stars who sought better deals elsewhere.
It’s a gamble the Vikings have gotten right so far. Greenard ranks third with 22 pressures on the season, per Pro Football Focus. His four sacks this year tie for sixth in the league as well.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler noted that Greenard and fellow outside linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel have proved to be two of the impactful offseason additions.
“Let’s not forget about the Vikings’ reconfigured pass rush with free agent additions Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel, who have combined for seven sacks. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah deserves credit here. While Danielle Hunter left Minnesota for a free agent deal with the Texans that pays nearly $25 million per year, Minnesota reallocated that money for two impact players at nearly the same price — the Greenard and Van Ginkel deals average out to $29 million per year,” Fowler wrote on October 2. “Defensive coordinator Brian Flores is making a compelling case for another head-coaching job with his work this season, and he’s using Greenard/Van Ginkel as rocket fuel to pester quarterbacks.”
Vikings’ NFL-Leading Defense Looks Menacing for Aaron Rodgers Ahead of Week 5 Matchup
The Vikings enter Week 5 as 2.5-point favorites over the Aaron Rodgers-led New York Jets in London.
On Tuesday, October 1, Rodgers revealed on the “The Pat McAfee Show” that his knee is a “little banged up” and “swollen” following a 10-9 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday.
That’s bad news for Rodgers, who was sacked five times and hit 14 times by the Broncos defense.
Minnesota leads the NFL in pressures (69), quarterback hits (37) and sacks (17) and has blitzed more than any team in the league so far this season.
If the Vikings make Rodgers weary and hold onto the ball long enough, it should be a long day for the former Packers quarterback.
