Will Reichard set an NFL record in the Vikings' Week 12 loss to the Packers

The Minnesota Vikings came into their Week 12 matchup at Lambeau Field (where they'd won two in a row) desperately needing a victory over the Green Bay Packers to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. But as the world watched on Sunday afternoon, the Vikes failed miserably in that attempt, taking an embarrassing 23-6 defeat to fall to 4-7 on the season, thus dropping into 12th place in the overall NFC standings, and seeing their playoff probability odds dip to a measly 1%.

The Minnesota defense did its best to keep the team competitive, and Brian Flores' unit actually had its second-best outing of the season in terms of total yardage allowed, surrendering just 288 yards. That said, however, the Vikings did once again struggle against the run, allowing the Packers to gain 146 yards on the ground. And that was without Josh Jacobs, who wasn't even really missed, as backup Emanuel Wilson rushed for a career-high 107 yards and two touchdowns, his second score being set up by an incredibly bad botched punt return by Minnesota early in the third quarter.

And, of course, there's the matter of J.J. McCarthy, who actually had one of his better days in terms of accuracy, completing 63.2 percent of his passes, the second-highest mark of his young career, but threw for just 87 yards and tossed another two interceptions. Not all the blame can be put on the 22-year-old, as the Vikings' offensive line was completely overmatched, never letting him get comfortable and allowing him to get sacked five times.

Kicker Will Reichard was a bright spot for the Minnesota Vikings in their Week 12 loss to the Green Bay Packers.

The lone bright spot for the Vikings on Sunday—and obviously the only player to put any points on the board for Minnesota—was kicker Will Reichard, who is basically the most consistent player on the roster at this point and actually set a new NFL record in the defeat.

The 2024 sixth-round pick put the first points of the game on the board in the first quarter with a 52-yard field goal, which was impressive enough, given the conditions at Lambeau Field in late November. But even more impressive was Reichard's 59-yarder that cut the Green Bay lead to 10-6 just before halftime.

And it was that kick that put Reichard in the record books, as the 24-year-old is now the only player in NFL history with four field goals of 59 or more yards in a single season.

Reichard, who has missed just two kicks all season, going 19-for-19 on extra points and making 21 of 23 field goals, also connected on 59-yarders in Week 1 against the Chicago Bears and Week 7 against the Philadelphia Eagles. And then, of course, there was his career-best and franchise-record 62-yarder in Week 3 against the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Vikings' season is in the tank, but Reichard has proven to be a valuable commodity and should undoubtedly be in line for a nice contract extension when the time comes.