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Case Keenum vs. Brett Hundley is not the quarterbacking marquee to lure the masses off the couch but here we were defining the latest Vikings-Packers border battle by this unlikely clash of back-ups.
Anthony Barr flattened Aaron Rodgers like a human rolling pin on Green Bay’s second possession and chased the megastar to the locker room with a broken collarbone. The linebacker also smashed conventional wisdom about how Sunday’s NFC North showdown would play out at U.S. Bank Stadium, and how the division will be decided in the second half of the season.
The Vikings’ scruffy 23-10 win was their second straight in the division. It also signaled they are down for the alley fight this race is shaping up to be, with Rodgers out indefinitely, the Bears rebuilding and the unpredictable Detroit Lions mired in their perpetual identity crisis.
The NFC North is anyone’s for the taking, and the supposedly hexed Vikings might emerge in January with the flag between their teeth after all.
“We’re focused on us,” insisted defensive end Everson Griffen. “We’re not worried about the division. We’re worried about how we compete, how we come together. That’s our No. 1 focus. It’s nobody else.”
“Ah, the media darling,” coach Mike Zimmer said proudly as he strolled past the postgame media scrum at Smith’s locker.
“I thought Harrison played great,” Zimmer proffered later for the official record. “He’s smart, he’s tough, he’s physical, he’s instinctive. That was a play they’d run against us in the past. He saw it and made a good play.”
Harry the Hitman contributed 1 1/2 sacks, two quarterback hits and a pair of pass breakups, swarming the football and punishing anyone with their hands on it. He led another ferocious Vikings’ defensive performance.
The unit bullied its way to four sacks and three interceptions, elevating its stature among the NFL’s best with each week’s dominance.
No telling how long Keenum’s pixie dust will last. He was very erratic early and threw his first interception for Minnesota. But he never wavered, made big plays with his legs and strengthened his bond with clutch receiver Adam Thielen.
Keenum improved to 3-2 as a starter in place of Sam Bradford, who for all we know is visiting NASA to have his balky left knee injected with moon dust to treat what appears to be a chronic issue with his twice surgically reconstructed appendage.
There even was a Laquon Treadwell sighting. He surfaced from purgatory to make three receptions, including a dandy one-handed snare that reminded forsaken fans why the Vikings spent a first-round draft choice on him.
They created their own breaks Sunday, including one very big one on Rodgers.
It is up to the Vikings to pull away from the rest of the pack and take an NFC North that is up for grabs.
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