GREEN BAY – Daniel Whelan has punted for the Packers long enough now to know what his flyers can do when given the opportunity.
After dropping a 42-yard punt inside Minnesota’s 5-yard line at the start of the third quarter, Whelan wasn’t the least bit surprised to see Green Bay safety Zayne Anderson emerging from the pile with the football in his hands.
A crafty Aussie punt mixed with Anderson driving Vikings punt returner Myles Price into the loose ball led to a critical takeaway to help the Packers secure a 23-6 win over their NFC North rivals in front of 77,991 at Lambeau Field on Sunday.
Prior to the takeaway, Green Bay was forced to punt on fourth-and-15 while clinging to a 10-6 lead. Two plays after Anderson’s recovery, Emanuel Wilson scored a 1-yard touchdown to begin a run of 13 unanswered points.
“That flipped the momentum 1,000%,” Whelan said. “You just saw the life sucked right out of Minnesota. So, I thought it was phenomenal.”
One week after earning a game ball for his monstrous 61-yard punt to help seal a 27-20 win over the New York Giants, Whelan was back in his bag against the Vikings.
The stakes were high for Green Bay coming out of halftime. The offense’s drive had just stalled at midfield after two runs lost five yards and a pass across the middle fell incomplete.
Whelan said he’d been waiting for “a good bounce” on an Aussie punt inside the 20 and finally got it with his 42-yard punt. Of course, it was still up to Anderson to apply pressure to Price, who’s averaging more than 10 yards per punt return.
Once the ball bounced once, Anderson went to work.
“Daniel’s tremendous. He’s been like that all year,” Anderson said. “For him to put the ball in the good spot, the returner was right in the way and he tried blocking me and I tried throwing him into the ball. When they do that, it’s our ball. Heck of a punt by him and doing my job out there.”
The Vikings kept things interesting in the first half behind their one-two backfield punch of Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason (15 first-half carries for 86 yards) but never established an offensive rhythm again after the muffed punt.
While Green Bay’s own running game wore down Minnesota’s defense, the Vikings’ offense went three-and-out on the three series after the giveaway while losing 27 yards (with a false start).
Things went from bad to worse midway through the fourth quarter when the Packers then intercepted J.J. McCarthy on back-to-back series. Minnesota finished with just four total yards to show for its five second-half possessions.
McCarthy completed just 12 of 19 passes for 87 yards with two INTs (34.2 passer rating) while being sacked five times among 10 quarterback hits.
There’s no question in Green Bay’s mind where that momentum started – Whelan’s punt and Anderson’s recovery.
“That punt was huge. Huge. Changed the whole momentum of the game,” said defensive lineman Micah Parsons, who had two of Green Bay’s sacks.
“At halftime, they had eight passes, five were play-action, there was one true (drop)back and we got pressure and two of them were screens. So, I was like no one is going to let us pass rush. We gotta go earn it and in the second half thanks to that punt we earned it.”
Offensively, the Packers completely took the air out of the ball after jetting out to a 17-6 lead following Wilson’s 1-yard TD run en route to dominating time of possession (37:15-22:45).
“I definitely thought that was the turning point of the game,” said receiver Christian Watson of the fumble. “To be able to get the ball in that field position, then put the points on the board, it’s demoralizing for the other team and a huge boost for our team. So, I feel like that was the biggest play of the day for sure.”
It was an all-around solid day for the Packers’ special teams unit. The Vikings’ average starting field position was their 25 compared to the Packers’ averaging start coming at their 38.
Whelan also held for veteran kicker Brandon McManus, who connected on a trio of field goals from 32, 30 and 40 yards. It was a step in the right direction for McManus, who’s been battling a nagging right quadriceps injury for the past month.
Obviously, Whelan and the punt coverage team did its job, too. The 6-foot-5, 216-pound punter averaged 47.5 yards (44.8 net) on his four punts, dropping three inside Minnesota’s 20-yard line to not only establish a new season high but also give Green Bay the upper hand in field position.
“Just trying to help out our defense,” Whelan said. “I felt like our defense was playing phenomenal today. If they have a long field, we’re definitely gonna get the ball back at some point. Just trying to help them out the best I can.”
Whelan isn’t one to take a bow but gave credit to both Anderson (a.k.a. “White Lightning”) and fellow flyer Bo Melton for containing Price to just 11 yards on the two punts he returned.
After a dominant performance against the Vikings, Whelan and Anderson hope to carry that momentum into Thursday’s Thanksgiving showdown with the Detroit Lions.
“I think we’re a very hard team to beat when we play complementary football and we have the units to do it,” Anderson said. “When our offense is rolling and our defense is rolling and our special teams is rolling, we’re dangerous. It felt good to play that complementary football today.”