Packers Lose at Vikings: Three Reasons to Stay Calm
GREEN BAY, Wis. – While the Green Bay Packers lost 23-7 at the Minnesota Vikings in the 2022 NFL season opener on Sunday, there’s perhaps no reason to slam that panic button too many times. After all, the Packers lost last year’s opener 38-3 to the New Orleans Saints on a neutral field. From there, they won 13 of their next 15 games – Aaron Rodgers had COVID for one of those losses – to win the No. 1 seed.
What went right on Sunday? Here are three positives from the wreckage.
1. Left tackle Yosh Nijman
The Packers played without left tackle David Bakhtiari and right tackle Elgton Jenkins. It seems only a matter of time until Jenkins is back in action. How about Bakhtiari? Sunday marked 619 days since he suffered a torn ACL at practice. He was activated off the physically unable to perform list three weeks ago but didn’t practice on Friday and was inactive on Sunday.
At some point, presumably, Bakhtiari will return to the lineup. But, given the number of twists and turns in his comeback, when will he be back in the lineup? And will he be able to stay in the lineup?
With so much uncertainty surrounding the five-time All-Pro, the Packers can take some comfort in the play of Yosh Nijman. He played well in eight starts last season and turned in a strong performance against the Vikings. Pro Football Focus charged him with only one pressure, which matched the eyeball test. He’s more than just a nimble pass protector. Of Green Bay’s eight rushing first downs, seven came on runs to the left.
2. Cornerbacks Jaire Alexander and Rasul Douglas
It’s easy to see Justin Jefferson running circles around the Packers’ defense and coming up with a blanket statement of Green Bay’s entire secondary performing poorly. That’s not the case, though. Cornerbacks Jaire Alexander and Rasul Douglas had excellent season debuts.
Alexander sort of took the blame for Jefferson running wide open for a 36-yard touchdown. Maybe Alexander should have followed Jefferson across the field or maybe safety Adrian Amos should have picked him up. Otherwise, it appeared Alexander gave up only a 7-yard catch by K.J. Osborn. In one of Alexander’s rare matchups against Jefferson, he drew offensive pass interference.
Douglas was superb. He gave up a few short completions but his tackling was excellent and his competitiveness was as high as usual. It’s a shame he played only 41 snaps.
The play of veteran safeties Amos and Darnell Savage wasn’t nearly good enough, and second-year cornerback Eric Stokes had his troubles, too.
Why were there so many breakdowns?
“I don’t know, man,” Alexander said. “I think it’s just the first game kind of thing. It’s just first game, they do a lot of things that are unscouted. Honestly, I don’t know, I think it’s just the first game. I think we’ll gain that chemistry after this game and I expect it tenfold next week.”
3. Pat O’Donnell’s Under-Pressure Punting
In his Packers debut, veteran punter Pat O’Donnell punted four times. (It only seemed like he punted 14 times.) He averaged 44.8 yards per kick. Three pinned the Vikings inside the 20-yard line. He would have allowed 0 return yards had Rudy Ford been able to bring down Jalen Reagor following a 53-yard punt.
O’Donnell’s performance was especially impressive considering the pressure he faced. Green Bay’s 2021 season died on a blocked punt, a fact the Vikings obviously recognized given how they attacked. Three of his four punts were almost blocked but he got them all off effectively.
“Definitely way too leaky,” LaFleur said of the protection. “Guys have got to trust their teammate. They’ve got to trust themselves and the techniques that we work since the day Rich (Bisaccia) got here. I think you saw a little bit of that go away in the game. You’ve got to trust your technique, trust the way you’ve been trained. You can’t go rogue and deviate from that. I think there was a little of that that was going on. That’s why there were a couple situations where there was way too much penetration. All in all, I thought Pat did a hell of a job punting the football. I thought our coverage was on point. For the most part, I thought our special teams did a nice job.”
This was Bisaccia’s debut as coordinator. Only tight end Tyler Davis (17) played more snaps that backup inside linebackers Isaiah McDuffie (16) and Krys Barnes (15). With starter Quay Walker (shoulder) and the veteran Barnes (ankle) suffering injuries against the Vikings, Bisaccia might have to do some shuffling for next week if De’Vondre Campbell and McDuffie are the starting inside linebackers. Plus, cornerback Keisean Nixon (13) suffered a shoulder injury on his lone snap on defense.