Everything was in place to make Sunday afternoon a memorable one for the Green Bay Packers.
Green Bay had won two straight games with backup quarterback Malik Willis and was feeling good about itself.
Franchise quarterback Jordan Love returned for the first time in more than three weeks.
And a wild, rowdy crowd packed Lambeau Field.
Then the Minnesota Vikings ruined the party.
The visiting Vikings dominated the first half, raced to a 28-0 lead and held on for a 31-29 win.
Minnesota improved to 4-0 and took control of the NFC North. Green Bay fell to 2-2.
“They’re a good team,” Packers linebacker Quay Walker said of Minnesota. “But damn, we needed that win.”
THE GOOD
XAVIER MCKINNEY: The Packers’ safety became the first player in team history with an interception in his first four games.
McKinney made a terrific read on a deep ball intended for running back Aaron Jones midway through the third quarter. McKinney juggled the ball momentarily, but managed to get both feet in just before going out of bounds.
Minnesota challenged the call, but the ruling on the field was upheld.
“I mean, if you put too much air on the ball or you stare somebody down, he’s gonna go get it,” Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley said of McKinney. “He’s a dynamic player. He sees it so fast and he reacts so fast, like if you take your clicker and you’re watching the film. Like the thing that I always like to do is I always like to watch that wide copy when you can actually see the quarterback’s face, right, and when that quarterback hits his back step, is he going in that direction or is he still trying to hold you off?
“When you watch ‘X’ and you freeze it and you watch it in really slow motion, he’s breaking before the hand is coming off the ball. Like that’s how well he anticipates stuff, so I would be a little bit worried throwing in the middle of the field if you were there. And then he’s got great hands and he can go up and track it and it’s not just ability because he studies it, too, now. That guy watches a lot of tape. He’s fun back there.”
JORDAN LOVE’S SECOND HALF: Love struggled mightily in the first half (see below). But he was awfully good in the second half as he tried rallying Green Bay back.
Love completed 20-of-30 passes in the second half for 281 yards and three touchdowns. Love did throw a critical fourth quarter interception, but overall, he did his part trying to rally Green Bay.
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There’s coaching that goes behind what happened on that play. If I had had the ball in the outside arm, he wouldn’t have made a play on the ball. That’s just the fundamentals of being a ball carrier. So, bad technique by me and I’m going to take that personally and run angrier, I guess.”
THIS AND THAT: Jayden Reed had seven receptions for 139 yards and a touchdown. … Keisean Nixon sacked Minnesota quarterback Sam Darnold early in the fourth quarter, forced a fumble and Edgerrin Cooper recovered. Two plays later, Kraft had a 13-yard touchdown reception. … Javon Bullard had terrific backside pursuit and dumped Minnesota running back Aaron Jones for a 2-yard loss midway through the second quarter. … Quay Walker had a 13-yard sack of Darnold in the third quarter. … Whelan averaged 60 yards per punt with a net average of 56.7. … Defensive end Preston Smith played the 150th game of his career.
THE BAD
JORDAN LOVE’S FIRST HALF: The Packers’ franchise quarterback made his first appearance in 23 days and struggled mightily in the first half.
Love was 12-of-24 for 118 yards in the first half. He threw two interceptions, one touchdown and had a miserable passer rating of 43.4.
“Yeah I mean I think just wasn’t playing well enough,” Love said. “I think ball placement was a little all over the place today, kinda throughout the whole game, and I think it picked up later. But yeah, I think early on just missed a couple throws and was a little bit off and you know, made it hard on some of the receivers on some of those plays.”
Love finished with career highs for completions (32), passing yards (389) and touchdowns (four). But he also threw a career-high three interceptions, struggled with accuracy and was extremely rusty early when the game was largely decided.
It sucks, you know,” Love said. “It sucks not going out there and performing the way we wanted to and having a game where it finishes a two-point game where if we just do some different things early and make some of those plays, it’s a different ballgame. So it sucks.”
CHALLENGES GO SOUTH: Two consecutive Green Bay passing plays were challenged late in the first half — and the Packers lost both.
The first came after a 17-yard pass to Romeo Doubs was ruled complete. Minnesota challenged the ruling and the play was reversed.
The second came when a pass to Dontayvion Wicks was ruled incomplete. Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur challenged, believing Wicks had his hands underneath the ball, but lost.
In a first half where almost nothing went right, these were two more examples.
FROM THE INFIRMARY: Christian Watson left with an ankle injury in the first half and didn’t return.
“I have talked to Christian and he told me that he thought it was just a sprain,” LaFleur said.
THE UGLY
DEFENSELESS: Green Bay’s defense was dismal — to say the least — in the first half.
The Vikings scored touchdowns on four of their first five drives and quarterback Sam Darnold threw three touchdowns.
BRAYDEN NARVESON: The Packers rookie kicker could be in the unemployment line by this time tomorrow.
Narveson missed field goals of 37 and 49 yards and is now 9-of-13 this season, just 69.2%.
For comparison’s sake, Anders Carlson — the Packers’ kicker in 2023 — made 27-of-33 field goals (81.8%) and was cut in August.
“Those are critical misses and it’s unacceptable. (It) hurts,” Narveson said. “I’m sure you guys can all see it in my face. It hurts. But I just gotta look myself in the mirror, go back to the drawing board and be better. That’s about all I can say about it.”
QUARTER FROM HELL: Minnesota dominated the first quarter and grabbed a 14-0 lead.
The Packers’ first two possessions ended with a missed 37-yard field goal by Brayden Narveson and a Jordan Love interception. Minnesota’s first two drives ended with Sam Darnold touchdown passes.
The Vikings had nine first downs to just three for Green Bay. The Vikings also outgained the Packers, 132-59.
Making matters worse, Green Bay had five penalties for 38 yards — including four defensive infractions.
