Well, that was miserable.
The Green Bay Packers' 30-10 loss to the Minnesota Vikings is a tough one to take. It significantly hurts the Packers' playoff odds, and it's not unreasonable to suggest the NFC North is now a three-team race. Green Bay will likely need to settle for a wild-card berth, if it can get in.
None of that will matter if they can't protect Jordan Love. Just as we saw in Week 1, this offensive line is a real problem when it faces elite pass rushes. The Packers enter their bye week with a lot to ponder. Here are some gut reactions from the game.
Instant takeaways from the Packers' embarrassing Week 10 loss to Vikings
1. Offensive line woes reach embarrassing levels
It's impossible for an offense to function when the entire protection falls apart. It was as though the fourth quarter of Week 1 had never ended. Jordan Love had precious little time to throw, with a swarm of purple-and-white jerseys instantly in his face on seemingly every play.
The Vikings' defense sacked Love eight times and hit him 12 times, and that's in three quarters. Love didn't play a snap in the fourth quarter. By Pro Football Focus' initial count, the Packers allowed 22 pressures. Not good enough.
What a mess. Green Bay finally ended the Aaron Banks experiment, but with Kevin Zeitler unavailable due to injury, it meant turning to Travis Glover at right guard, and the results were predictable. Glover allowed three pressures and received an awful PFF pass-blocking grade of 13.3.
They need Zeitler back. Sean Rhyan, too. Third-string center John Williams had a nightmare performance, sending a snap over Love's head for a turnover while also allowing two sacks and four pressures, per PFF.
The good news? The Packers don't have to play the Vikings' defense again this season. That's all I've got.
2. Matt LaFleur has his worst day of the season
It sure looks like Matt LaFleur has no idea how to beat Brian Flores' defense. I'm not going to blame him for everything the offensive line did – as I wrote after Week 1, that falls more on Brian Gutekunst. However, LaFleur took far too long to react to what he was seeing.
He went into his shell with too many safe play calls early in the game. The 2nd-and-long runs have always been a tendency of his, but LaFleur kept going to them in the first half. A 2nd-and-long run is essentially burning a play for this Packers team.
When he did call a pass, it was too often trying to attack the Vikings deep. The offensive line couldn't hold up.
It took until the Packers went up-tempo with the no-huddle offense in the third quarter for them to finally get on track. They marched down the field with a touchdown and a field goal, but it was too little, too late. Where was this earlier?
LaFleur's biggest blunder came far earlier in the contest.
Kirk Cousins threw an incompletion on 3rd-and-8 with Minnesota leading 3-0 late in the first quarter. Perfect. Get off the field. The Vikings were called for a facemask penalty, but declining it would've resulted in fourth down and a field goal.
LaFleur instead accepted, giving Minnesota another shot to move the chains on 3rd-and-23, with Cousins finding Myles Price for a touchdown. It's not like LaFleur's decision would've taken Minnesota out of field-goal range. Even if the Packers had stopped them for no gain, they would've faced a 56-yard field goal, well within Will Reichard's range.
Much of the blame falls on LaFleur.
3. Packers' self-inflicted errors return in the worst possible way
The Packers showed us what it can look like when they play complementary football in their big win over the New England Patriots last week. All of that disappeared on Sunday.
Four turnovers. Another missed field goal. Another Matthew Golden drop. It's hard enough to beat the Vikings with a clean performance, let alone when you make this many mistakes.
It has been the story of the season. The Packers have found ways to overcome those unforced errors and win six games, but the best teams don't allow it. This was a harsh reality check.
4. The Packers need their bye week badly
The Packers need to take a long look in the mirror in the week ahead. It's good timing for a bye week.
They won't have as much time to recover as usual, since their next game is on Wednesday, November 25, against the Los Angeles Rams. Myles Garrett and Aaron Donald get a shot against this offensive line.
But the Packers could have Micah Parsons back, and he hopefully won't be alone. Zeitler and Rhyan could return along the offensive line, and potentially linebacker Zaire Franklin to lead the defense.
Add us as a preferred source on Google