Why they lost: The Green Bay Packers drop the NFC North crown to Minnesota
By Kenn Korb
The fumble
Remember how I mentioned the issues of playing a bunch of hurry-up style on offense (particularly what this Packers offense is currently)?
This is where that comes into play.
Green Bay was down 13-3, but they just got an amazing INT by Micah Hyde to give them another possession. They ended up in a 3rd-&-12 after a penalty nullified a first down.
Rodgers dropped back, but before he could release a pass his arm gets hit. That caused an open-hand fumble, which is eventually picked up by Captain Munnerlyn of the Vikings. From there, Munnerlyn managed to run the fumble all the way to the end-zone, giving Minnesota a 20-3 lead.
This not only killed a potential scoring drive at a crucial moment, but it wasted that gift of an interception (Green Bay does tend to cause at least one turnover per game, but this season they have rarely caused multiple in a game).
The player at fault? Possibly the best player on the offense: Josh Sitton. He was set at left tackle for this game due to injuries and ineffectiveness (usually is the left guard — and one of the best there is at that spot). It was a gamble to play him there, but he’s got to do better than he managed in this game and on that play.
Apparently nobody is immune to the issues in this offense.
More on that …
Next: Rodgers' INT