Vikings lose to Packers 33-10, stagger into the new year

The Vikings said goodbye and good riddance to 2023 with another bungling performance that saw them fall to 2-6 at U.S. Bank Stadium, raise their season turnover total by two more to 32, bench a quarterback for the third time in four games and lose to the Packers 33-10 in front of 67,003 fans, many of them Cheeseheads who enjoyed quite the New Year's Eve party in downtown Minneapolis.

Believe it or not, there's still hope, Purple Nation.

A Vikings team that's 7-9 and losers of five of its past six games heads to Detroit (11-5) on Sunday with a slim chance to sneak into the playoffs.

Because Seattle lost at home to Pittsburgh earlier Sunday, the Vikings weren't eliminated. They can reach the playoffs with a win over a Lions team that's still playing for the NFC's No. 2 seed and the following:

• A Packers (8-8) loss at home to Chicago, which has won four of its past five and now shares the NFC North basement with the Vikings.

• A Seahawks loss at Arizona, which won at Philadelphia on Sunday.

• Either a Saints loss at home to Atlanta, which beat New Orleans in Week 12, or a Buccaneers loss at Carolina.

Of course, if the Vikings play like they did Sunday or in last week's four-turnover loss to the Lions, it's likely O-V-E-R.

The Packers outclassed the Vikings in yards (470-211), rushing yards (177-67), first downs (28-13), third-down conversions (nine of 14 to three of 10) and time of possession (37:32-22:28).

"I told the team after the game I wasn't good enough tonight," coach Kevin O'Connell said. "That was echoed by a lot of folks in [the locker room], but it starts with me.

"I got to do a much better job, clearly, preparing our team regardless of circumstances. There will be no acceptance of a result like this."

Packers quarterback Jordan Love completed 24 of 33 passes for 256 yards, three touchdowns, no turnovers, a 125.3 passer rating — second best of his young career — and one rushing touchdown. Vikings rookie Jaren Hall, getting his second career start after 22 career snaps, completed five of 10 passes for 67 yards, two turnovers and a 32.1 passer rating before being benched while trailing 23-3 at the half. He targeted Justin Jefferson only twice, completing one for 13 yards.

"It was not great football," Hall said. "Not great execution. You play that poorly, you expect to get benched. I wasn't giving the team a chance to win, and that was that."

Nick Mullens, who threw four picks against the Lions a week earlier, played the second half and completed 13 of 22 passes for 113 yards, one touchdown, no turnovers and an 87.9 rating.

In his postgame remarks, O'Connell did not name a starting quarterback for next week, saying again, "all options are on the table," including a return to Joshua Dobbs, who helped the Vikings win three straight games immediately after arriving in an Oct. 31 trade from Arizona.

The game began with injured quarterback Kirk Cousins transforming into 2022's beloved "Kirko Chainz," pulling off his shirt to sound the Gjallarhorn as fans roared.

The Packers took the opening kickoff, launched a deep ball that Love overthrew by 10 yards and went three-and-out. The Vikings returned the three-and-out favor, with punter Ryan Wright blasting a 69-yarder for a touchback, after Hall failed to connect on third-and-2 with tight end Johnny Mundt, who became the team's receiving tight end when T.J. Hockenson was placed on injured reserve because of torn knee ligaments suffered in the loss to Detroit.

The Packers turned the ensuing possession into a 3-0 lead on a 34-yard field goal by Anders Carlson. It would have been worse if edge rushers Pat Jones II and Danielle Hunter hadn't pressured Love into overthrowing receiver Malik Heath, who was wide open inside the 10 on third-and-8 from the Vikings' 16.

Hockenson's absence was felt on the Vikings' second possession as well when Hall threw behind Mundt, who had the ball bounce off his hands and into the grasp of Packers cornerback Corey Ballentine. Two plays and 33 yards later, Love threw a 33-yard rope to Jayden Reed, who raced past linebacker Jordan Hicks and safety Camryn Bynum for an easy score and a 10-0 lead with 5:10 left in an opening quarter filled with chants of "Go Pack Go!"

The Vikings responded by going three-and-out and getting a 26-yard punt from Wright. Hall targeted Jefferson for the first and only time of the quarter, an incompletion with Ballentine in tight coverage, the kind of coverage the Packers are accustomed to seeing from Jaire Alexander, who was suspended for this game for conduct detrimental to the team.

Hall finished the first quarter going 0-for-4 with an interception and a 0.0 passer rating.

The Vikings caught their first break of the game with the Packers facing fourth-and-1 from the Vikings 24 early in the second quarter. A poor throw by Love caused wide-open receiver Bo Melton to dive for a ball he then dropped.

The Vikings turned that into a 54-yard field goal with 9:25 left in the half. Hall's first two completions — 13 yards to Jefferson and 20 to Jordan Addison — set up the score.

Green Bay extended its lead to 17-3 by taking the ensuing kickoff 75 yards in 10 plays with Love scoring on a 2-yard run with 3:59 left in the half.

The Packers turned the Vikings' second turnover into a second Reed touchdown reception and a 23-3 lead after Carlson missed the PAT. Preston Smith beat left tackle Christian Darrisaw for a strip sack that Karl Brooks recovered at the Vikings' 37.

Three plays and 18 seconds later, Reed caught a ball on a crossing pattern, raced 25 yards through the secondary and bulled his way into the end zone with eight seconds left in the half.

The Vikings took a knee and were booed off the field after surrendering 13 points off turnovers.

"[O'Connell] told us he could be better, but I think he's taking too much on himself," left guard Dalton Risner said. "It's too early to point fingers at what happened. It's a very frustrating night when you lose like that."

In the second half, Mullens provided an early spark — completing two passes to Jefferson for 34 yards, including a 21-yarder on third-and-14 — but turned the ball over on downs with an incompletion to Jefferson in the end zone on fourth-and-4 from the Packers 9.

The Packers turned that into an 8-minute, 13-play, 91-yard touchdown drive with Love throwing his third touchdown pass of the game, a 9-yarder to Melton. The Packers led 30-3 before gifting the Vikings a 5-yard touchdown pass from Mullens to Mundt when Samori Toure muffed a punt that NaJee Thompson recovered at the Packers' 7.

In two seasons under O'Connell, the Vikings are 11-0 when winning the turnover battle, 6-1 when tied and 3-13 when losing. During a five-game winning streak earlier this season, the Vikings went 3-0-2 in turnover battles.

In going 1-5 in their past six games, they've gone — you guessed it — 1-5 in turnover battles and are now minus-10 in turnover differential, tied with Kansas City and Washington for worst in the league.

They now head to Detroit to play a Lions team that beat them a week ago while winning the turnover battle 4-1 with Mullens playing quarterback. O'Connell admitted the vaunted "culture" that he's talked about on several occasions during his two-year stint will be tested this week.

"I've learned that this group responds to adversity, that it responds to tough circumstances throughout the season, whatever has happened," O'Connell said. "They've come back and gone to work every single week."

Who will O'Connell start at quarterback? With a 16-game sample size to judge, it probably won't matter. The Vikings have had only two turnover-free games in what's now guaranteed to be the franchise's third losing season in four years.

"I don't care what anyone on the outside says," Risner said. "You can't tuck tail and run. There's two types of people in life. You either tuck tail and run or put your chin up and work. That's what I'm going to do. And that's what everyone in this locker room is going to do, too."

But will it be good enough to turn around a bungling, turnover-filled season?