MINNEAPOLIS — The Vikings tasked Kyle Rudolph with deep routes down the field on Sunday, and the tight end responded with his first career game with more than 100 receiving yards.
"I haven't really run a lot of them this year," Rudolph said. "My role can change every week, and this week my role was to make plays in the passing game."
Rudolph has frequently been tasked with blocking in the run game and with helping in pass protection, but the Vikings called his number, and Teddy Bridgewater found him.
The bulk of the yardage occurred on a career-long 47-yard touchdown that gave the Vikings a lead in the first quarter. He added a 33-yard catch to set up the Vikings second touchdown, but Minnesota fell 30-13 in the 110th Border Battle.
"I owed Teddy from last week after that drop, but it showed that he never lost trust in me, and is still going to throw to me," Rudolph said. "When my number is called in the passing game, I have to be ready to make plays."
Rudolph finished with six catches from Teddy Bridgewater for 106 yards and his fourth touchdown of the season (21st of his career, which is third-most by a tight end in franchise history).
"Kyle, he's been working hard and we know that in this offense like I say every week, a different guy will be featured or a different guy has a chance to make plays," Bridgewater said. "This week, Kyle stepped up for us. He made some big plays, and we had some favorable matchups with him on those linebackers and safeties and we liked those matchups.
"It was a familiar look that we saw last year," Bridgewater added, "and we knew that we wanted to take advantage if we got the same look and he made the best of that play."
The 47-yard catch was impressive on multiple levels. He fought through contact from Micah Hyde early in the route and eventually got a step behind the Packers DB as a perfectly thrown pass by Bridgewater just beyond Hyde's reach.
Rudolph caught it at the 20 and turned to the end zone, he stayed on his feet and in bounds despite a diving tackle by Hyde. He said instincts took over quickly on the 33-yard reception.
"Probably the first one (was tougher), just because he was underneath," Rudolph said. "The second one happened so fast that I just looked at the perfect time and the ball was right there. Those are balls that Teddy is throwing up in coverage, and he trusts me to make a play."
Bridgewater finished 25-of-37 passing for 296 yards and a passer rating of 100.7.
The Vikings and Packers are 7-3 with six games to play, including the regular season finale at Green Bay on Jan. 3, 2016.
"I still think we're a very good football team and have a lot of football ahead of us," Rudolph said. "The bottom line is we're both 7-3 now. We have six games, concluding at their place."
