Winter blunder-land

GREEN BAY, WIS. - The last glimmers of the Vikings' playoff hopes faded away Thursday night at misty Lambeau Field, where two teams tripped over each other for most of three hours before officials had no choice but to declare someone the victor.

Green Bay claimed that honor when Dave Rayner, who had missed two earlier attempts on a wet field, kicked a 44-yard field goal with 1 minute, 34 seconds remaining. The kick lifted the Packers to an ugly 9-7 victory, eliminating the Vikings from postseason contention while serving as a sharp reminder that their offensive shortcomings extend far beyond the identity of their starting quarterback.

In the starting debut of rookie quarterback Tarvaris Jackson, the Vikings produced their most anemic offensive showing of an already-insipid season. They managed a team-record three first downs, finished with 104 total yards and went three-and-out on nine of their 12 possessions.

The Vikings' only points came on Fred Smoot's 47-yard interception return in the third quarter, marking the sixth game this season the Vikings have failed to score an offensive touchdown. The play gave the Vikings an improbable 7-6 lead midway through the third quarter.

But Packers quarterback Brett Favre put his team in range for the winning field goal by completing a 36-yard pass to receiver Ruvell Martin with 3:24 remaining.

"I thought our defense did plenty to win that football game," said coach Brad Childress, whose team is now guaranteed of finishing his first season with a losing record. "But you can't have nine out of [12] series be three-and-out and expect to beat anybody. We knew with Tarvaris starting we would have to be able to support him. You have to make plays when they come to you."

Jackson threw for only 50 yards, completing 10 of 20 passes in an offensive game plan that seemed unchanged from the season's first 14 games. Jackson threw one interception, had another dropped by Packers linebacker A.J. Hawk and saw his two best passes go for naught.

Receiver Troy Williamson dropped a deep post pass in the first quarter; predictably, it bounced off the top of Williamson's shoulder. Meanwhile, a 42-yard completion to receiver Travis Taylor in the third quarter was called back for an illegal-shift penalty -- one of 10 Vikings penalties in the game.

"Tarvaris made some great throws," said safety Darren Sharper, who intercepted one pass from Favre and dropped another. "That deep ball [to Williamson] should have been caught. If you have a rookie quarterback that comes into an environment like this, you have to have everybody step up and make plays. We feel as though defensively we did that; maybe we didn't do it enough. But we need everybody to step up and make plays."

Instead, it was Favre who once again led his team to a dramatic victory. He set a personal record by attempting 33 passes in the first half, but for the most part the Vikings defense stiffened at the appropriate time to keep them in the game.

Rayner attempted four field goals in the first half -- making two, bouncing one off the left upright and slipping on another. And after Smoot's interception, the Vikings seemed to take control of the game.

Sharper intercepted Favre on the Packers' next series, and safety Antoine Winfield recovered tight end Bubba Franks' fumble at the Vikings 3-yard line -- appearing to snuff out what could have been the Packers' final scoring chance with 8:32 left.

But the Vikings managed only one first down after regaining possession, and Packers safety Nick Collins tackled Jackson after a 2-yard gain on third-and-5. The Vikings punted, and Favre went back to work.

Favre finished the game with 26 completions in 50 attempts, and in two games against the Vikings this season he threw for a total of 632 yards. On the other hand, the Packers managed only 46 rushing yards on 24 carries.

"It was just the same old thing as always," nose tackle Pat Williams said. "Nobody beats us. We kill our own self. We beat ourselves, and it ends up in a loss. We outplayed them. They got that one pass play on us [to Martin]. That hurt us, put them in field goal range and they won the game."

Kevin Seifert • kseifert@startribune.com