Passage: With both teams coming off of wins, the 2-1 Green Bay Packers will travel to Minneapolis, Minnesota to face the 3-0 Minnesota Vikings in a Monday Night Football showdown. The Vikings will be led by starting quarterback Brett Favre. The game started with the Packers in possession. After the offense moved the ball consistently down field down to the Minnesota 24-yard line, but Aaron Rodgers was then sacked by two Vikings defenders for a 9-yard loss and fumbled the football. The ball was recovered by Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway at the Vikings 33-yard line. After the turnover, Brett Favre took to the field clad in purple. The Vikings too seemed to also be able to move the ball just as effectively with multiple short runs by running back Adrian Peterson and throws by Brett Favre. The Vikings finally capped the 12-play, 67-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown pass short left from Brett Favre to tight end Visanthe Shiancoe. With the score, the Vikings took the early 7-0 lead. The Packers then took to the field looking to make up for the turnover on their first possession of the game. On 3rd and 5 after an incompletion to Greg Jennings and a 5-yard run by fullback John Kuhn, Aaron Rodgers fired a pass to second year tight end Jermichael Finley deep middle in which he caught around the Vikings 35-yard line and then ran the ball the rest of the way into the end zone for a Packers 62-yard touchdown. With the extra point the game was now tied 7-7. The Vikings took to the field again, but after two incompletions and a completion for a 5-yard loss the Vikings were forced to punt. The Packers then took over at the Minnesota 43-yard line. The Packers again managed to move the ball quite effectively against the Vikings defense but like the first drive of the game, the drive ended with a turn over. This time it was an attempted short right pass to Greg Jennings from Aaron Rodgers that was intercepted by Antoine Winfield at the Vikings 23-yard line. Similar to the last drive after the Packers turned over the ball, the Vikings managed to move the ball effortlessly down to the Packers 14-yard line in which Brett Favre then connected with wide receiver Sidney Rice for Favre's second touchdown strike against the Packers. With the score the Vikings retook the lead at 14-7. The Packers then took to the field looking again to make up for another costly turnover, but the offense failed to move the ball and Aaron Rodgers was sacked on 3rd down forcing the Packers to punt. The Packers would level the score though on the Vikings next offensive play of the game. Vikings running back Adrian Peterson ran wide left and was stacked up behind the line of scrimmage. While he was being stopped, Packers rookie linebacker Clay Matthews ripped the ball away from Peterson and returned the ball untouched 42 yards for the Packers tying touchdown at 14-14. On the Vikings next possession looking to retake the lead, Favre and company compiled together a drive highlighted by a 43-yard pass from Brett Favre to Percy Harvin down to the Packers 3-yard line. On the next play, Favre dropped back to pass and the ball was intercepted by Packers cornerback Charles Woodson in the center of the end zone but the play was nullified by a defensive pass interference call paired with a defensive offside penalty. The pass inference penalty was accepted and the ball was placed on the Packers 1-yard line. On the next play Vikings running back Adrian Peterson rushed up the middle for the score to give the Vikings a 21-14 lead. The Packers took over with little time remaining but still attempted to put points on the board. After a 14-yard pass to Greg Jennings down to the Vikings 48-yard line, Aaron Rodgers took the team's final timeout with 1 second remaining. On the final play of the half Rodgers tossed a deep ball into a group of players the right corner of the end zone but the ball fell incomplete ending the half 21-14 in favor of the Vikings. The Vikings received the ball at the start of the second half, and managed to still move the ball effectively against the Packers defense that was getting virtually no pressure on Brett Favre. On second and ten at the Green Bay 44-yard line, Brett Favre connected with Jeff Dugan to the Green Bay 31 for 25 yards and then capped the drive with a 31-yard strike to receiver Bernard Berrian deep left for a touchdown to extend the Vikings lead to 28-14. The Packers then took to the field and managed to move the ball down field highlighted by a 24-yard pass to Donald Driver and a 20-yard pass to Ryan Grant down to the Minnesota 5-yard line setting the team up first and goal at the Vikings 5-yard line. On first down Ryan Grant ran up the middle for a four-yard gain. On second down the Packers tried a trick play that looked like a run wide right for Grant, but Rodgers handed the ball off to fullback John Kuhn who ran up the middle but the Vikings were not fooled and Kuhn's attempt to score a touchdown was stopped when his knee hit down at the line of scrimmage before lunging into the endzone. On third down, Rodgers connected with tight end Jermichael Finley who ran an out route to the right, but was tackled right after the reception at the line of scrimmage by Vikings linebacker Ben Leber for no gain. The Packers then choose to go for it on fourth down rather than settling the field goal. On the play, Rodgers looked right, then back left and passed to Packers tight end Donald Lee short middle, but Lee failed to catch the pass resulting in loss of downs and the Vikings took over possession at their 1-yard line. On the Vikings next drive that continued on into the final quarter of play, the Vikings managed to move the ball out of their own end zone down to their own 37-yard line, but the drive stalled on a 5-yard completed screen pass short of the first down marker on 3rd and 10. The Packers took over at their own 15-yard line, and Rodgers was sacked on first down. On second down Ryan Grant ran up the middle for 10 yards making up for the lost yardage on the sack and more. The drive came to an end though on the next play when quarterback Aaron Rodgers pretended to walk toward the sideline and the ball was directly snapped to backup running back DeShawn Wynn. Wynn managed to gain 6 yards on 3rd and 7, but falling a yard short on the trick play the Packers were forced to punt. The Viking offense then took to the field again, but the Packers defense held the Vikings on third down and they too were forced to punt. After another stellar punt by Vikings punter Chris Kluwe, the Packers were again pinned deep in their own end at their own 1-yard line. After two unsuccessful plays for no gain on first and second down, Aaron Rodgers was sacked by Jared Allen at the goal line and fumbled the football. The ball was recovered by the Vikings, but the ruling on the field was challenged by the Packers that the ground had caused the fumbled. The ruling on the field was then changed to a safety rather than giving the Vikings the ball at the Packers 1-yard line and the Vikings extended their lead to 30-14. After the safety the Packers kicked off and the Vikings took over at their 40-yard line.The Packers managed to again hold the Vikings defense to a three and out and the ball was punted back to the Packers. On the Packers next possession, Ryan Grant started off the drive with a 15-yard run, and Jermichael Finley caught a 37-yard pass from Rodgers two plays later. Three plays later after an 11-yard rush by Aaron Rodgers and an incomplete pass, Rodgers connected with second year wide receiver Jordy Nelson for a 33-yard touchdown strike. After a failed two-point conversion pass to Ryan Grant the Vikings lead was decreased to 30-20. The Packers then tried a failed onside kick and the Vikings took over the ball with 3:39 remaining in the game, but due to poor clock management by the Vikings they were held to a three and out and only had run 29 seconds off of the game clock after the punt. The Packers took over at their own 18-yard line with 3:10 remaining in the contest. On first play of the drive, Rodgers connected with Donald Driver for 10 yards which with the reception tied Sterling Sharpe's club career high receptions total with 595. On third and 12 at their own 26-yard line, Rodgers hit James Jones in the middle of the field in which he then took the ball to the Minnesota 40 for 34 yards. Five plays later after Rodgers threw the ball away on third down, Mason Crosby converted a 31-yard field goal to decrease the Vikings lead to 30-23. The Packers attempted their second onside kick of the game with 55 seconds remaining, but the kick was again recovered by the Vikings ending all chances of a comeback. The Vikings then lined up in the victory formation and ran out the clock to defeat the Packers 30-23. During the contest, Packers return specialist Will Blackmon suffered a season ending knee injury. With the loss, the Packers go into their bye week with a 2-2 record sitting in third place in the NFC North behind the 4-0 Minnesota Vikings and the 3-1 Chicago Bears.
Output: how many points did Minnesota face?