After dropping to 4-6 on the season with last week's heartbreaking last-second loss to the Chicago Bears, the Minnesota Vikings faced what was basically a must-win situation on Sunday afternoon against the Green Bay Packers.
Hoping to pick up a third consecutive victory at Lambeau Field for the first time in more than three decades, the Vikings didn't even come close, as they were outplayed in every single phase of the game en route to an embarrassing 23-6 defeat.
The Minnesota defense looked decent at times, but continues to have problems stopping the run, surrendering 142 yards on the ground, most of which came from Emanuel Wilson, who had a career-best 107 yards filling in for the injured Josh Jacobs, and also scored a career-high two touchdowns.
Wilson's second score came just a few plays after a massive special teams mistake from the Vikes, as they muffed a Packers punt early in the third quarter that gave Green Bay the ball back at Minnesota's 5-yard line.
But the biggest storyline surrounding the Vikings coming out of this loss, of course, is the play of quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who actually had one of his better games as far as completion percentage is concerned, connecting on 63.2 percent of his passes (12-for-19), marking the second-highest total of his young career.
But the 22-year-old also threw for a career-low 87 yards, took five sacks, and threw a pair of interceptions, upping his season total to 10 in six games.
Justin Jefferson's frustrations with Minnesota Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy are becoming obvious
After McCarthy's second pick, an absurdly overthrown pass targeted toward Jalen Nailor that ultimately ended up in the arms of Packers safety Evan Williams, Justin Jefferson was shown on the FOX broadcast walking toward the sideline, and the four-time Pro Bowler was visibly upset, shaking his head in frustration as he began removing his helmet.
And that frustration was still there when Jefferson, who had four catches for a team-high 48 yards, spoke with the media afterward.
"We lost. Again. I hate to lose. I hate to be in this type of situation. I hate feeling the way we feel. I hate coming in this locker room, seeing the down faces and the down energy. So, we've just got to fix it and turn it around.
It's frustrating. It's frustrating to lose. It's frustrating to be up here, saying the same things every single week, expecting things to change the following week. And we're still in the same spot. We've just got to figure it out."
It'll be interesting to see what the Vikings do to "figure it out" ahead of next Sunday's matchup against Sam Darnold and the Seattle Seahawks.
Does O'Connell bench McCarthy? Or with Minnesota's playoff chances pretty much out the window, does he keep McCarthy on the field to get him more game reps?
Jefferson has done his best to have McCarthy's back over the past few weeks, but it's fairly easy to see that even he may be losing faith in his quarterback.