Minnesota Vikings vs Green Bay Packers Match Player Stats On Jan 05, 2013

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Jan 5, 2013

Packers 24, Vikings 10: Aaron Rodgers passed for 274 yards and a touchdown and the Green Bay defense forced three turnovers of visiting Minnesota in a dominating performance to advance to the divisional round in the NFC playoffs.

Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder was ruled out with an elbow injury after pregame warmups and backup Joe Webb, who had not thrown a pass all season, went 11-of-30 for 180 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Adrian Peterson picked up 99 yards on 22 carries for Minnesota.

John Kuhn rushed for a touchdown and caught another for the Packers, who will travel to San Francisco to face the second-seeded 49ers next Saturday night.

Webb managed 22 yards passing in the first half while Green Bay took control. DuJuan Harris capped an 11-play drive with a 9-yard touchdown run to give the Packers the lead with 33 seconds left in the first quarter and Kuhn’s 3-yard run with 42 seconds left in the second made it a 17-3 gap at the break.

Green Bay got the ball to start the third quarter and looked like it would settle for a field goal before the Vikings were called for having 12 men on the field, giving the Packers another chance. Rodgers cashed that in with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Kuhn.

Minnesota, which earned its spot in the playoffs with a 37-34 home win over Green Bay in Week 17, would not find the end zone until a blown coverage allowed Michael Jenkins and Webb to hook up for a 50-yard touchdown with 3:49 left.

Sam Shields made an interception on the sideline and Clay Matthews sacked Webb on a fourth down play, forced a fumble and recovered it, to highlight the defense.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Packers lost to San Francisco at home in Week 1, 30-22. … Greg Jennings led Green Bay’s receiving corps with four catches for 61 yards. Rodgers completed passes to 10 different receivers. … Peterson had totaled 409 rushing yards in two regular season games against the Packers.