The Minnesota Vikings overcame a 12-point deficit in the second half to defeat the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. But if you walked into the office on Monday morning to confront your co-worker from Wisconsin, there’s a good chance they are blaming Shawn Hochuli and his officiating crew for the loss.
Hochuli and his crew made several calls that aided the Vikings to a go-ahead drive in the fourth quarter, including an illegal contact penalty on Javon Bullard that wiped out a 3rd-and-11 sack by Edgerrin Cooper and Devonte Wyatt, a roughing the passer penalty on Chris McClellan that wiped out another sack on 3rd-and-3, and a defensive holding call that erased an interception by Evan Williams in the end zone.
The trio of penalties helped Aaron Jones run in for the go-ahead score with 6:37 to play, and it flipped the game upside down, allowing Minnesota to earn the 39-22 win.
But for Vikings fans who watched the game, Hochuli’s crew had a tough afternoon overall, and it’s another scapegoat for Packers fans who just saw their team execute its latest choke job against a divisional rival.
Green Bay Packers had bigger issues against the Minnesota Vikings than the refs in Week 1
The Packers came into Sunday’s game looking for a divisional win but also trying to exorcise the demons that followed them from the end of last season.
Green Bay started the season with a 9-3-1 record before Micah Parsons tore his ACL in a Week 15 loss to the Denver Broncos, and the Packers blew a 10-point lead to the Chicago Bears the following week, costing them the NFC North division title.
Not to be outdone, the Packers built an 18-point halftime lead in a Wild Card matchup against the Bears at Soldier Field and were leading 27-16 in the fourth quarter before Chicago stormed back for a 31-27 victory that ended Green Bay’s season.
The first three quarters of the game followed a similar script as the Packers built a 22-10 lead. But even as Carson Wentz hit T.J. Hockenson for a 16-yard touchdown pass with 2:08 left in the third quarter, the Packers were still in control, driving into Vikings territory to set up Smack’s field goal with 13:21 to play.
The real play of the game was when those same dastardly refs called Dallas Turner for lining up offsides, and instead of taking the points on the road, LaFleur, potentially thinking about the two games that slipped away, called a quarterback sneak that was stopped by Domonique Orange.
Had the Packers gotten that yard, the drive that was aided by the penalties never would have happened. But even then, Green Bay was still its worst enemy, allowing a 28-yard run by Jordan Mason to put Minnesota in the red zone.
Even before that, McClellan’s penalty for putting his body weight on Wentz was a rule the Packers created in the aftermath of Anthony Barr’s 2018 hit that broke Aaron Rodgers’s collarbone, creating the type of irony that few fan bases can handle.
With just under seven minutes to play, the Packers also had ample time to move the ball on a day when Jordan Love slashed the Vikings' defense for 387 passing yards. Instead, their offensive line completely folded, allowing Love to get sacked by Turner and Blake Cashman on back-to-back plays.
The latter caused a fumble that was recovered by Andrew Van Ginkel and set up Jordan Mason for a one-yard touchdown run to put the game away, but unless the refs infiltrated the Packers’ brainwaves, it was all part of an implosion that has become common for Green Bay over a six-game losing streak dating back to last season.
Green Bay Packers have themselves to blame for a Week 1 loss to the Minnesota Vikings
There are better arguments that Packers fans could have made to say they should have won the game. You could also say that the Vikings got this game handed to them on a silver platter.
But Hochuli’s refs had a bad day on both sides, taking away a long Aaron Jones after he lost his balance earlier in the game and a facemask on Justin Jefferson that wasn’t called on the pivotal drive.
Instead, it was the Packers who literally handed the Vikings the game with everything else in the fourth quarter. But those fans are too busy crying over the refs to see the problem.
After all, it wasn’t their fault their offensive line imploded. Or that Love had the blue screen of death flash in his brain as Flores blitzed over 80 percent of the time.
Instead, Packers fans went to the go-to card they use almost as much as “Congrats on your Super Bowl,” because it’s not easy being the perfect team, from the perfect town, in the perfect stadium, with the perfect luck with franchise quarterbacks.
There’s always someone against them, and on Sunday it was clearly Shawn Hochuli.
Deep down, the Packers know that LaFleur, their offensive line, and even general manager Brian Gutekunst may be to blame. But this thinking might give Vikings fans a little extra enjoyment in their latest victory over the Packers and something to talk about when the two rivals meet again on Nov. 15 in Green Bay.
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