Packers vs. Vikings recap: Green Bay’s late surge fails again with a 27-25 loss

Where have Green Bay Packers fans heard this before?

In the first half against the Minnesota Vikings, the Packers turned the ball over and struggled to even move the ball on offense. They had to make a late surge, found their rhythm in the fourth quarter and pulled back within striking distance, but narrowly fell short in the end, losing by two points.

No, this is not a recap of the two teams’ Week 4 game at Lambeau Field, when the Vikings won 31-29. Instead, Week 17’s matchup was pretty similar to this game, with the Packers nearly erasing a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, the defense failed to get a critical stop in the final two minutes, leaving the Vikings running out of time.

As a reason for this defeat, the Packers can once again look back on self-inflicted mistakes. Josh Jacobs’ fumble on the first drive is one of them; A drop by Jayden Reed on a 4th-and-2 is another. At the end of the first half there was also a phantom offside call by Edgerrin Cooper for a missed field goal, allowing Minnesota to shoot again and secure the eventual victory.

Then there was consistently poor pass defense for Love in the first three quarters, as he only rushed for 64 yards at halftime. But he came alive late in the game when the Packers were in rushing mode and finished with 185 yards and a touchdown.

Meanwhile, Josh Jacobs disappeared again in the second half after an impressive first-half performance. He only carried the football four times after halftime, leaving much of it to Emanuel Wilson. He did score a touchdown, his 15th of the season, and it was his seventh straight game in which he scored, but it was largely an insignificant deficit.

Defensively, the Packers got another standout performance from Edgerrin Cooper, who set the tone with four tackles for loss. However, they were unable to put any pressure on Sam Darnold as the Vikings quarterback kept getting the ball out of his hands just before the Packers pass rushers could get home. He finished the day 33/43 for 377 yards, three touchdowns and a pick as he easily picked apart a banged up Packers secondary who had suffered another injury as Zayne Anderson suffered a concussion early in kickoff coverage suffered.

This game was another reminder that the Packers are talented enough to play with the best teams in the NFL, but that they continue to make mistakes that the best teams don’t make. Now they’ll have to hope the Washington Commanders lose one of their final two games to have a chance of avoiding the No. 7 seed in the postseason for the second straight year.

First quarter summary

As is often the case, the Packers elected to receive after winning the first coin toss. After Dontayvion Wicks converted a beautiful contested catch early on third down, early disaster struck: Josh Jacobs’ third carry of the drive went for 8 yards, but defensive tackle Jerry Tillery managed to get rid of the ball and cornerback Camryn Bynum recovered for an early turnover.

After allowing a first down, Green Bay’s defense forced a stop near midfield, put pressure on Sam Darnold and forced a punt on Minnesota’s first possession. Jordan Love threw three straight incomplete passes on the Packers’ second drive, setting up Daniel Whelan for his first punt of the day. His 50-yarder brought the Vikings to their own 35-yard line.

Minnesota nearly scored a touchdown early on its next series, but Keisean Nixon tracked down Jordan Addison in the end zone and broke up Darnold’s deep pass. That led to the Vikings attempting a 57-yard field goal, but Will Reichard’s attempt narrowly missed and clipped the front of the crossbar.

Green Bay’s first big offensive play of the game came on the next series from Tucker Kraft. Kraft took a screen pass up the middle for 18 yards, and the referees added an additional 15 yards for a shallow block to Harrison Smith. That gave the Packers their first red zone chance of the day, but the offense stalled. Instead of keeping the offense on the field on 4th-and-3 from the 4-yard line, Matt LaFleur sent out Brandon McManus for a short field goal and the first points of the game just before the end of the first quarter.

Review of the second quarter

The Vikings scored two 13-yard gains from Jordan Addison on their next drive as Darnold beat the Packers’ blitz both times, but it was a coverage bust that cost the Green Bay defense. Darnold found a wide-open Jalen Nailor for a 31-yard score as the third-year receiver got Minnesota on the board for a 7-3 lead.

Green Bay’s next drive ended with a drop in Vikings territory. After driving well through the midfield behind Jacobs, Love threw to Romeo Doubs just in front of the post in the 3rd and 5th rounds. After a 4th-and-2 from the 23-yard line, Love fired a dart over the middle to Jayden Reed, but he couldn’t haul in the pass and the Packers turned the ball over on downs.

Decision models had the power to choose the right decision, as shown below, but Reed’s decline was still frustrating.

Minnesota finally got Justin Jefferson into the flow of the game on the ensuing drive, first calling a pass interference penalty on Keisean Nixon and then giving the receiver his first catch on a short pass to the left. Later, Darnold found Nailor at the 25-yard line for a 3rd-down conversion, then Cam Akers broke off a big run to give the Vikings first-and-goal at the 10-yard line. Green Bay’s defense stiffened, forcing two incompletions for a narrow win for Addison and bringing in Reichard for a short field goal and a 10-3 Vikings lead with just over two minutes left.

Green Bay got a short run from Jacobs before the two-minute warning, then a challenge from Love to get within a foot of the first down, but an illegal formation penalty on Wicks negated a conversion by Jacobs. Love threw a deep incompletion after the penalty and the Packers had to punt.

Darnold led the Vikings down the field and got just to the edge of Reichard’s range for another long field goal attempt just before the end of the half. Reichard missed from 55 yards on the right edge, but Edgerrin Cooper was reportedly offside, allowing him another shot from 50 yards. He hit that one and gave the Vikings a 13-3 lead at halftime.

Third quarter summary

After halftime, Minnesota picked up where it left off, shredding the Packers’ defense through the air. With the Packers’ pass rush always a step slower to get to Darnold, he found Nailor for a big gain of 22 and Jefferson for 15, then hit Jordan Addison for an 18-yard touchdown to open the Vikings’ lead 20-3. The drive spanned 70 yards over nine plays and just over five minutes and put a lot of pressure on the Packers to score fewer points on three possessions.

However, Green Bay started its next drive at the 40-yard line, thanks to a misstep by Reichard on the ensuing kickoff. But they couldn’t do anything with it, getting a 12-man penalty and then giving Love no time to throw on third-and-9 before punting again.

Carrington Valentine gave the Packers their first big attack on the defense on the ensuing drive. Valentine jumped a TJ Hockenson route at midfield, fended off Darnold and returned the ball to the red zone. Valentine was stripped of the football, but Karl Brooks fell on it to give the offense the football at the 16-yard line.

After Love hit Doubs inside the 5 for the first down, the second of two runs by Jacobs finally reached the end zone, bringing the Packers back to within ten points.

In no time, the Vikings struck back and regained their 17-point lead. By utilizing Jones and Cam Akers out of the backfield and creating attacking routes in the middle of the defense, Darnold continued to build up the secondary. He finished the game with a 9-yard swing pass to Akers, who scampered into the end zone, extending Minnesota’s lead back to 27-10.

Before the third quarter ended, the Packers ran three plays and picked up a third down on a pass to Doubs over the middle.

Fourth Quarter Summary

The Packers’ drive ended quickly after the start of the fourth quarter as Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores increased the pressure on 2nd-and-3 and long. On third down, Love got a sack to force another punt.

Darnold found Jefferson for a big play on the next series, gaining 37 yards on a catch-and-run over the middle. That put Minnesota within field goal range, but after another tackle for loss by Edgerrin Cooper – his fourth of the game – Reichard hit the upright again, this time drilling the left upright on a 43-yard attempt.

Finally, the Packers had their first explosive play of more than 20 yards when Tucker Kraft found a soft spot in zone coverage and scored a 35-yard gain. Jacobs then went on an incredible 19-yard touchdown run, but it was called back to catch Sean Rhyan. Instead, Emanuel Wilson came into the game for a few plays, gained 14 yards on a swing pass and then marched into the end zone from five yards out. The Packers went for a two-point conversion and Love hit Doubs to make the score 27-18.

Green Bay’s defense then did its job, forcing the first three-pointer of the day and leading to a short punt, allowing the offense to regain control of its own 38 points with more than 4:30 left on the court. After picking up a sack on first down, Love found Doubs for 18 yards to move the chains on third down, then went back to Doubs for another 13-yard gain. As time approached the two-minute warning, Love found Malik Heath in the back of the end zone for a touchdown, bringing the score within two points, 27-25.

That meant Green Bay had all three timeouts and the two-minute warning and had to make a stop. But on first down, Darnold rolled out and hit fullback CJ Ham for the first down, and he stayed in the field, bringing the clock to the two-minute mark. Coming out of the timeout, Rashan Gary made a big tackle for loss on the first down, then Darnold hit Jefferson just in front of the post on the second down. That led to a 3rd-and-2, and Darnold found Akers just behind the sticks for a diving catch to move the chains and seal the deal.