The Green Bay Packers had as good of a performance as the most confident fan would hope for against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday Night Football. The 33-10 win keeps the team in position to fight for a playoff spot, and one of the five players to watch was one of the biggest reasons for the result.

Jayden Reed

It's impressive how impactful Jayden Reed has been for a rookie, and it's a shame that he left the game after halftime with an aggravation of his chest injury. At that point, he already had six catches for 89 yards and two touchdowns, by far the Packers most effective pass catcher.

Reed is an explosive-play machine, and he had a big one in the first quarter, right after Corey Ballentine intercepted Jaren Hall. He beat deep coverage and received a beautiful throw from Jordan Love, the first Packers touchdown of the game.

Jordan Love ? Jayden Reed pic.twitter.com/FaZlaLGE8l

— PFF (@PFF) January 1, 2024

Sunday Night Football had a special record for Reed: no other rookie in Packers history has had more receptions than him.

In the second quarter, he had another important catch with pre-snap motion and a beautiful route running, showing how polished he is for a rookie. And when the Packers needed him the most, in the final seconds of the first half, he generated yards after the reception to score his second touchdown of the night.

Now, the big question is how significant the injury is, and if Reed will be able to recover in time to play the season-defining game against the Chicago Bears next week.

Elgton Jenkins

It's difficult for the offensive line to adjust blocks and angles against this Minnesota Vikings defense, but the Packers pretty much figured it all out. Jordan Love suffered some pressure eventually, but for the most part it was a clean game. And Elgton Jenkins was a big part of that.

He was effective to identify his assignments and to get good angles in the run game. When he plays well, everything becomes easier for the younger players, and that's exactly what happened on Sunday night.

Rashan Gary

It was not a particularly impactful game from Rashan Gary. He had some issues containing the edge, which is not news for him. Preston Smith ended up being more relevant, even though Gary had an important pressure on Jaren Hall to force an incompletion on third down in the first drive of the game.

Gary is yet to reach 10 sacks in the season, something he hasn't done in his NFL career, and the Packers expect more regular production from their highest-paid defender.

Sometimes, Rashan Gary explodes with amazing games, two or three pressures in a short space of time. But sometimes he can't impact the game as much as he should, and that's frustrating.

Carrington Valentine

It was not a great game by Valentine, but the defense in general had a solid plan upfront to apply pressure on Jaren Hall and Nick Mullens. That worked, but it also stressed the secondary. And when pressure didn't get home, Valentine had trouble stopping the Vikings receivers. For instance, he gave up a big connection from Hall to Justin Jefferson in the second quarter, probably Hall's best play in the game.

In the fourth quarter, though, Valentine had good coverage on Jefferson in the endzone, and veteran quarterback Nick Mullens had no chance at completing the pass.

Corey Ballentine and Keisean Nixon were more effective, even though Valentine had tough assignments throughout the game.

Anders Carlson

It was not a terrible game for the kicker, and happily for him it was not a close one-score game. But he missed another kick — this time, it was an extra point. He's missed at least one kick in eight of the last eleven games.

Carlson was drafted to be a developmental player, but it's pretty hard to develop kickers and have enough patience. There's only one kicker per team, so there's not much space for mistakes or growth. He has to be better, and fast. Otherwise, the Packers will have to look for more solid options.

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