Monday night’s game against the Green Bay Packers(12-3) was a very forgettable performance for the Minnesota Vikings(10-5). With an outside shot to win the NFC North, the Vikings played one of their worst games of the season, especially on offense.
The Packers sacked Kirk Cousins five times and had him under duress the entire contest. Cousins finished the game completing only 16 of 31 passes for 122 yards with a touchdown and an interception as Minnesota was defeated at home by Green Bay 23-10. With the victory, the Packers clinch the NFC North.
While the offense struggled, the Vikings’ defense played fairly well. Minnesota forced three Packers’ turnovers, which led to Minnesota’s 10 points, and according to Cousins, Minnesota’s defense played well enough for the team to win.
“I thought the Packers just did a good job taking things away and stopping us in a lot of different areas,” Cousins said after the game. “And just a few plays that we didn’t connect on that ended drives for us. And our defense played at a very high-level tonight. Certainly, they played well enough for us to win the football game. But we just weren’t able to put it all together.”
Vikings WR Stefon Diggs, who had three catches for 57 yards and a touchdown, felt the offense just could not get on track against Green Bay.
“It was definitely frustrating,” Diggs said. “We work all week on a game plan, and when things don’t go as planned, it is very frustrating. We tried to adjust to some things, but nothing was working.”
The Vikings’ offense was held to only seven first downs in this game, and without Pro Bowl running back Dalvn Cook and Alexander Mattison, had a hard time running the ball with Mike Boone and Ameer Abdullah. Minnesota was held to 57 yards on the ground, which made this team one-dimensional on Monday night.
“I certainly don “t want to minimize Dalvin’s impact on our team because he’s a tremendous player and has had a great year,” Cousins said. “But we also have really good football players tonight at those positions. So, we certainly felt that we had the firepower. So, I guess it’s a small sample size right now, but obviously, the result was certainly pointing to not good enough.”
Cousins is now 0-9 when playing on Monday Night Football, but fortunately for the Vikings, who have secured a playoff spot(wild card/6th seed), no playoff games will be played on Monday night. This was a tough loss for Minnesota. However, they have to regroup and get ready for the playoffs.
