The Vikings held the NFC North lead for only one week, as Green Bay came to Minnesota and got lots of help from Minnesota to take control of the game. While Teddy Bridgewater did just about everything he could (he would have thrown for over 300 yards if Mike Wallace had caught anything thrown his way), the running game never got going and Bridgewater was under pressure for much of the game, absorbing six sacks (second most of the season after the Denver game). A critical Adrian Peterson fumble put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter. One of the deciding factors in the outcome was penalties, particularly ill-timed penalties at critical moments on the guys in purple. The Vikings entered the game as the least-penalized team in the NFL, but you’d never have guessed that watching the first half of play … yellow flags seemed to fly after every other play, uniformly against the Vikings.
Judd Zulgad can always be depended on to take off the purple-coloured glasses and say what he really thinks about the team’s effort in any given game:
This wasn’t a case of the Vikings not being ready to play, so much as it was the fact they played like a team that wasn’t ready for the spotlight.
A five-game winning streak had given the Vikings sole possession of first place in the NFC North and a meeting with the struggling Packers provided an opportunity to make a statement about the shift in power in the division. Instead, the Packers ended a three-game losing streak and tied the Vikings for first place.
“We just didn’t come out here and execute,” Vikings cornerback Captain Munnerlyn said. “I don’t know what it is. It seems like in prime-time games we don’t play well. The whole nation was watching us and we didn’t play well.
“We’ve got to fix. If we want to get to the next level, and that’s to make the playoffs and make that Super Bowl run, we’ve got to fix it quick. We’ve got six more games left. We’ve got to learn from this game and move on.”
Unlike many Vikings-Packers matchups in the past six years, when Green Bay simply outclassed Minnesota, Sunday’s game was one in which the Vikings continually seemed to shoot themselves in the foot. This was a case of the Vikings beating the Vikings.
Zimmer’s team normally plays smart football – they were the least penalized club in the NFL entering Sunday – but they were called for eight penalties for 110 yards in the loss.
This included defensive tackle Linval Joseph’s poor decision to shove Aaron Rodgers after the quarterback had delivered a pass on a third-and-15 from the Vikings 15-yard line. That drew a flag for roughing the passer and resulted in offsetting penalties and a repeat of the down because Packers left tackle David Bakhtiari was called for holding.
It’s early to start making draft predictions, but based on what we’ve seen so far this season, I doubt that Mike Wallace will still be with the team when training camp opens in 2016, and it’s questionable that Charles Johnson or Cordarrelle Patterson will be there either (without incentive-laden contracts being offered). I see at least one offensive lineman being drafted in the first two rounds and probably a wide receiver or two in the first four rounds. You’ve got to say that paying Wallace nearly $10 million is a waste of money, and Johnson and Patterson have not made a case that they’re worthy of having a ton of money dropped on them to keep playing. Injuries have been a key factor in limiting the effectiveness of our offensive line (losing two of your five starters before the first regular season game can be an eye-opener), and while we need to give full credit to Berger and Harris for their well-above-their-pay-grade efforts this year, offensive line depth has been the Achilles’ heel for the Vikings this season. No matter how well Teddy Bridgewater plays, he can’t work miracles if the opposing front four are already in his face at the end of his drop … you can’t find a receiver if you’ve got a defensive end or a blitzing safety in your face as soon as you turn toward the line of scrimmage.
