MINNEAPOLIS — Mike Zimmer does know how to smile. Laugh, too. His players on the Minnesota Vikings have seen it and heard it, and they understand that his gruff countenance and pipe-wrench bluntness belie a warm regard for their welfare.
Late Monday night, Zimmer stepped behind a lectern inside U.S. Bank Stadium looking as if he had just chugged a gallon of spoiled milk — which, to be fair, might have been more appealing than watching his team curdle on its home field against its fiercest rival with the N.F.C. North still undecided.
“That’s what happens when you don’t play as good as you can,” Zimmer said.
The Vikings did not play well, and the ramifications of their 23-10 defeat to the Green Bay Packers reverberated throughout a conference in which four teams enter Week 17 with an opportunity to claim the top seed in the playoffs.
The game showcased the increasing might of the Packers (12-3), who have adapted to a new coaching staff, a new scheme and a host of defensive newcomers — including the pass-rusher Za’Darius Smith, who sacked Kirk Cousins three and a half times on Monday night. Green Bay has embraced a new way to win, relying less on Aaron Rodgers and more on balance to capture its first division title since 2016.
Green Bay’s victory weakened the New Orleans Saints’ chances of earning a first-round bye, meaning the Saints could finish at 13-3 and still need to win three playoff games to reach the Super Bowl. Monday night’s game also severely dented the Seahawks’ hopes of securing home-field advantage even before Marshawn Lynch, lured out of retirement to boost a depleted running attack, could join the team on the practice field.
For Minnesota (10-5), which clinched the No. 6 seed, what the defeat represents will linger at least as much as the outcome itself. A putrid offensive showing magnified the absence of Dalvin Cook, the star running back whose recovery from a chest injury could very well determine whether the Vikings combust or contend in the playoffs.
The Vikings’ recent success — eight victories in 10 games before Monday night — dovetailed with a surge from Cousins, who has thrived in a reimagined offense predicated on bullish outside-zone running by Cook and loads of bootlegs, rollouts and play-action passes. Heading into Monday, in fact, Cousins ranked as the league’s most efficient passer after faking a handoff, according to Pro Football Focus; he had a 135.3 rating with 14 touchdowns and one interception while completing 73 percent of his throws on such plays.
The Packers all but erased those options Monday for Cousins, just as they did when the teams met in Week 2. Minnesota’s offensive line caved under Green Bay’s relentless pressure. Without Cook or his backup, Alexander Mattison, available to crease the Packers’ defense, Minnesota mustered 139 yards, its fewest all season.
“We’ve got to go back and look at how, why,” Cousins said. “And certainly the answers to those questions, in theory, should be of some help going forward — not just if we play them again, but in general.”
It is unlikely that the Vikings would face Green Bay in the first round, perhaps a good thing for Minnesota. The Vikings failed to record a first down on eight of 13 drives, crossed midfield only twice after halftime and converted three first-half turnovers into only 10 points.
The Packers have twice demonstrated an aptitude for diminishing Cousins, and their potential playoff opponents have undoubtedly noticed. Cousins said he was affected by Green Bay’s pass rush. When Zimmer was asked whether Cousins looked shaken, he said only that he couldn’t tell from the sideline.
The final indignity for Minnesota came in the stands, not on the field.
In the fading minutes, the Vikings fans bolted for the exits, leaving a sizable and boisterous contingent of Green Bay supporters to chant: “Go, Pack, go!” The Packers are indeed going — to Detroit, where they can clinch the No. 2 seed at least with a victory over the Lions, and then ultimately back home, to the frigid environs of Lambeau Field.
“To know that we can have two games to get somewhere special changes the whole dynamic,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said, “especially with the type of temperatures that we expect in Green Bay.”
The Vikings still have yet to defeat a team that presently has a winning record, or that has made the postseason, losing to Kansas City, Seattle and Green Bay. With their final opponent, the Chicago Bears, at 7-8, the Vikings’ next opportunity to change that will come in the playoffs.
By then, they hope Cook will be healthy, that Cousins’s performance Monday was an aberration and that their run defense has recovered. If so, that might be enough to coax a grin out of Zimmer.
Source: Football - nytimes.com
