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The Vikings beat the Packers in Week 4 with quick counts and notable PFF grades


The Vikings beat the Packers in Week 4 with quick counts and notable PFF grades

The Vikings raced wildly to 4-0 on Sunday, taking a 28-0 first-half lead against the opposing Packers, but narrowly held on for a 31-29 win at Lambeau Field. Sam Darnold threw three more touchdown passes, Jordan Addison had a big game in his comeback and the Vikings defense forced a season-high four takeaways to make up for some lapses in coverage during a four-TD game for Jordan Love. It was a real roller coaster ride.

As we do every week, we'll look at the Vikings' snap counts and notable PFF grades to see what we can learn from them.

Number of Vikings offensive snaps against the Packers (out of 68)

* QB Sam Darnold: 68
* C Garrett Bradbury: 68
* LG Blake Brandel: 68
* RG Ed Ingram: 68
* RT Brian O'Neill: 68
* LT Christian Darrisaw: 68
* WR Justin Jefferson: 61
* RB Aaron Jones: 56
* TE Josh Oliver: 46
* WR Jordan Addison: 45
* TE Johnny Mundt: 41
* WR Brandon Powell: 23
* WR Trent Sherfield: 22
* FB CJ Ham: 17
* WR Jalen Nailor: 14
* RB Ty Chandler: 8
* TE Robert Tonyan: 7

Addison returned to action and played two-thirds of the snaps as the Vikings' clear WR2, scoring two touchdowns on four touchdowns. Nailor, whose role increased massively in Addison's absence, played a season-low 14 snaps – fewer than Powell and Sherfield, who the Vikings value as run blockers.

Entering this game, Jones had 101 snaps to Chandler's 61, but the former Packer dominated the backfield work in his return to Green Bay. An 82 percent snap percentage and 26 touchdowns were both season highs for Jones, who was used as a workhorse in this game. It will be interesting to see if this continues. It is also noteworthy that Oliver overtook Mundt for the first time this year.

Top 5 PFF grades on offense (min. 20 snaps)

1. Jefferson – 82.7
2. Darrisaw – 81.1
3. Addison – 76.8
4. Jones – 73.2
5. Ingram – 69.5

The usual suspects are at the top of this list, with Addison also making his mark upon his return to the field. And give credit to the much-maligned Ingram, whose 68.3 pass-blocking rating was his best performance of the season. Bradbury (overall grade 68.0) also played well.

The lowest PFF grade on the Vikings' offense went to Darnold, despite his strong box score stats. He dropped an early interception among three total turnover-worthy plays. Powell and Brandel also graduated with poor grades.

Number of Vikings defensive snaps against Packers (out of 76)

* S Josh Metellus: 76
*S Harrison Smith: 76
* LB Blake Cashman: 76
* S Camryn Bynum: 70
* CB Byron Murphy Jr: 70
* OLB Andrew Van Ginkel: 63
* CB Stephon Gilmore: 62
*OLB Jonathan Greenard: 61
* DL Harrison Phillips: 46
*OLB Pat Jones II: 43
* CB Shaq Griffin: 40
* DL Jonathan Bullard: 35
* DL Jerry Tillery: 31
* DL Jihad District: 31
* LB Kamu Grugier-Hill: 26
* DL Taki Taimani: 12
*OLB Dallas Turner: 11
* DL Jalen Redmond: 7

The first thing that stands out is that Turner only played 11 snaps in his return after missing last week's game with a knee injury. The rookie's role could grow as the season progresses, but right now he's a distant fourth in the OLB rotation. Jones, who recorded the Vikings' only sack on Sunday and his fifth score of the season for the team, isn't going anywhere.

Griffin is third on the Vikings' cornerback depth chart, but he plays a valuable role and managed his first interception of the season. Murphy forced two takeaways with a pick and a punch out. And Grugier-Hill, again filling in for Ivan Pace Jr., had an INT for the second week in a row.

Top 5 PFF grades on defense (min. 20 snaps)

1. Grugier Hill – 83.8
2. Murphy – 74.1
3. Bullard – 70.5
4. Gilmore – 68.0
5. Metellus – 66.6

Will the Vikings consider keeping Grugier-Hill in the lineup to some extent once Pace is healthy, which could be the case in London this week? He's been pretty good for them the last two games, but Brian Flores' defense isn't set up to use three inside linebackers and we know how great Pace was last year. Murphy leads the Vikings defense by a wide margin in missed tackles and yards allowed in coverage (in a bad way), so it was encouraging to see him come up with two big plays in the fourth quarter. Gilmore and Metellus have been very solid all year.

Unusually, the Vikings' lowest PFF grade on defense went to Van Ginkel. He was charged with three missed tackles. Jones, Ward and Griffin also had grades below 50.

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