Eight months removed from blowing a first-half lead to the Chicago Bears in the playoffs, the Green Bay Packers squandered a 12-point lead in their Week 1 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, 39-22.
With 5:09 left in the third quarter, rookie kicker Trey Smack connected on a 26-yard field goal to give the Packers a 22-10 lead and what appeared to be the momentum to carry the team through the fourth quarter. What happened in the last 20 minutes of the game is something that Matt LaFleur, Jordan Love and Packers fans across the world are going to want to forget.
Minnesota ripped off 29 unanswered points while stopping the Packers offense in its tracks. While Green Bay was on offense, Minnesota defensive coordinator Brian Flores dialed up blitz after blitz leading to four sacks, two fumbles (one lost), an interception and no points scored.
“You are playing this defense, you know that there is going to be pressure. You know that is part of it,” Love said. “Like I said though, we’ll look back at the film, but there is just a lot of missed opportunities, which there are couple I wish we could get back.”
When Green Bay went up 22-10, it appeared the Packers were going to come away with an easy divisional win, given that Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray went down with a head injury after a brutal hit in the first quarter. It was backup quarterback Carson Wentz and Flores’ pressure-filled defense that prevented the Packers from starting the season 1-0.
Wentz finished the game by completing 12-of-19 passes for 133 yards and three touchdowns. Two of Wentz’s touchdown passes went to Justin Jefferson, with the other going to T.J. Hockenson.
In the run game, Jordan Mason led the way for the Vikings, totaling 59 yards a touchdown on 15 carries. Former Packers running back Aaron Jones finished the game with 40 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries.
On the Packers side of the field, Love completed 21-of-42 passes for 387 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Christian Watson was the leading receiver for Green Bay, as he totaled 147 yards and two touchdowns on six receptions, including an 81-yard touchdown, in which Love was able to beat the blitz.
In the absence of Josh Jacobs, it was MarShawn Lloyd who led the Packers in rushing, totaling 37 yards on 13 carries. Chris Brooks added another 29 yards on seven carries.
While it didn’t end up costing Green Bay the game, LaFleur was presented with an interesting scenario early in the fourth quarter. On fourth-and-six from the Vikings’ 22-yard line, Smack connected on a 40-yard field goal giving Green Bay a 25-17 lead. An offsides penalty against Minnesota nullified the kick. Now faced with a fourth-and-one, LaFleur elected to take the field goal off the board and attempt to pick up the first down. On the ensuing play, Love attempted a quarterback sneak, but was stuffed, giving the ball back to the Vikings without Green Bay scoring any points.
“We are just going to be aggressive,” said LaFleur, on his decision to take the points off the board. “It was going to be an eight-point game. If it would have been a two-possession game, I would have thought otherwise, but I thought we had a chance. We are going to be aggressive, and we are going to try to go for the throat in that situation.”
While LaFleur’s decision to go for the first down ultimately did not cost Green Bay the win, it did kick off the chain of events that led to the Packers’ demise. From that point, Green Bay totaled just 38 yards over its next three drives.
“If you look at that fourth quarter, they got the momentum,” Love said. “They started rolling, and that is where we kind of fell apart. I think being in this away environment — this noise, everything — the communication has to be 100%. And that is where, when that momentum gets going, we have to be at our best still and overcome that stuff, and I don’t think we did.”
With the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions each winning during Week 1, the other three teams in the NFC North are all 1-0, while the Packers sit at 0-1. Green Bay will have a chance to get its first win of the season as it takes on the 1-0 New York Jets in Week 2.
Bo Melton returns a kickoff 59 yards in the first quarter Sept. 13 against the Minnesota Vikings. Melton was elevated from the practice squad for the game after earlier being released by the Packers. It is expected he will be a special teams players much of the season. (Greg Mellis | Green & Gold Express)
Rookie Chris McClellan was called for roughing the passer against Carson Wentz on a third down play that kept the Vikings’ drive alive in the fourth quarter. (Greg Mellis | Green & Gold Express)
An unnecessary roughness call against Javon Bullard knocked out Kyler Murray with a concussion in the first quarter. (Greg Mellis | Green & Gold Express)
