Viktor
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- Mar 19, 2019
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The Vikings opened their 60th season at home with a 43-34 loss against the Packers Sunday absent the normally raucous atmosphere.
Minnesota struggled to pressure Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers and get off the field on defense, allowing the Packers to possess the football for 41:16.
That means the Vikings only held the pigskin for 18:44, which is a franchise low in a game, according to Elias Sports Bureau (stat tracked by the NFL since 1977). Minnesota scored on its opening drive but hit a rough patch in the second quarter.
Here are three stats that stood out:
1. Holy improbable completions, Batman!
Rodgers completed 32 of 44 passes for 364 yards and four scores. Kirk Cousins completed 19 of 25 passes for 259 yards with two scores and a costly interception.
Out of those 51 combined completions, Next Gen Stats calculated that the quarterbacks combined to complete eight of the 20 least likely passes in Week 1 (excluding the Monday Night Football double header). No other game had more than two combined passes by quarterbacks.
The completion probability takes into account air distance, air yards and receiver separation while also leveraging "other previously unrecorded metrics such as receiver distance from sideline, and more. Improbable Completions looks at passes with the lowest Completion Probability each week with a minimum of 10-plus air yards, and all scoring plays."
Rodgers was able to connect with Davante Adams, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Allen Lazard on a total of five such passes. Adam Thielen was on the receiving end of all three of the completions from Cousins.