VikesCentric: Packers put away the Vikings with ease

The Minnesota Vikings stayed with the Green Bay Packers at TCF Bank Stadium, but ultimately the visitors, with their high-powered offense, proved too much. The Packers defense turned a Teddy Bridgewater interception into seven points to give them the lead and they never really looked back.

While few experts gave the Vikings much of a chance against the high-scoring Packers, the Vikings defense played tough enough to keep them around late into the fourth quarter. Head coach Mike Zimmer twice went for it on fourth down to keep a Vikings drive going and to keep Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers off the field, but in the end, the Packers, with the help of Eddie Lacy (125 rushing yards and a touchdown), put up the points they needed to win.

The Vikings played better than they had last week against Chicago, but in the end were just outgunned. Rodgers never appeared too concerned about the outcome. In the final analysis, the Vikings played with the Packers, but the Packers basically toyed with the Vikings.

Trending

Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater had another rough outing. He missed several open receivers, threw several high passes (some that were completed) to his receivers and floated a bad pick in the first half that turned into a Packers touchdown. Bridgewater looked good in the fourth quarter when the Vikings went into 4-minute drill (and the Packers went into prevent defense) and he had his first two-touchdown pass game as a pro, but his mistakes had already put the Vikings in a hole that they had little chance of escaping. But it was his inaccuracies and the unforced error of the pick that ultimately marred his performance.

As a unit, the Vikings pass defense had a decent game for Minnesota, holding Rodgers and the high-octane Packers passing game to only 207 yards—below their average of 275 yards per game. Xavier Rhodes, Captain Munnerlyn, and particularly Josh Robinson (who struggled mightily last weekend with the taller Bears receivers), were constantly in position to break up passes and did so. With a quarterback such as Rodgers, who is going to get his, they kept him in check, which kept Minnesota in the game. If the Viking rush defense had had similar success, it might have been enough to win.

With all kinds of questions at the Vikings running back position (from Adrian Peterson to Matt Asiata out with a concussion and Jerick McKinnon with a sore lower back), the Vikings needed some good news and got it from Joe Banyard. Banyard, getting his first NFL carry and first reception, spelled McKinnon and took advantage of every opportunity (five rushes for 26 yards and three catches for 19 yards). It could have because he heard footsteps behind him when the Vikings signed Ben Tate earlier in the week. But Banyard's production is what kept him on the field.

Zimmer (like most coaches) likes to reward good play, so expect to see more of Banyard the longer Asiata remains sidelined or until Tate gets up to speed with the offense.

Worth Defending

Zimmer may have made a coaching error, at least according to himself. After the Vikings' final touchdown and two-point conversion, the Vikings were gifted with a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty that was tacked onto the kickoff. It presented a great opportunity to try an onside kick that Zimmer decided against. Zimmer chose to kick deep, which let to Lacy grinding away the rest of the clock. After the game, Zimmer said in retrospect, that he should have kicked it onside.

"I did," Zimmer said when asked if he considered an onside kick. "I did and [in] hindsight I probably should have, but you're trying to pop it up and keep it in play and try to pin them back down in there deep. But I assumed that we would stop them."

Hindsight is 20-20, as they say, but Zimmer should have made the call at the outset. The only way to shutdown the Packers totally is to keep them off the field. Zimmer made that decision to do the same on fourth down twice in the first half. At 4-6 heading toward 4-7, the Vikings had nothing to lose going for the onside kick. If they don't get it, Lacy can get a first down and ice the game at the 45 as well as the 20-yard line.

Before the game on Sunday a report from ESPN said that Mike Zimmer believes that Adrian Peterson will return to the Vikings after he is reinstated—despite reaction to a report by the USA Today in which Peterson said it might be best to try a fresh start somewhere else.

ESPN sources said that while there are some team personnel who are interested in Peterson returning, Vikings ownership--along with general manager Rick Spielman--"have been heavily involved in effort to have him play this season, an indication they may take him back when reinstated."

Peterson will be back with the NFL sooner or later. Getting a second chance in Minnesota would be good for him and the team—even if not all the Vikings corporate sponsors agree. In my estimation, he would need to come back with a renegotiated salary (as he is due between $13-15 million next season), but his presence in the backfield would open things up for Bridgewater and help him to learn his position rather than fearing it on every pass play behind a struggling offensive line. Peterson should be able to continue to make a living, and I would like to see him do it as a Viking.

Should be Ending

Matt Kalil struggled once again on Sunday, and it was no more obvious than on the three penalties that he took that served to shorten two Vikings drives. His head coach didn't call him out by name, but he did mention the infractions in his postgame news conference:

The Vikings need to find the secret to Kalil to unlock the player who was on the field two years ago. The future success of the team depends on it.

On the Vikings final drive, Jarius Wright was confused with his assignment on the field twice and the second time it forced the use of a time out. One play Bridgewater had to direct him into position, and on the second he called a time out. When play resumed after the time out, Wright was nowhere to be seen on the field for the remainder of the drive. Patterson, who was questionable to return to the game with injury, came in for Wright. Not being ready in crunch time is not acceptable. It appears it is not acceptable to Zimmer either.

Bridgewater needs to figure out why he is throwing his passes so high to receivers. It has happened throughout the season and showed up with great frequency against Green Bay (he came into the game tied for sixth most overthrows in the league with five per game). If it is mechanics, work on it. If he is too short to see over his line, then try rolling him out more. If he doesn't grip the ball correctly, he might need to change things up. His overthrows hurt the Vikings on several drives and more accurate passing could have made difference in the game.

Head over to Vikings Journal and check out AJ Mansour's take on who to blame for the disheartening loss to the Packers and then join in the conversation on the Vikings Journal forums, where everything Purple is dissected and discussed.