Vikings beat undermanned Packers to finish above .500

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. They looked very much like a team 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’s going to sting watching the playoffs,” O’Connell said. “The fact that our team was able to focus through a time where, quite honestly, maybe some other teams wouldn’t do that I think it says a lot about our group.”

The closing stretch for the Vikings featured wins over the Washington Commanders, the Dallas Cowboys, the New York Giants, the Detroit Lions, and finally, the Packers.

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 much 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.

Asked about the right hand injury, McCarthy emphasized that it was an incredibly hard decision for him to make in real time. It ultimately came down to the fact that he was struggling to grip the ball due in part to the hairline fracture.

“It killed me to pull myself out; I’ve never done that before,” McCarthy said. “I had to do what was best for the team.”

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.

“My emotions are still all over the place,” Ham said. “I’m just extremely grateful.”

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 he subbed out during a timeout in what could be the final game of his career.

“It’s special,” Smith said. “I don’t take it for granted.”

The game itself didn’t feature much action as the Vikings scored their points via the 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 got their flowers with the camera operate behind the big screen essentially alternating back and forth between them while the home crowd gave respective curtain calls that were very much deserved.

Asked after the game about that moment, O’Connell said he was actually going to put Smith and Ham in the victory formation had the Vikings gotten the ball back on offense. That was maybe the only regret from an otherwise perfectly executed sendoff.

“They will be players that I will value forever,” O’Connell said. “I’m so fortunate to come to work and have those guys on our team.”

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 both in the present and in the future.

As disappointing as it is to miss the playoffs on a journey that once upon a time started with Super Bowl aspirations, the adversity that defined this season for the Vikings could end up making them better down the road.

That’s the hope at least from everybody that dug in and found a way to get the train back on the tracks.

“I learned that lot of the invisible things that have kind of been build up matter,” O’Connell said. “We leaned on those in some really tough moments and these guys persevered and found a way to win five straight games.”

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