Vikings hand over the division in loss to Packers on Monday night
By Adam Patrick
On a night where the offense struggled to get anything going, the Minnesota Vikings suffered their first home loss of the season to the Green Bay Packers on Monday.
After the first drive of the game, it felt like the Minnesota Vikings weren’t going to have much trouble coming away with a victory over the Green Bay Packers on Monday night. Even at the half, the Vikings had the lead and they were still in good position to get a big win over the Packers.
But Minnesota was unable to hold off Green Bay in the second half and it eventually resulted in the Packers walking off the field inside U.S. Bank Stadium with a 23-10 win.
With Monday night’s result, the Vikings are now locked in as the No. 6 seed in this season’s NFC playoff bracket and the NFC North title was also clinched by Green Bay with their victory.
Without Dalvin Cook in the backfield, Minnesota struggled to get anything going on offense all night long. The Vikings finished with just 139 total yards (82 passing, 57 rushing) and only seven first downs. Numbers like these are never going to be the recipe that results in a victory.
Minnesota quarterback Kirk Cousins had pressure in his face for the majority of the matchup and it resulted in him throwing for just 122 yards, one touchdown, and one interception.
Cook’s replacement in Minnesota’s starting lineup on Monday, Mike Boone, managed just 28 rushing yards on 11 carries. It was arguably the worst performance by the Vikings’ offense all season long.
Minnesota’s defense played outstanding for the majority of the game. But their offensive teammates hardly gave them time to ever catch their breath and it eventually resulted in the Packers scoring two late touchdowns to seal up the win for the green and gold.
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Next week’s result against the Chicago Bears will have zero impact on the Vikings’ seed in the playoffs, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if they decided to rest some of their starters. At the same time though, Mike Zimmer may want his starting offense to get a few more reps before the postseason after the poor showing they had against Green Bay on Monday.