Packers shut down Vikings 23-10 to win NFC North title
Running back Aaron Jones #33 of the Green Bay Packers rushes for a touchdown in the third quarter of the game against cornerback Xavier Rhodes #29 of the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium on December 23, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. ((Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images))
MINNEAPOLIS - The Minnesota Vikings made one thing certain after a 23-10 loss to the Green Bay Packers Monday night at U.S. Bank Stadium: As long as they’re in the NFC Playoffs, they’ll most likely be on the road.
The fact that they came into Monday night’s rivalry game already a playoff team is about the only silver lining after their worst performance of the season in front of a sellout crowd of more than 67,000 fans looking for an early Christmas present. Instead, they went home with a big lump of coal. The Vikings managed just 139 total yards and seven first downs.
The offense crossed the 50-yard line once the entire game, in the third quarter. Kirk Cousins, who finished 16-of-31 for 122 yards, threw deep to Stefon Diggs into double coverage on the next play and was intercepted by Kevin King, the same guy who had a game-sealing interception on him in Week 2.
Without Dalvin Cook and Alexander Mattison due to injuries, the Vikings ran for just 57 yards and never got into a rhythm on offense. When Eric Kendricks left the game in the second quarter with a quad injury and didn’t return after recovering a fumble, everything changed for the Vikings’ defense. Aaron Jones out-gained the Vikings on his own, with 154 rushing yards and two touchdowns, as the Packers won the NFC North title.
Cousins is now 0-9 for his career as a starter on Monday Night Football, but his offensive line certainly didn’t’ do him any favors. He was sacked five times as the Vikings managed just 2.6 yards per play. Minnesota’s 139 total yards is the second-lowest in the Mike Zimmer era.
“I’m not going to get into this Kirk Cousins on Monday night thing and all that stuff. Offensively we didn’t play as well as we can play, I’ll say that,” Zimmer said. “Defensively we could’ve played the run better, so there’s a lot of things we need to clean up.”
The Vikings gave themselves plenty of opportunities to get an early lead over the Packers. The defense created three first half turnovers, but only managed to turn them into 10 total points. Anthony Barr forced a Jones fumble on the third play of the game that Kendricks recovered, giving the Vikings’ offense 1st and goal at the 10. The short drive ended with a Dan Bailey field goal.
Anthony Harris made a leaping interception on Aaron Rodgers in the second quarter, giving the Vikings the ball at the Packers’ 26. It led to the only touchdown of the game, with Cousins hitting Stefon Diggs for a 22-yard touchdown in the front corner of the end zone for a 10-3 Vikings’ lead. Diggs now has touchdowns in seven straight games against the Packers.
With the Vikings up 10-6 in the second quarter, Rodgers hit Davante Adams over the middle. Harrison Smith forced Adams to fumble, and Kendricks recovered before leaving the game injured. Three plays later, the Vikings tried the “Philly Special” as Diggs got a reverse and had Cousins on the receiving end wide open down the field. If converted, it likely goes for a touchdown. But Diggs overthrew the $84 million quarterback.
“It was wide open. I missed the throw. I never say those words, I see how he feels now,” Diggs said.
The drive ended with Cousins missing Adam Thielen, who didn’t make a catch in the game on only three targets, on 4th-and-4 for a turnover on downs.
The Vikings managed just 68 total yards in the first half, despite creating three turnovers, and had only five first downs entering the fourth quarter. Seven of their first 11 possessions lasted just three plays.
“When you don’t convert third downs, go 3-and-out, you just don’t have many plays. You don’t have many bites at the apple to get going. We certainly did not play well enough from start to finish tonight,” Cousins said.
The Packers had the ball for nearly 16 more minutes Monday night, and eventually wore the Viking’s defense out. Cousins’ only turnover of the night led to seven points to give the Packers their first lead of the night. He tried to hit Diggs for a deep gain down the middle, but threw into double coverage and was picked off by King.
Jones scored from 11 yards out to give the Packers a 17-10 lead.
The Vikings’ offense had a fourth quarter that was equal parts puzzling and frustrating. Facing a 4th-and-1 in Packers’ territory, the Vikings appeared to be trying to draw the Green Bay defense offside when Zimmer called a timeout with 20 seconds left on the play clock. Inexplicably, the Vikings then punted.
Jones delivered the knockout blow with a 56-yard touchdown to give the Packers a 23-10 lead with 5:51 left. Zimmer prides himself on defense, particularly in stopping the run. Jones out-gained the Vikings on his own Monday night, and the Packers ran for 199 of their 386 total yards.
In their Week 2 win over the Vikings, the Packers ran for 144 yards.
“We could’ve done a lot better job stopping the run,” said Stephen Weatherly, who had one of three sacks in the game for the Vikings.
The Vikings appeared to get back in the game when Cousins hit Bisi Johnson for a 53-yard touchdown, but the play was negated by a Riley Reiff holding penalty. It was the last big mistake in a night full of them for Minnesota.
“Tough loss tonight, we didn’t play well enough to win. That’s what happens when you don’t play as good as you can,” Zimmer said.
Despite offensive ineptitude, questionable play-calling and the defense getting gashed by the run for another week in an abysmal night, all is not lost for the Vikings. They’re in the NFC Playoffs, and next week’s regular season finale against the Chicago Bears is largely meaningless. The Vikings are locked into the No. 6 seed, and now it’s just a matter of where they’re headed in two weeks.
It was Green Bay’s first win at U.S. Bank Stadium, and it was the Vikings’ first home loss this season. They were the only undefeated home team left in the NFL. Now the Vikings must wipe the slate clean, learn from all the mistakes and move on. That’s the only option.
“No matter what the result is this week, next week you just have to keep going and be resilient. That’s what good football teams do,” Cousins said.
That, and get Cook, Mattison and Kendricks healthy as quickly as possible.