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          Packers' special teams, defense score thrilling TDs vs. Vikings

          • Rob Demovsky, ESPN Staff WriterJan 1, 2023, 04:54 PM ET
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              Rob Demovsky is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the Green Bay Packers. He has covered the Packers since 1997 and joined ESPN in 2013. Demovsky is a two-time Wisconsin Sportswriter of the Year as selected by the NSSA. You can follow him on Twitter at @RobDemovsky.
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          GREEN BAY, Wis. -- This is why Keisean Nixon has the green light to bring any kickoff out of the end zone, no matter how deep. The Green Bay Packers return man took one from 5 yards deep and turned it into a 105-yard touchdown with 10:25 left in the first quarter on Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings.

          And to think he was questionable coming into this game because of a groin injury that kept him out of practice all week.

          Nixon had a 93-yard kickoff return last week against the Dolphins but couldn't finish it off for a touchdown. This one was the Packers' first kickoff return for a touchdown since Randall Cobb's 108-yarder in 2011. It was also the third-longest kickoff return touchdown in Packers franchise history, after Cobb's 108-yarder in 2011 and Al Carmichael's 106-yarder in 1956.

          Nixon didn't take over as the kickoff returner until midseason. Entering Sunday's game, he had 254 more return yards (kickoff and punt) than any other player since Week 10.

          But the Packers weren't done with returns for a touchdown after Nixon's big play.

          Five minutes later in the first quarter, safety Darnell Savage intercepted a pass tipped by cornerback Rasul Douglas and took it 75 yards for a touchdown.

          According to the Packers, it's the first time since Oct. 30, 1967, they've had a kickoff return for a touchdown and an interception return for a touchdown in the same game -- and both on Sunday happened in the first quarter.