3 Packers to blame for humiliating loss to Vikings in Week 4

It's hard to win games when you turn the ball over four times and commit eight penalties. The Green Bay Packers fought back from a 28-0 deficit, but it was too little, too late.

Jordan Love's return from injury couldn't have gone much worse, with the Minnesota Vikings crushing the Packers at Lambeau Field for the second year in a row. Green Bay struggled to unlock Brian Flores' red-hot defense, while it took far too long for Jeff Hafley to offer any resistance to the Vikings' offense.

Despite entering the game on the back of consecutive wins, the Packers were no match for the undefeated Vikings, who extended a two-game lead atop the NFC North. They also hold a head-to-head tiebreaker that Green Bay will need to wipe out in the rematch in Week 17.

There's plenty of blame to go around for this one, but most of it belongs to these players.

Packers players to blame for embarrassing loss to Vikings in Week 4

K Brayden Narveson

The Packers released Anders Carlson and Greg Joseph in the offseason, but their kicking game got even worse.

Rookie Brayden Narveson is quickly losing confidence. The rookie had two brutal misses from 37 and 49 yards. Who knows how differently the game could've gone if he made the kicks, but the Packers lost by two points. It made an impact.

Narveson missed kicks from 43 and 45 yards in the opening two games and escaped a 48-yard miss due to a Tennessee Titans holding penalty last week. Narveson's performances are getting worse, and the Packers need to make another kicking change.

WR Dontayvion Wicks

The box score reads five catches for 78 yards and two touchdowns, but Dontayvion Wicks' drops hurt the Packers throughout this game.

The Packers needed someone to step up after Christian Watson's injury, leading to more targets for Wicks. The second-year receiver already had two drops going into this game, and he had multiple against the Vikings.

Wicks dropped a touchdown on fourth down in the third quarter. Love placed the ball on the money, but it hit Wicks in the chest and bounced to the ground. It would've made it a two-score game entering the fourth quarter.

While he did eventually find the end zone, it was too little, too late.

QB Jordan Love

Love paid tribute to Brett Favre before the game, and he produced the most Favre performance you'll ever see. In his first game back from injury, Love threw for 389 yards, four touchdowns, and three interceptions.

It understandably took time for Love to find rhythm after missing the past two games, and he made a bunch of big-time plays in the second half. However, his costly errors hurt the Packers badly. In particular, his last interception was unacceptable.

He had to get the ball out fast because the Vikings had a free rusher, but Love panicked into a deep throw to Wicks in the end zone. He was nowhere near it, leading to an easy interception. Green Bay trailed by nine with a little over six minutes to go, so the sense of urgency was understandable, but Love didn't need to panic and launch it into the end zone. There was time.

Love now has four picks in two games. The playmaking ability is there, but he needs to take a lesson from Aaron Rodgers in protecting the ball.

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