NO. 4-CLOSURE

Thunderous boos rained down at the end of the first half Sunday afternoon as the Vikings jogged into the locker room. And guess what? That had been their good half.

So it went for the Vikings in a sobering 23-17 loss to Green Bay, one in which their offense showed the briefest sign of life early on before collapsing amid a potent Packers pass rush. Losers of three consecutive games and under .500 for the first time this season, the Vikings are becoming a team worthy of boos even for its best efforts.

"You can say that we've still got seven games to go," cornerback Antoine Winfield said. "But you could [also] say that, looking at our schedule, these are games that we should have won."

The Vikings, however, now represent what they previously thought of San Francisco and Green Bay, their two most recent opponents: They are a team that should be beat. There had been some hope last week at Winter Park that Winfield's blunt public assessment of the offense would spur a series of improvements, waking the team from what looked like a midseason slumber.

Sunday's performance, however, suggested more deep-rooted problems than a lack of offensive firepower.

Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre once again exposed the Vikings' vulnerability in the midrange passing game, throwing for 347 yards and two touchdowns -- including an 82-yard catch-and-run to Donald Driver 48 seconds before halftime. The performance came two weeks after New England quarterback Tom Brady gashed the Vikings for 372 yards.

Sunday, Favre spread the ball to seven different targets, was not sacked and never came close to an interception against a secondary that played without cornerback Fred Smoot; Smoot remained in Jackson, Miss., following the death of his half-brother.

After watching Driver catch six passes for 191 yards, while relative unknowns Ruvell Martin and Greg Jennings also made key receptions, it seemed clear that any team with a smart quarterback and decent pass protection should be able to move the ball against the Vikings.

That revelation might have been the most frightening of the afternoon. The Vikings' own offense scored touchdowns on consecutive possessions in the first half, but it produced five consecutive three-and-outs in the second half and still has scored only nine touchdowns in nine games.

"We've just got to go back to the drawing board," said safety Dwight Smith, who was benched for the first series for disciplinary reasons. "A lot of people want to blame it on the offense for not moving the ball. But regardless of that, we have to come out to outplay the other team, period.

"If the other team holds us to three points, then we can't give up anything. That's how we have got to be. Until we realize that, we're going to have more days like this."

Which, suffice it to say, would make for a highly predictable season. Although the Vikings led 14-10 midway through the second quarter, both touchdowns came on plays of questionable soundness.

Green Bay left Vikings receiver Billy McMullen wide open in the second quarter, and quarterback Brad Johnson found him for a 40-yard touchdown pass against the busted coverage. The Vikings then marched into the red zone on their next possession, and Johnson found running back Chester Taylor open across the middle from the 16-yard line.

Taylor fumbled at the 1-yard line after a big hit from rookie linebacker A.J. Hawk, but McMullen alertly fell on the ball in the end zone for a touchdown.

Driver's long touchdown play seemed to deflate the Vikings; after McMullen's touchdown, they managed only three more first downs until their final possession of the game.

Coach Brad Childress pointed to turnovers (two) and penalties (seven), and appeared to consider Driver's score a crucial play.

"We had some momentum for a while," Childress said, "but weren't able to seize on that."

Two special-teams penalties, both on Artose Pinner, were particularly damaging. His illegal block in the third quarter wiped out Bethel Johnson's 102-yard kickoff return, and his offsides penalty negated Greg Blue's recovery of an onside kick.

Quarterback Brad Johnson committed two turnovers, a first-quarter fumble and a fourth-quarter interception, but he was pressured throughout the game. He was sacked four times and hurried on five other passes, and Childress spent a good part of the second half screaming at offensive linemen on the sideline.

"We're shooting ourselves in the foot a lot," guard Steve Hutchinson said. "You've got to give credit to Green Bay. They did some good things and surprised us a little bit with some things, I think. But more times than not, we have just got to take care of our assignments and play harder."

Fullback Tony Richardson described Sunday's affair as a case of "the Vikings beating the Vikings."

Unfortunately for him, the Vikings don't get a victory for that outcome.