It wasn’t going to happen again, was it? A lackluster start to the 2021 season, a 38-3 blowout loss to the New Orleans Saints on a neutral field in Jacksonville was quickly brushed aside in what turned out to be another NFC North winning, number one seed clinching season for Head Coach Matt LaFleur’s Green Bay Packers.
They have something to lean on as the 2022 campaign kicked off at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis Sunday where the Minnesota Vikings jumped on the still not ready for prime time Packers and won handily in Head Coach Kevin O’Connell’s debut, 23-7. You wonder how quickly a team fielding a young offensive line and an even younger wide receiving corps, not to mention a chest thumping defense put in their place from the opening drive will recover this time? It’ll have to be in six days as another division rival, the 1-0 Chicago Bears have a chance to end years of frustration by dropping the Pack into the Black and Blue basement after just two weeks, when they open up the home schedule at Lambeau Field on Sunday night.
O’Connell, the former offensive coordinator of the Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams, put together an effective script to start the contest. Facing an early third and five, he had Kirk Cousins find Justin Jefferson matched up with Eric Stokes for a 20 yard gain. Two snaps later, pre-snap motion found Jefferson covered by rookie inside linebacker Quay Walker. The result? A 22 yard completion to the Green Bay 14. The combination finished it off when Jefferson got outside of Stokes for a clean, 5 yard touchdown. The third year pro out of LSU was just getting started. He finished with 9 receptions for 184 yards and two scores, nearly half of that coming on two grabs where the Packers secondary blew communication and coverage. A 64 yard catch and run set up a field goal and just before the half, Jefferson ran away from both safeties, Adrian Amos and Darnell Savage to turn an over route into a 36 yard score with :35 left in the quarter staking the Vikings to a 17-0 lead at the break.
Without a ton of pressure from the pass rush, just one Rashan Gary sack, and a healthy dose of Dalvin Cook (90 yards on 20 carries, the Packer defense just couldn’t flip the script for the work in progress offense to find it’s footing.
Playing without David Bakhtiari, Elgton Jenkins and Allen Lazard, all inactive for the opener, Aaron Rodgers took snaps behind an offensive line of Yosh Nijman, Jon Runyan, Josh Myers, Jake Hanson and Royce Newman. They have a combined 46 starts between them, Hanson was making his starting debut. He got overpowered by former Packer Za’Darius Smith for the first of four sacks allowed on the day. He was also straightened up on a 4th and goal from the one play where A.J. Dillon was stuffed for no go gain. That was pale in comparison to the struggles of the young receiving corps.
During the week, it was suggested the Packers take an early deep shot with second round pick Christian Watson. On the first offensive snap of the year, the play was called. Watson zipped right past veteran corner Patrick Peterson and was three yards behind him when Rodgers delivered a perfect, season opening pass. It dropped right between the rookie’s hands on what would have been a certain 75 yard touchdown to tie the game.
So two great scoring chances were denied as the Vikes built their lead. Rodgers then fired an ill advised deep ball in the closing seconds of the half where Randall Cobb couldn’t wrestle it away from veteran safety Harrison Smith who came up with the interception.
On the opening series of the third quarter, Rodgers got flushed from the pocket and with no one breaking open, he should have thrown it away but instead got sandwiched between Jordan Hicks and Smith for a sack that resulted in a fumble, recovered by the Vikes and that led to a 56 yard Greg Joseph field goal to make i a 20-0 game.
A 29 yard burst from Aaron Jones, who surprisingly, had only 8 touches on the game (5 rushes/49 yards, 3 receptions, 27 yards), sparked Green Bay’s only scoring march, capped by Dillon’s two yard run.
A 4th quarter drive was thwarted by a couple of sacks, Green Bay failed on another 4th and one and Jordan Love got to mop up with the final possession, completing 4 of 5 passes for 65 yards.
Rodgers finished 22 of 34 for 195 yards, without a touchdown and the first interception thrown in a division game in almost three years. Dillon was the top receiver with 5 catches for 46 yards. The wide receiving corps? They combined for 12 catches and 120 yards. Rodgers said there were plenty of mental mistakes to go around, himself included. At least tight end Robert Tonyan returned for the first time since suffering an ACL tear in week 8 last year, catching three passes for 36 yards.
De’Vondre Campbell led the D with 11 tackles, one behind the line of scrimmage. Walker had 8 stops before leaving with a shoulder injury. Backup Krys Barnes also suffered a significant injury, getting carted off the field in the second half. The Packers believe it’s a high ankle sprain that will keep him out of action for at least a month.
Left guard Jon Runyan also left the game, rookie Zach Tom stepped in at left guard. Keisean Nixon also had to leave with a shoulder injury,
The two things that stood out to me were the lack of touches for the running backs, 23 total between Jones and Dillon who had to be the primary playmakers against a Minnesota defense vulnerable to the run. On the other side of the ball, the breakdowns dealing with Jefferson, very gifted yes, but the Green Bay corners of Alexander, Stokes and Rasul Douglas all had difficulty passing him off as he ran through zones or were simply beaten in coverage. Alexander suggested he shadow Jefferson singlehandedly but the Packers stayed with their basic lineup on each side of the field.
When the dust settled, LaFleur was left to ponder how a second season in a row, opened with a stinker.
Encouraging the Special Teams didn’t have major issues. There were some leaks in punt protection but Pat O’Donnell was able to get them off, 3 of his 4 punts finishing inside the 20. Mason Crosby capably hit his only extra point. Amari Rodgers did get cut down quickly on his only kickoff return of 14 yards but was decisive going north and south with his first punt return of 12. The cover units allowed just one 7 yard punt return and a 25 yard kickoff return on the day.
The other inactive players aside from the big three on offense were Shemar Jean-Charles, Tariq Carpenter, Samori Toure and Jonathan Ford.
The Vikings are now 5-2 against the Packers in their new home and have a 31-30 all-time series lead on their side of the border. More importantly, they delivered a message that winning the NFC North is not a birthright in Titletown. There’s a lot of time to change that narrative and LaFleur has to get down to business coming up with a better plan and expecting better execution before the lights go on at Lambeau in week 2.
