A lost opportunity to get off the field to open the game, a dropped touchdown on the first play of scrimmage and a fourth-down failure from the 1-yard line highlighted some of the missed chances that doomed the Green Bay Packers in a sloppy and disappointing season-opening loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.
As is the case in most games in the NFL, a few plays made all the difference. On Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium, three plays directly affected the final outcome of the contest.
On fourth-and-goal on the Vikings’ opening drive, Justin Jefferson motioned from left to right across the formation and wasn’t picked up by either Eric Stokes or Adrian Amos after the snap in coverage, resulting in an easy touchdown pass from Kirk Cousins to Jefferson to open the scoring in the first quarter.
On the Packers’ first play from scrimmage, rookie receiver Christian Watson dropped what would have been a 75-yard touchdown after he got behind veteran cornerback Patrick Peterson with a terrific double move. A chance to level the game at 7-7 ended up in a punt.
In the second quarter, running back A.J. Dillon got stuffed on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line. The interior of the line didn’t get push and Za’Darius Smith went unblocked off the edge. Matt LaFleur didn’t love the call in hindsight; Aaron Rodgers lamented not keeping the ball and walking in for a touchdown.
“You gotta capitalize when you get those opportunities, and we didn’t,” LaFleur said.
Three plays created a 21-point swing against the Packers. Flip the outcomes of all three and a 23-7 win for the Vikings suddenly looks like a 21-16 win for the Packers.
It’s a what-if game the Packers weren’t all that interested in entertaining after the contest, but Rodgers did hammer home the point that missed opportunities got Green Bay beat.
“We had a lot of chances today, not taking anything away from their defense, but we hurt ourselves many times, myself included,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. “We had a lot of opportunities to score more than seven.”
Late in the game, Rodgers threw incomplete looking for tight end Robert Tonyan in the end zone on fourth down, effectively ending the contest with the Packers down 16 points. It was just another missed opportunity in a game defined by them.
Rodgers was irritated by several execution issues and mental errors throughout the contest.
Overall, the Packers had two turnovers, gave up four sacks and finished 1-for-3 scoring in the red zone and 0-for-2 on fourth down, while the Vikings converted their lone fourth-down chance, didn’t have a turnover and gave up just one sack.
“It’s tough to win in this league and definitely tough to win when you get in your own way too many times,” Rodgers said.
