The Green Bay Packers used two rushing touchdowns from Aaron Jones and an utterly dominant performance from Za’Darius Smith and the rest of Mike Pettine’s defense to beat the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night, a victory that clinches the NFC North title for Matt LaFleur’s team.

It was over when …

… Kirk Cousins’ fourth-down prayer late in the fourth quarter was dropped, handing the ball back to the Packers and securing Green Bay’s 23-10 victory.

Game balls

RB Aaron Jones: He scored a 12-yard touchdown to give the Packers the lead in the third quarter and then scored a 56-touchdown to put the game away in the fourth quarter. He finished with 154 rushing yards.
OLB Za’Darius Smith: The Pro Bowl snub produced 3.5 sacks, 5 tackles for losses and five quarterback hits in one of the most dominant performances in recent memory by a Packers edge rusher.
P JK Scott: He boomed five punts, averaging 46.8 yards with two inside the 20-yard. He hit a 58-yarder and a 60-yarder.

Key Stat

127: The Packers out-rushed the Vikings by 127 yards, 184 to 57.

Quick takes

– The Green Bay Packers are the 2019 champions of the NFC North.

– The Vikings were without Dalvin Cook and Alexander Mattison, but the performance from Mike Pettine’s defense was championship-worthy. They held the Vikings to 139 total yards. Minnesota averaged 2.6 yards per play. Kirk Cousins finished with 82 net passing yards on 32 attempts.

– Za’Darius Smith wrecked everything. He should be an All-Pro. He should be in the conversation for Defensive Player of the Year, too.

– Aaron Jones fumbled on the first series, but he finished with 23 carries for 154 yards and two huge touchdowns. He now has 19 scores in 2019.

– The offense moved the football consistently, dominated time of possession and eventually wore out the Vikings defense. The Packers rushed for 184 yards and owned the line of scrimmage.

– Allen Lazard wasn’t perfect, but he made at least three big third-down catches that moved the sticks. Aaron Rodgers trusted him in a bunch of big spots, and he came through.

– Kenny Clark is going to be a very rich man soon. Vikings rookie center Garrett Bradbury will have nightmares about No. 97 for a long time.

– Davante Adams and Aaron Jones got the ball 38 times. They produced 276 total yards.

– Matt LaFleur and Mike Pettine both dialed up incredible plans. They out-coached the Vikings for most of the contest.

– There’s a chance this game ends 23-0 without the three Packers turnovers in the first half. Credit the offense for sticking with it despite the rocky start and the defense for keeping them in it the whole way.

– It took the Packers four tries, but they have a win at U.S. Bank Stadium. Celebrating a division title in Minneapolis will be extra sweet.

– Many Vikings fans exited the building early.

– Up next: The Packers go to Detroit with a chance to finish 13-3 and clinch a first-round bye (and maybe more) if they beat the Lions.