Cleats, Turnovers, Special Teams, and Other Takeaways From Vikings' Loss to Packers
Just about everything that could've gone wrong went wrong for the Vikings during Sunday's 41-17 loss to the Packers at Lambeau Field. With a chance to remain alive for the No. 1 seed and all but knock their biggest rivals out of the postseason, they shot themselves in the foot over and over again in an embarrassing nationally televised defeat.
Before moving on to this weekend's regular season finale against the Bears, let's run through some of the reasons why Sunday's game went so poorly for Minnesota.
Some players wore the wrong cleats to start the game
Early in the game, the Vikings couldn't stop slipping and falling over on the Lambeau Field grass, and it really hurt their offense.
It happened numerous times in the first quarter alone. Following a blocked punt that set the Vikings up with first and goal at the Green Bay 1, Justin Jefferson slipped on his route in the end zone. On the next series, T.J. Hockenson fell while trying to get set up to catch a screen pass. Later in the quarter, both Dalvin Cook and Adam Thielen slipped on a third down play that ended in a long Kirk Cousins scramble.
Perhaps most notably, Jefferson slipped and fell again on Cousins' second interception of the first half, which was tipped at the line of scrimmage. After that play, he appeared to change his cleats on the sidelines.
Justin Jefferson Held to Career-Low One Catch Against Jaire Alexander, Packers
Not having the correct footwear isn't an excuse for the Vikings. The Packers had no issues with their footing. Vikings coaches recommended that players wear seven-stud cleats with better traction, but clearly, some of them didn't take that advice to begin the game. That's hard to excuse or explain.
"We made (that) a point throughout the week," Kevin O'Connell said after the game. "We were able to practice outside a couple days. You're never going to force people to wear those things, but it was strongly encouraged, and a lot of our roster has played up here before. When I did see some guys on the ground and having some issues, they then put those cleats on. Hopefully it's a learning lesson for all of us that we don't need to go through some of that early to rectify that problem."
Special teams was a disaster
When Josh Metellus burst up the middle to block a punt for the second consecutive week, it looked like special teams were going to provide a boost for the Vikings. That's when things took a turn. The offense couldn't score on three plays from the 1, settling for a chip shot field goal to go up 3-0. On the ensuing kickoff, the Vikings played some of the worst kick coverage you'll ever see, leaving a building-sized hole in the middle for Keisean Nixon to go 105 yards and score.
Jalen Nailor (No. 83) messed up big-time by vacating his lane, but he wasn't the only one who played it poorly.
"We’ve got some talented players on that side of the ball, or in that phase of our team, but they still have to go out there and execute as all 11, and make sure that everybody’s staying in their lane and knowing their responsibility," O'Connell said. "We’re going to have to make sure we go back and correct any of the schematical or fundamental issues that took place on that play, because it was a big play in the game."
Greg Joseph also missed two field goals in the first half, a 46-yarder when it was 14-3 and a 50-yarder when it was 24-3. Those kicks could've helped the Vikings stay in the game.
Turnovers were killer
Any time you lose the turnover battle 4 to 0, you're going to have a hard time winning a football game. That's what happened to the Vikings in Green Bay.
Following a big fourth-down stop by their defense, the Vikings faced 4th and 2 from the Packers' 37. Cousins tried to rip a pass to Hockenson over the middle, but it was played well by Rasul Douglas and the deflection bounced into the hands of Darnell Savage, who ran it back 75 yards for a touchdown. Right as Cousins threw the ball, Jefferson had come open on a double move. If Cousins could've waited another second, that could've been a big play — but it's hard to fault him for getting rid of the ball quickly, given the situation and how often he's been hit this season.
In the second quarter, Cousins threw the tipped interception we mentioned earlier. The Packers capitalized on that play to go up 24-3 with their first offensive touchdown of the day.
Then, with the Vikings hoping to mount a comeback, a promising 70-yard drive ended in the red zone when Cousins was strip-sacked by Kenny Clark. Jefferson was being covered by edge rusher Preston Smith on the play, but Cousins came off that read just as Jefferson was getting open with ease.
Finally, just to add insult to injury, Cousins followed up a Packers touchdown that made it 34-3 by throwing an ill-advised deep ball to Adam Thielen up the seam. It was an easy interception for backside safety Rudy Ford, who Cousins didn't read correctly.
Chris Reed playing center was a mess
The Vikings' lost two offensive linemen — center Austin Schlottmann and right tackle Brian O'Neill — to serious injuries in the first quarter. Both went on injured reserve on Tuesday, ending their seasons.
From a long-term perspective, losing O'Neill is clearly the bigger blow. The 2021 Pro Bowler is a leader in the locker room and has been one of the Vikings' best, most consistent players for years. But from the short-term perspective of adapting against the Packers, losing Schlottmann was more impactful.
With starter Garrett Bradbury already injured, the Vikings had to turn to veteran guard Chris Reed at center. He had never previously played that position in an NFL regular season game and had barely practiced with Cousins throughout the year. The result was an absolute mess, as Reed struggled with the cadence and timing of snaps.
That led to four procedural penalties: two delay of games and two false starts that were charged to left guard Ezra Cleveland but were Reed's fault. It was yet another thing that the Vikings' offense couldn't overcome.
Minnesota signed veteran center Greg Mancz on Tuesday, and it's entirely possible (perhaps likely) that he quickly supplants Reed as the starter.
Run defense, pass rush, another coverage bust...all bad
The Vikings' defense wasn't the team's biggest issue in this game. They gave up 315 total yards, which isn't an awful number. But at the same time, that unit wasn't particularly good or impactful.
First and foremost, the run defense was abysmal. Aaron Jones racked up 111 yards on just 14 carries, which is nearly 8 yards per attempt. The Packers had 163 total rushing yards and touchdowns from A.J. Dillon and Aaron Rodgers that added to an ugly scoreline in the second half.
Also concerning is that the Vikings' pass rush was mostly nonexistent. Rodgers was pressured just six times and hit on only three occasions. One of those came on an early fourth down stop, when Danielle Hunter pushed the pocket and Dalvin Tomlinson got to Rodgers for the Vikings' lone sack of the day. That play was about all the Vikings could generate to both Rodgers, who does tend to get the ball out pretty quickly.
Za'Darius Smith, who was making his much-anticipated return to Lambeau Field, was a total non-factor with his first zero-pressure game of the season.
Lastly, there was yet another coverage bust by the Vikings' secondary, which has been a problem all season long. With Josh Metellus in the game for Harrison Smith as part of a pre-planned rotation, there was a miscommunication between Metellus and Jordan Hicks regarding who had Packers tight end Robert Tonyan. That meant Tonyan wound up wide open in the end zone for a score that made it 24-3 in the second quarter.
Other thoughts
- Teams continue to pick on Vikings slot cornerback Chandon Sullivan. He was their lowest-graded player in this game (per PFF), allowing four catches on five targets for 58 yards. Two of those were key third-down conversions. PFF has charged Sullivan with 807 yards allowed this season, more than any other player in the league.
- Adam Thielen has gone very quiet over the last two games, catching one pass in each for a total of 22 yards. The 32-year-old has a season high of 72 yards this season and has just one 100-yard game since the start of the 2021 season. Thielen is still a good player who is valuable in the red zone, but he's clearly lost a step. With cap hits in the $20 million range over the next two years, something will almost certainly change this offseason.
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