Five extra points: Give ball to Cam Akers, fix special teams, go for it on fourth down

The Packers had 26 yards and no first downs on four three-and-outs at the 4:46 mark of the first half. Harrison Phillips slammed the first third-down door with a tackle for no gain on third-and-1. "Great call, right time," said Phillips, who stuffed 247-pound running back AJ Dillon. "I knew the center [Josh Myers] was blocking down, and the right guard [Jon Runyan] would have to turn outside. I just had to beat the center's outside hand and then tackle a really good, really big running back." Phillips had two other stops for no gain on the Vikings 1-yard line. "We bend but don't break, baby," Phillips said.

Alexander Mattison is good. Cam Akers is better, more instinctive and patient. Mattison got more touches (17-10) for the fourth time in Akers' five games as a Viking. That needs to end. Akers provided the only running spark for a team that averaged 2 yards on 31 carries. He opened the second possession with two runs for 11 yards and finished it with two runs for 9 yards and the Vikings' first rushing touchdown this season. He had four carries in the other nine possessions. "To be honest, it's very hard to catch a rhythm playing like that," Akers said. "But I'm here to do whatever they ask me. We won."

Take Jay Ward off the field-goal block team. The rookie lined up offside for the second time this season. In Week 1, the Bucs turned his penalty into a touchdown. On Sunday, the Packers used his mistake to make a 30-yard field goal after missing a 35-yarder. "Too many penalties in the kicking game," coach Kevin O'Connell said. Rookie Ivan Pace Jr.'s holding penalty turned what appeared to be a 103-yard kick return for a touchdown into first-and-10 at the Vikings 14. And kicker Greg Joseph kicked off out of bounds, handing the Packers the ball at the Green Bay 40 when they were trailing in first downs 12-0 and yards 162-15 but were down only 10-0 in points.

Facing fourth-and-1 at the Packers 24 in a scoreless game, O'Connell … attempted a 42-yard field goal!? What the new-school heck? "We talked a lot about starting fast," O'Connell said. "Just felt, at that moment, getting three points" was important. Joseph missed the try and went 1-for-3 on the day. In his past three games, Joseph is 6-for-10 on field goals and 5-for-7 on PATs. Through seven games, O'Connell went for it on fourth down 13 times (9-for-13), sixth most in the NFL. He went on to explain how he was "pretty confident in our group" to keep moving the ball. Then go for it!

Camryn Bynum said the defense didn't have a good feeling watching Kirk Cousins hop off the field with what's expected to be a season-ending torn Achilles. "As a defense, we had to focus on finishing this game," Bynum said. Nine plays later, Bynum jumped a route and broke up a pass at the goal line on fourth-and-5 from the 10 to preserve a 14-point lead with 7:15 left. "An interception would have been great, but I also knew it was fourth down," Bynum said. "Then to get two red-zone stops after Kirk went down was huge. I hope Kirk is OK. You just never know what's going to happen in the NFL."