6 biggest takeaways from the Vikings loss to the Packers in Week 17
By Adam Carlson
What is with this defense?
It’s easy to point to a lack of Danielle Hunter, Michael Pierce, Everson Griffen, and Cameron Dantzler for reasons the Minnesota Vikings defense was getting pushed around by Green Bay. However, the truth is that the Packers’ offense is just plain better than Minnesota’s defense.
Green Bay converted seven of their 13 third downs, which is a rate of better than fifty percent. Rodgers also completed over 76 percent of his passes while Aaron Jones got 9.5 yards per carry and A.J. Dillion averaged 4.5 yards per try.
If the Packers hadn’t pulled Aaron Rodgers there is an excellent chance Green Bay would have run up the score even more than they did. Minnesota had no answer against the pass or against the run, and it looked like the green and gold were really having a good time.
Since the Vikings invested so much of their salary cap in short-term contracts for the defense, these massive gains are frustrating and they amplify the defensive issues as well as a salary cap chaos waiting for them next season.