How the Vikings fell apart against the Packers
GREEN BAY, Wisc. — The Minnesota Vikings had a shot at Lambeau Field to eliminate the Green Bay Packers from playoff contention and quiet those who are questioning their candidacy as a true contender when the postseason arrives. Neither of those things happened as they fell 41-17 in Green Bay.
How did things go so wrong against their divisional foes? Let’s have a look…
O-line injuries
On the second play of Sunday’s game, center Austin Schlottmann suffered a fibula fracture. He was already filling in for starter Garrett Bradbury, so the Vikings were forced to turn to Chris Reed, a career guard who hasn’t appeared in a regular season game at center and hasn’t played at all in 2022.
As a result, the Vikings’ offense struggled on the ground, Kirk Cousins was sacked twice and hit eight total times and the O-line had multiple penalties for either delay of game or false start.
“It was a good environment, loud, and we had some snap count issues that created a third-and-6 to a third-and-11 or whatever it was, we didn’t execute smoothly early on,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said. “It’s a factor, especially when you talk about being on your backup center to start and then having your third guy go in.”
Offensive tackle Brian O’Neill went down early in the game as well. He pulled up while chasing safety Darnell Savage, who took a Kirk Cousins pass for a pick-six midway through the first quarter. O’Neill was replaced by backup Oli Udoh, who saw his first significant action of the season.
O’Connell said that the Pro Bowl starter will have an MRI on his calf on Monday.
Slowing Justin Jefferson
Over his three-year career, Justin Jefferson had never been held to fewer than two receptions but the Packers accomplished just that, giving up one catch for 15 yards to the superstar receiver.
“I think they were aware of where he was and as a result defended him well,” Cousins said. “Then you look at some things that I would have loved to connect on but they did a nice job.”
In Week 1, the Packers allowed Jefferson to run wild to the tune of 184 yards. This time around they had a very different plan, putting star corner Jaire Alexander on him at the line of scrimmage with plenty of help over the top.
“They just played a lot of high coverage, they had the safety on my side for the majority of the game, played a lot of two-man, I mean, they did a good job,” Jefferson said.
“It was a lot of two-deep coverage for him today…they weren’t going to allow him to have a lot of one-on-one coverage,” O’Connell said.
Jefferson’s chances to make plays were limited by a myriad of other factors, from pressure to the turf to the fact that the Vikings only had 57 offensive snaps in the game.
“A couple times maybe there was some opportunities for him but it was either pressure….then when we were trying to find ways to get him the ball we were having footing issues…this was not the first time we saw coverage like this,” O’Connell said. “There were some plays out there and we just didn’t make them.”
Jefferson showed his frustration at times, once accidentally swinging his helmet and making contact with the referee.
“I’ve finally come to the realization that I’ve made my mark in this league and every single game they are not going to let me get over 100 yards, they’re going to do whatever in their power to not let me get to those types of numbers,” Jefferson said. “Secondly, it’s tough to do that twice on the same team…it’s tough only getting one catch in the game and wanting to be a big part of the offense.”
Major blunders
To open the game, it looked like the Packers were going to be on the wrong side of the miscue matchup as they allowed a Josh Metellus blocked punt on their first drive. But the tides quickly turned as the Vikings allowed a 105-yard touchdown return to Keisean Nixon.
“It looked like we might have gotten out of one of our interior run lanes…and it opened up in the middle of the field and that’s what you don’t want when you’re talking about covering kicks,” O’Connell said.
The mistakes piled up from there with Cousins finishing with three interceptions, the first of which came on fourth down in Packer territory. Green Bay returned it for a touchdown to take a 14-3 lead midway through the first quarter.
“I was trying to be aggressive on fourth down to TJ,” Cousins explained. “It was tight coverage and if you watch it on the film Justin is my next progression and he ends up coming open but I just felt a void where I saw TJ going and felt that I wanted to work that voided area but then there was the deflection that landed in their arms.”
Cousins’ second interception was tipped and Jefferson fell down. While it was a random event, it was a costly one. The Vikings were trailing 17-3 with a chance to close the gap to one score with 6:00 remaining in the second quarter. Instead of 17-10, the Packers turned the error into a touchdown of their own and stretched the lead to 24-3.
The Vikings had two more turnovers in the second half during a desperate scramble to get back in the game. Coming out of halftime, Minnesota’s defense forced a quick punt and Cousins got the offense rolling but on second-and-10 at the Green Bay 15-yard line, monster defensive tackle Kenny Clark strip-sacked Cousins.
And then with the game completely out of hand at 34-3, Cousins threw another pick aiming for a deep shot downfield.
“The last one, I saw quarters coverage and the safety came down and I wanted to replace him with the post throw but the backside safety was coming,” Cousins said. “They did a good job all game long of bringing the backside safety to prevent you from throwing those posts.”
The Vikings haven’t often been on the wrong side of the turnover differential, only losing that battle five times in 15 games coming in. After the loss , they are 2-4 when turning the ball over more than their opponents.
Field conditions
Jefferson’s slip on the INT was hardly the only example of the turf causing issues. Numerous Vikings were on skates throughout the contest. O’Connell said that the team was prepared for slippery conditions but some players had to switch spikes during the game.
“We made a point throughout the week…you are never going to force people to wear [longer spikes] but it was strongly encouraged and a lot of our roster has played up here before,” O’Connell said. “I did see some guys on the ground having some issues, they put those cleats on and hopefully it’s a learning lesson for all of us that we don’t need to go through some of that early to rectify that problem.”
Playoff implications
Sunday’s game was not a must win but it did change the playoff picture. The 49ers overtook the No. 2 seed with their victory over the Raiders and now the Vikings cannot gain that spot back unless San Francisco loses to Arizona next week and the Vikings beat the Bears at Soldier Field. The Packers also can make the postseason with a win over Detroit next week.
“Knowing we are going to get the opportunity to host a playoff game, we have earned that right but we have to make sure we look at ourselves and find every opportunity to improve and overcome some injuries,” O’Connell said.
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