Packers Lose Opener at Vikings 23-7
MINNEAPOLIS – The Green Bay Packers were trounced in last year’s season opener 38-3. Nobody inside 1265 Lombardi Ave. pushed the panic button, and they won 13 of their next 15 games to earn the No. 1 seed.
Nobody should push the panic button after they lost 23-7 at the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Left tackle David Bakhtiari and right tackle Elgton Jenkins were inactive, not exactly ideal with Za’Darius Smith and Danielle Hunter on the other side of the line. Complicating matters on offense, No. 1 receiver Allen Lazard was inactive, too. “That’s an excuse,” Aaron Rodgers said. More concerning, the Packers had no answers for receiver Justin Jefferson. And they just couldn’t give Rodgers the time to make anything happen downfield.
“Obviously, wasn’t very good and that starts with me,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “We definitely have to have a better plan for our team and get our guys better prepared. Certainly, give the Minnesota Vikings a ton of credit. They came ready to play. They obviously had a great plan, and we know going into this game that stopping their lead dogs, really offensively and defensively, were going to be an important part of it. We didn't get that done.”
The ultimate lead dog, star Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson, finishing with nine catches for 184 yards and two touchdowns. He had three catches on the opening drive, including a 5-yard touchdown on fourth-and-1. The Packers bit on the play-action fake and Jefferson was all alone in the right flat for the score.
Green Bay almost had the quick answer. Who knows if the outcome would have changed had rookie receiver Christian Watson not dropped what should have been a 75-yard touchdown pass. But it was Green Bay’s one big opportunity during the first half, and it slipped through its fingers.
“I don’t really like playing those what-if games but the games do usually come down to a few plays here and there,” Rodgers said. “If C-Dub catches that one, [it’s a] 75-yard touchdown. If I pull the one on the goal line [on fourth-and-1 in the second quarter], I walk in for a touchdown. There’s 14 points. So, we would have been right in it.”
The Packers trailed 17-0 at halftime – Jefferson was open by about 36 yards on his 36-yard touchdown just before halftime – and 20-0 in the third quarter. Green Bay’s offense was far too limited to mount much of a challenge. No surprise there. What was a surprise was the play of Green Bay’s hyped defense. It played some good run defense. It applied some pressure. But, unlike Minnesota’s fired-up unit, it never got close to making a game-changing play or creating a turnover.
The game unofficially ended on a fourth-and-1 with about 4 minutes left. Rodgers threw a pass into double coverage to tight end Robert Tonyan which had no chance for success. Jordan Love closed the game at quarterback.
Jefferson had 184 receiving yards and Green Bay’s passing attack had 162 net yards before the final drive.
Vikings fans, who earlier chanted “MVP” to Kirk Cousins, started singing “Hey, hey, goodbye” as the clock ticked down to the two-minute warning.
Game Ball
How many Packers does it to take to change a lightbulb? Whatever the numbers, they needed more to cover Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson, who had six catches and 156 yards and two touchdowns in the first half alone and a huge 21-yard gain on third-and-7 early in the fourth quarter.
Questionable Call
It’s understandable that defensive coordinator Joe Barry has a lot of faith in cornerbacks Eric Stokes and Rasul Douglas. But he’s got one of the best defenders in the NFL in former All-Pro cornerback Jaire Alexander. Why not match Alexander on Justin Jefferson on every snap? Stokes had an excellent rookie season, aside from a poor performance at Minnesota in November, and he had a poor performance on Sunday, too.
Turning Point
Christian Watson’s first-quarter drop was big. So was Minnesota’s goal-line stand in the second quarter, with Za’Darius Smith dropping AJ Dillon on fourth-and-goal from the 1. Rodgers wished he would have kept it.
“It was a zone-read-type play,” LaFleur said. “And they did a nice job defending the pass portion of it. We gave it [to Dillon] and Z did a good job crashing. You know, he’s unblocked on that play and he made the play.”
What’s Next?
The Packers will host the Chicago Bears on Sunday Night Football. Kickoff is set for 7:20 p.m. The Bears splashed and dashed their way to a 19-10 upset victory over the San Francisco 49ers. Former Packers receiver Equanimeous St Brown had an 18-yard touchdown catch.
