There was a time roughly a month ago when it felt like the Vikings might not win another game this season. They had just been shutout by the Seattle Seahawks on the road. They boasted a 4-8 record at the time. They looked very much like a group with no direction.
It was at that moment that head coach Kevin O’Connell issued a challenge to his players in the locker room. He asked them to focus on simply trying to go 1-0 each week, even if he knew the playoffs were virtually an impossibility at that point.
As cliche as the request might have been, the Vikings responded by winning every game the rest of the way, capping a frustrating campaign with a 16-3 win over the Green Bay Packers to finish with a 9-8 record.
It wasn’t exactly an impressive win for the Vikings considering the Packers rested a bulk of their starters with their position in the playoffs already set in stone. That said, the Vikings left very little doubt, jumping out to an early lead and never looking back.
Though the offense didn’t necessarily provide anything to write home about — quarterback J.J. McCarthy completed 14 of 23 passes for 182 yards before leaving the game early with a right hand injury — the defense dominated against mostly backups on the other end.
The highlight of the game was undoubtedly veteran fullback C.J. Ham scoring a touchdown in what could be the final game of his career. He’s hinted that he will consider retirement once this season comes to an end.
Some other notable anecdotes included star receiver Justin Jefferson eclipsing 1,000 yards, edge rusher Dallas Turner finishing with a pair of sacks, and veteran safety Harrison Smith getting a standing ovation in what could be the final game of his career.
The game itself didn’t feature much action as the Vikings scored their points via a touchdown run by Ham and a trio of field goals from star kicker Will Reichard. That was more than enough run support as the Packers struggled to generate any sort of offense with reserve quarterback Clayton Tune completing 6 of 11 passes for a mere 34 yards.
As the final seconds ticked off the clock, Smith and Ham both got their flowers with the big screen essentially alternating back and forth while the home crowd gave each of them respective curtain calls.
It was a reminder that while the game itself was rather meaningless on the surface, it still carried a lot of weight for the Vikings in the present and in the future.
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