Aaron Rodgers, Packers Shred Vikings Defense in 43-34 Victory

The Vikings and their young cornerbacks had no answer for the Green Bay offense on Sunday.

The more things change, the more things stay the same.

Inside an eerily quiet U.S. Bank Stadium, in a game played with unprecedented circumstances, there was something very normal and familiar about watching Aaron Rodgers carve up the Vikings' secondary on Sunday afternoon. The veteran QB completed 32 of 44 passes for 364 yards and four touchdowns as the Packers came into Minneapolis and left with a 43-34 victory that wasn't as close as that score suggests.

The 43 points allowed are the most surrendered by the Vikings in the Mike Zimmer era. That's a total of 102 games, including playoffs. It was just the second time the Vikings have allowed 40 points under Zimmer, with the first coming in a 42-10 loss to the Packers in October 2014 – Zimmer's first year as coach.

Coming into the game, arguably the biggest question was how the Vikings' young cornerback group would fare against Rodgers, Davante Adams, and the rest of the Packers' passing attack.

The answer? Very, very poorly.

Adams torched whoever was covering him on his way to a 14-catch, 156-yard, two-touchdown outing. Mike Hughes – the most experienced corner on the Vikings' defense – had a noticeably rough day, particularly against Adams. Holton Hill wasn't any better. And there were several "welcome to the NFL" moments for rookie starter Cameron Dantzler, including a deep touchdown catch by the speedy Marquez Valdes-Scantling.

In addition to Rodgers' huge day, the Packers also racked up 160 yards on the ground. Green Bay's 524 total yards are the second-most allowed by the Vikings under Zimmer, trailing only the 556 they gave up to the Rams in 2018.

Simply put, it was a historically ugly game for the Vikings' defense. There were three offsides calls drawn by Rodgers and a number of missed open-field tackles – mistakes that the Vikings would've ideally gotten out of the way in preseason games, though that's not an excuse.

Another major issue was that the Danielle Hunter-less Vikings were unable to generate any kind of pressure on Rodgers. They finished the day without a sack and generally gave Rodgers all of the time he needed to pick apart their secondary.

Offensively, the Vikings made things look better than they were by moving the ball effectively in what amounted to garbage time. They put up 24 points in the second half but never threatened to come back, mainly because the defense couldn't buy a stop. Adam Thielen and Dalvin Cook scored two touchdowns apiece on the game, with Thielen going over the 100-yard mark.

Cousins struggled in the first half, throwing a bad interception to Jaire Alexander. That was followed by the deep TD to Valdes-Scantling, giving the Packers a 22-7 lead they would never relinquish.

The Packers finished with over 41 minutes of possession, more than doubling up the Vikings in that department.

The Vikings clearly have a lot of things to work on – especially on the defensive side of the ball – if they're going to contend for an NFC North title this year. Their next game is next Sunday in Indianapolis against the Colts, who are also 0-1 after falling to the Jaguars on Sunday.

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