Analysis: New lows, old woes for the Vikings in a numbing loss to the Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Workers swirled around J.J. McCarthy, silently completing the tasks of packing up an NFL locker room and preparing the visiting team for its flight home. Equipment crates wheeled past the quarterback and team officials filled laundry carts, as players collected belongings and dressed to go back to Minnesota. McCarthy appeared unaffected by it as he continued to stare into his locker.

Teammates and Vikings officials approached with hugs and words of encouragement after the Packers’ 23-6 victory over Minnesota at Lambeau Field; McCarthy embraced tackles Christian Darrisaw and Brian O’Neill as they vowed to get back to work. In his postgame news conference minutes later, the 22-year-old tried to pack up the feelings he knew would not solve the Vikings’ problems.

“I just don’t think emotions are gonna do anything good for us at the end of the day,” he said. “It’s just like fluff, and it’s not going to help us execute plays better. So [it’s] just understanding where the issues are, where the problems are, and fixing them.”

The Vikings’ loss on Sunday was McCarthy’s fourth as their starter, giving him more defeats in six NFL starts than he had in 66 starts across high school and college. It might require the Vikings (4-7) winning their final six games for the 2025 season not to be the quarterback’s first without a playoff appearance since before he could drive. As McCarthy searched for answers and veterans rallied around the cause of professional pride, it seemed mere progress would qualify as an improvement.

Presented with a chance to regain the lead in the third quarter and resume pursuit of a third NFC North road victory this season, the Vikings instead delivered a feeble second half that sent their loss to the Packers (7-3-1) lurching toward the statistical depths of their performances at Lambeau Field.

The Vikings had four yards of offense in the second half, rushing for seven while losing a total of three on 12 passing plays, including four sacks. McCarthy threw two interceptions, becoming the first Minnesota QB to throw at least two picks in three consecutive games since Christian Ponder in 2012. The Vikings’ six points at Lambeau Field were their fewest since a 34-0 shutout in 2007; the only time they’d gained fewer yards in Green Bay than the 145 they had Sunday was in a 9-7 loss on a rainy Thursday night in December 2006.

Sunday was the first time this season they’d had their five preferred offensive linemen on the field together, and the Vikings gave up five sacks, including four in a second half when left guard Donovan Jackson and left tackle Darrisaw departed with ankle injuries.

And while McCarthy’s two fourth-quarter interceptions ended the Vikings’ final two drives, the pivotal mistake came on special teams for the third week in a row, when Myles Price was blocked into a punt after the defense had stopped Green Bay on the first series of the third quarter. The Packers recovered the live ball at the Minnesota 5, setting up Wilson’s second touchdown of the game to make it 17-6.

“The margin of error is clearly pretty razor thin right now,” coach Kevin O’Connell said. “But what we can’t do is lose the turnover battle three to nothing, significantly lose the field position battle, and then have negative plays on offense that gives you really no chance against better defenses in the league. We’ve got to have some things corrected that are proving to be somewhat fatal in certain areas of our team right now, well beyond just having a young quarterback.”

In the first half, when the Vikings outgained Green Bay 141-140 and pulled within four points on Will Reichard’s 59-yard field goal before halftime, they showed hints of an approach that would allow them to compete with McCarthy.

They ran for six first downs, with Aaron Jones Sr. gaining 42 yards on eight carries against his former team and Jordan Mason adding another 44 on seven carries, five of which came on consecutive plays in the second quarter as O’Connell leaned on the run game more than he typically does.

McCarthy completed seven of his 11 passes for 62 yards, hitting a play-action pass to Justin Jefferson for 19 yards. He was sacked only once, played a turnover-free first half and the Vikings’ defense recovered from an opening Green Bay touchdown drive to force a punt that gave Minnesota a chance to regain the lead as O’Connell prioritized the run early in the second quarter.

On the first, tight end T.J. Hockenson was stuffed by Isaiah McDuffie on a direct snap as the Packers created a pile in front of him. McCarthy handed off to Mason on fourth down; Packers edge rusher Kingsley Enagbare stopped him for a one-yard loss.

“Every single one of those positive run plays should hopefully be setting up either another positive run or some plays off of it,” O’Connell said. “And we just can’t quite get to that point without having some things happen.”

They would run three more times on the final drive before halftime, when a second-down sack left them turning to Reichard for his second field goal beyond 50 yards in the game. And then, they would run it only three times in the second half, once Price’s turnover staked the Packers to a double-digit lead and Green Bay could set its fierce pass rush on McCarthy.

Micah Parsons, acquired from Dallas just before the season began, banked around Darrisaw for a second-down sack and flattened Ryan Kelly on a third down, allowing Devonte Wyatt to bring McCarthy down at the Vikings’ goal line.

In the subdued locker room, O’Neill spoke of a need for urgency.

With proper execution around McCarthy, O’Connell maintained, the Vikings can win with a quarterback still searching for his foundation in the NFL. “But then you can’t have breakdowns around that player to consistently sustain,” he said.

Sunday’s breakdowns, whether by the quarterback or the players around him, reduced the Vikings’ offense to its most primitive level of function at Lambeau Field. A team that began the season speaking of a playoff run was instead left scouring for signs of life.

“It’s frustrating to be up here and say the same things every single week,” Jefferson said. “You say the same things, expecting for something to change the following weekend, and we’re still in the same spot. We just got to figure it out, see the things that we need to change and get better.”