Vikings

Green Bay Hit the Vikings With A Dose Of Reality

Photo Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

As the Green Bay Packers fans emptied out of Lambeau Field into the cold Wisconsin night, their “Go Pack Go” chants bounced violently off the concourse walls. Echoes of the Minnesota Vikings game a year ago, when the Packers blew the Purple out 37-10, amplified the cacophony. Green Bay may have entered the game 7-8 with their playoff lives on the line. But they crushed the Vikings 41-17, moving Minnesota into the No. 3 seed while remaining in the playoff bubble.

The Vikings leave Lambeau a 12-4 team with a minus-20 point differential. They’ve reeled off 11 one-score victories this year, but when they trip, they fall hard. Minnesota has entered five games as underdogs, including Sunday’s game. The Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys blew them out, and the Detroit Lions beat them by two scores. Their lone underdog win? A miracle in Buffalo.

“It just comes down to the fact that when we’ve lost lopsided games, we’ve directly contributed to those,” said Kevin O’Connell. “The score can get out of hand in a hurry when you turn it over for touchdowns the other way, you give up a 100-yard kick return, you don’t score when you’ve blocked a punt and end up on their one-yard line and come away with three.”

Harbingers of a blowout hovered over Minnesota’s head from the beginning of the game. They went three-and-out on the first drive. Then Josh Metellus blocked Pat O’Donnell’s punt, and the Vikings got the ball on the one-yard line, but they had to settle for a field goal. Keisean Nixon returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown. Minnesota responded by punting, throwing a pick-six, missing a field goal, throwing an interception, and missing another field goal.

Green Bay led 27-3 at halftime. They were up 41-3 with 9:25 left in the game, but the Vikings scored two garbage-time touchdowns to avoid becoming the second 12-win team in the Super Bowl era to lose two games by 30-plus points.

“This game is a momentum-based game,” said O’Connell. “When you turn the football over, and you do not sustain drives offensively, eventually it’s just too much for your team to overcome. That’s where we gotta find ways in all phases of our team to do whatever we can to limit the momentum being that avalanche that has tended to happen when a couple of these games have gotten away from us.”

Justin Jefferson entered the game needing 209 yards to break Calvin Johnson’s single-season record. The Green Bay Packers limited him to one catch for 15 yards on five targets.

“They just played a lot of high coverage,” said Jefferson. “They had a safety on my side the majority of the game, played a lot [two-deep man coverage]. I mean, they did a good job.”

The field conditions weren’t great, but they changed cleats at halftime. The Packers gave them opportunities, but they didn’t take advantage of them. Ultimately, the team that has dominated the NFC North since 2011 beat the Vikings.

Minnesota had an opportunity to complete the circle. A year after the Packers put them out of their misery, they could have eliminated a Packers team hovering around .500. However, it would have had to replicate a combination of their win over the Buffalo Bills and their historic comeback over the Indianapolis Colts. Instead, Green Bay gave them a stark reminder: They’re still here.

“We know they’re a good football team,” said Adam Thielen. “We knew that Week 1; that’s why we felt so good about that victory. Because even if they had a rough start to the season, you know they’re a good football team, and they’re gonna find ways to win.

“They’re gonna find ways to adapt and overcome, and they’re always gonna be there in December and January, and playing their best football.”

The Packers have shown signs of decline, but Minnesota can’t claim to be kings of the NFC North yet. Aaron Rodgers, 39, is showing his age. But assuming he returns, he’s still one of the better quarterbacks in the league. And after a year of playing with Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs, he has chemistry with two dynamic young receivers. Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon are a talented running-back duo. The defense may improve dramatically if coach Matt LaFleur decides to move on from defensive coordinator Joe Barry in the offseason.

Minnesota’s close wins don’t take away from what O’Connell’s regime has accomplished in his first season. The Vikings were a sub-.500 team the past two years, and they were in the hunt for the No. 1 seed in the NFC until the final week of the season. They didn’t give up hope against the Bills and Colts and beat the New England Patriots on a short week. All three are meaningful accomplishments. Still, they need to acknowledge what they are. They have the second-worst point differential in the NFC North.

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