4 takeaways from the Vikings loss to the Packers in Week 16

For the first time ever, the Minnesota Vikings suffered a loss on their home field inside U.S. Bank Stadium to the Green Bay Packers on Monday.

For anyone that was hoping for an early Christmas present from the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night, the Green Bay Packers played the role of the Grinch and prevented anybody wearing purple inside U.S. Bank Stadium to experience any sort of joy.

A win over the Packers was still a possibility for the Vikings after the game’s first two quarters. But Minnesota’s defense being on the field for two-thirds of the matchup caught up with them in the second half and it ultimately resulted in Green Bay pulling away with a division-clinching victory.

Prior to Monday night’s loss to the Packers, Vikings fans were playing all sorts of postseason scenarios in their heads and dreaming of the extremely slim possibility of them landing a first-round bye. But after falling to Green Bay, Minnesota will now begin this year’s playoffs as the No. 6 seed in the NFC no matter if they defeat the Chicago Bears or not next week in their regular season finale.

For a Vikings team that has played so well during their last 10 games, the nature of Monday’s result was a bit of a surprise. In an effort to try and figure out what went wrong, what are some of the biggest takeaways from Minnesota’s disappointing loss this week?