Marquez Valdes-Scantling #83 of the Green Bay Packers carries the ball against Cameron Dantzler #27 of the Minnesota Vikings during the second quarter of the game at U.S. Bank Stadium on September 13, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Valdes-Scantling … ((Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images))
MINNEAPOLIS - The Minnesota Vikings spent a virtual off-season extending the contracts of Mike Zimmer, Rick Spielman and their franchise quarterback, Kirk Cousins.
Saturday, they signed the other key piece of their offense, running back Dalvin Cook, to a five-year extension. The team talked of going to the Super Bowl as it entered training camp. But with at least four defensive starters from 2019 gone, Danielle Hunter out injured and young defensive backs trying to play big roles, they’re facing more questions than answers after a 43-34 loss to the rival Green Bay Packers on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium.
There were no fans in attendance due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and that’s probably a good thing for the Vikings. They would’ve been booed off the field after allowing 522 total yards, and having Aaron Rodgers carve them apart for four touchdowns.
“Obviously we’ve got to play a lot better. There’s a lot of football left to be played, but we’ve got to get better quick,” Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said after the loss. "We’ll just get back to work, we’ll be alright.”
The 522 total yards is the most the Packers have ever piled up against the Vikings. The 43 points is the most the Vikings have given up in a season-opener, and it’s the most a Zimmer-led defense has ever allowed.
“Frustrating, that’s not what we’re used to here. It’s not what we’re about here and we’ve got to do everything we can to move on from this and improve drastically from 43,” safety Harrison Smith said.
Other than giving up 43 points, the most glaring number Sunday came in the time of possession. The Packers had the ball for nearly 23 of the 30 minutes in the first half. They had it for more than 41 minutes in the game. The Vikings had the ball for just 18 minutes, 44 seconds.
That’s the lowest time of possession for an NFL team since it monitored the stat starting in 1977.
“We just didn’t run many plays and when you don’t run a lot of plays, it makes it hard to get things going. By staying on the field we can keep our defense fresh, and we weren’t able to do that today,” said Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins, who completed just three passes in the first half. “We don’t have anybody to blame but ourselves for not being on the field more.”
It looked early like it could be a big day for the Vikings’ offense. Down 3-0, Cousins hit Adam Thielen on consecutive passes, and Cook and Alexander Mattison got Minnesota down to the 1-yard line. Cook, fresh off signing his $63 million extension, walked into the end zone for the Vikings’ first score of the season and a 7-3 lead.
There wasn’t much else in the first half after that. Jaire Alexander sacked Cousins on the blind side in the end zone for a safety to get the Packers within 7-5. Green Bay then took the lead after the ensuing free kick on Mason Crosby’s field goal.
Then Rodgers went to work, hitting Davante Adams for a 24-yard touchdown to give the Packers a 15-7 lead. Alexander completed a big first half for Green Bay with an interception of Cousins on a throw intended for Thielen. Two plays later, Rodgers hit Marquez Valdes-Scantling for a 45-yard score down the sideline over rookie Cameron Dantzler and a 22-7 lead.
The Vikings had a quick answer before the end of the half with a Dan Bailey field goal, slowing the bleeding down 22-10 at half.
In an empty stadium, the Vikings had trouble generating their own energy after the opening drive.
“We knew that coming into the game that it’s going to be a lot different, that there’s not going to be those jitters you get maybe from fans, the energy. There’s just not going to be that so you’ve got to create your own energy. How do you do that? You make plays, that’s what they did. They made plays,” Thielen said.
The Packers got the only score of the third quarter when Rodgers hit Adams for the duo’s second touchdown of the day, from only 1-yard out, for a 29-10 lead with nine seconds left in the third.
Cousins hit Thielen on a play-action pass for a 37-yard score, the first of two between them on the day, to get the Vikings within 29-18 after Cook converted a two-point play with 13:53 left. Rodgers answered with his fourth touchdown of the day, hitting Allen Lazard from four yards out and giving the Packers a 36-18 lead.
Cook scored his second touchdown of the game with 7:55 remaining, but Aaron Jones put the nail in the coffin with a 5-yard touchdown run to give the Packers a 43-26 lead with 4:36 left. Cousins hit Thielen for a 19-yard touchdown, and Cook again converted the two-point try, but the Vikings couldn’t recover the ensuing onside kick.
Rodgers finished 32-of-44 for 364 yards and four touchdowns, picking apart a young secondary. Rodgers wasn’t sacked once, and was pressured on just seven of his 44 attempts. Zimmer didn’t have an explanation for that after the game. Not having Hunter, and Yannick Ngakoue playing limited snaps didn't help.
“Yeah I don’t know, we didn’t get much pressure him, that’s for sure,” Zimmer said.
The combination of a future Hall-of-Famer in Rodgers and more than 41 minutes of possession for the Packers proved to be a recipe for disaster.
“Any time you play Aaron Rodgers, you gotta know that that’s possible. He made some great throws today, a lot of them, and we didn’t do our part to stop it,” Smith said. “We just kept allowing them to drain us kind of, that’s what happens when you’re on the field for 41 minutes. You’re not going to win a lot of games that way.”
The positive for the Vikings is that it’s only one game, and it’s Week 1. There’s plenty of season left, but Sunday’s result serves as a valuable look in the mirror.
“Certainly not the way we wanted to start the season at home against a division opponent,” Cousins said.