Packers Lose to Vikings: Stud, Dud, Snaps, Defining Play

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers lost to the Minnesota Vikings 27-25 on Sunday. The Packers started slowly, rallied and lost – a common theme against top opponents.
Let’s dig into some of the snap counts – there was one huge leap in playing time for a rookie – and more postgame analysis.
Packers Snaps on Offense
Out of 63
Running backs: Josh Jacobs played 40, his 63.5 percent snap share a pretty light workload. With the Packers trailing by 17 points in the fourth quarter, the team went with a lot of Emanuel Wilson. After playing 25 snaps in last week’s blowout win, he played 20 against the Vikings. Before those games, he played a total of 13 in a three-game stretch. Chris Brooks played only eight, well below his 18.2-snap average from the previous five games.
Receivers: With Christian Watson inactive because of a knee injury, Romeo Doubs played 54, followed by Dontayvion Wicks with 46, Jayden Reed with 45, Bo Melton with 16 and Malik Heath with 15. Doubs’ 85.7 percent share of the snaps was his highest since Week 1. Heath had played seven snaps the past four weeks; he was inactive the last two games.
Watson went through a rehab workout before the game.
“I just couldn’t do what I need to do to be able to go. So, they didn’t let me go,” Watson said.
Tight ends: Tucker Kraft played 54 snaps. He has played 80 percent of the snaps in 13 of 16 games (and 79.2 percent in another). In his second game back following ankle surgery, Luke Musgrave caught a pass and played 12 snaps. John FitzPatrick and Ben Sims played just three apiece.
Offensive line: The starting five went the distance and there were no extra-linemen snaps. Rookie Jacob Monk was active but didn’t get on the field at all.
Packers Snaps on Defense
Out of 72
Defensive ends: In one of the biggest games of the season, Rashan Gary played 37 snaps – one more than half. It was Kingsley Enagbare who led the way, playing 41 snaps. Brenton Cox (29) played more than Lukas Van Ness (25). There’s still room for Arron Mosby to play 12. Cox’s snap count was a season high. He was a healthy scratch for each of the first nine games. Since the Preston Smith trade, he’s played at least 20 snaps in all seven games.
Defensive tackles: Kenny Clark led the entire defensive line with 44 snaps. With Devonte Wyatt limited to 12 excellent snaps due to a head injury, Karl Brooks was next in line behind Clark with 30 snaps. TJ Slaton played 29 snaps after logging a total of 30 the previous two games. Wooden also played 29 snaps, one off his season high.
Linebackers: Eric Wilson played all 72 snaps as the middle linebacker and signal-caller in place of injured Quay Walker. Here’s the big deal: Rookie Edgerrin Cooper played 71 snaps, or 20 more than his previous career high. That’s 98.6 percent; his previous season high was 70.8 percent. So, at long last, Cooper is an every-down player. Isaiah McDuffie played 29 snaps.
Wilson also played 23 snaps on special teams, meaning he played a whopping 95. Cooper added 12 snaps on special teams, including one filled with controversy.
Cornerbacks: Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine went the distance. There wasn’t much of a rotation. In nickel situations, Eric Stokes entered and played 34 snaps. He had a chance for an interception when the ball went through Justin Jefferson’s hands. Corey Ballentine played three.
Safeties: Xavier McKinney played every snap. With Evan Williams inactive, Zayne Anderson started for the second consecutive week. He suffered a head injury in kickoff coverage and exited after 11 defensive snaps. Rookie Javon Bullard, who was the nickel to start the game after missing the previous two games with an ankle injury, moved to safety and played 68 snaps. His 94.4 percent snap share was his third-highest of the season and he had a team-high 11 tackles.
Stud: Edgerrin Cooper
To be a great team, you need a great defense. A great defense needs great players.
Edgerrin Cooper might be on his way to being a great player.
Cooper, a second-round pick in this year’s draft, took advantage of his jump in playing time to record 10 tackles, including four tackles for losses. After leading the SEC in tackles for losses last season, Cooper leads the entire rookie class with 12 tackles for losses. That’s usually the domain of the pass rushers, since sacks are TFLs.
He’ll need to be better in coverage – the Vikings went after him – but it was another big-time performance by a big-time player.
Dud: The Pass Rush
The Vikings had allowed 14 sacks the previous four games.
The Packers had 16 sacks the previous four games.
So, naturally, the Packers had just one sack and four quarterback hits. Sam Darnold had a month of Sundays (and could have consumed a month of sundaes) in the pocket on far too many of his dropbacks as he destroyed the Packers’ injury-plagued secondary for a career-high 377 yards.
Defining Play
A few weeks ago, Packers coach Matt LaFleur tried to take the crowd out of the game at Seattle by taking the ball and scoring. It worked.
He tried to do the same against Minnesota, and it might have worked again had the team’s best offensive player not made a killer mistake.
On second-and-4 from Minnesota’s 48 on the opening drive, Jacobs charged through a hole but had the ball knocked out by defensive lineman Jerry Tillery. The Vikings recovered. And while they didn’t score, a chance for the Packers to set the tone was lost.
“I feel like it drained the energy out of the team just starting early,” Jacobs said. “One of them plays where I feel like I said earlier in the week I take it personal on getting the team to start fast and things like that. Yeah, that’s on me.”
Jacobs fumbled in each of the first two games. After going 11 consecutive games without a fumble – a total of 216 touches in those games – he’s coughed it up two of the last three games.
Latest Green Bay Packers News
"Had a turnover early and we just didn’t make plays."
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) December 30, 2024
"It’s only a handful of plays that separate these types of games."
"We need more turnovers."
Those could have been said after any of #Packers' Groundhog Day losses. In fact, some of those were. ⬇️https://t.co/8PsZoxcyhu
Phantom offside call? | The Packers need help from Mike McCarthy | It’s the same old story for the Packers | Packers-Vikings report card | What happened and what it means | Packers-Vikings stock report | Another big game, another big loss | Packers-Vikings: Live Updates