The Minnesota Vikings pulled off arguably the most impressive comeback victory of Week 1 when they scored 22 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to beat the Green Bay Packers 39-22 at US Bank Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
With the Packers up 22-17, and with a 4th and 1 on the Vikings’ 17 yard line, Jordan Love took the ball for a quarterback sneak, running at backup nose guard; third round rookie Domonique Orange.
Despite Orange’s comparative inexperience in the league and current second-string status, he stuffed the play and forced the ball to be turned over on downs. Had Orange not made the play, the Packers would have been in prime position to score a touchdown that would have made the game 29-17.
Instead, the team went 83 yards down the field and scored to go two points up, before a fumble and interception on successive Packers drives saw Minnesota close out a 39-22 victory.
Domonique Orange Calls Packers’ QB Sneak ‘Disrespectful’
Speaking about the play, the 6’2, 322 lb behemoth said that whilst he understood why the Packers chose to go for the sneak in that position, he considered it to be “disrespectful” – and chalked the decision down to their underestimation of his prowess.
Here’s what he had to say:
“It was disrespectful. So mindset was, ya’ll are going to go take that? Alright, cool. Turnover on downs.”
“Absolutely I knew it was going to be [a sneak],” Orange said. “Fourth-and-1 and
“It was disrespectful. So mindset was, ya’ll are going to go take that? Alright, cool. Turnover on downs.” Orange said to Purple Insider’s Matthew Coller.
“Absolutely I knew it was going to be [a sneak],” Orange continued. “Fourth-and-1 and you have a rookie in front of you? If I was a quarterback, I’d try that too. But they don’t know about Big Citrus yet.”
Orange Could Become a Pillar of the Vikings’ Run Defense
Orange has yet to fully emerge from the shadows, but after an excellent training camp and preseason, any offense facing the Vikings should have him circled as a potential difference maker, especially as the season goes on.
The Iowa State product played just 22 defensive snaps on the day, amounting to 32% of the total – only fellow rookie Caleb Banks, who was picked a full two rounds ahead of Orange played fewer amongst DTs – but his impact was felt despite his limited action.
And never more than it was on that critical, tide-turning 4th and 1 stop early in the fourth quarter that set up a monster quarter for both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball against one of the league’s tougher opponents in Green Bay.
Indeed, whilst he was selected primarily as a run-stopper and space-eater, the 22 year old is not simply a one trick pony, with defensive coordinator Brian Flores having even experimented with dropping him into coverage during the preseason outing against the Baltimore Ravens last month.
The trajectory only looks to be upwards from here for the rookie nose tackle.
Vikings Rookie Speaks Out on ‘Disrespectful’ Packers Decision