Miscues haunt Packers as comeback bid falls short in loss to Vikings

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- You can point to a lot of things that made the difference in Sunday's game for the Packers: the turnovers, the missed field goals, the poor defensive showing in the first half.

Whatever the case, those aspects kept the Packers from making a comeback for the ages as they lost 31-29 to the Vikings at Lambeau Field. Green Bay trailed 28-7 at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

Jordan Love completed 32 of his 54 passes for 389 yards and four touchdowns in his return from injury. He also tossed 3 interceptions.

The Packers were held to just 86 rushing yards on 19 carries, and did not record a rushing touchdown.

Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold feasted on a Packers secondary that was without Jaire Alexander. He posted 275 passing yards while completing 20 of his 28 passes. Justin Jefferson had 6 catches for 85 yards and a touchdown while Jordan Addison had 3 catches for 72 yards.

The Packers blew two good chances to win momentum on the Vikings' opening drive. First, Isaiah McDuffie dropped what would have been an impressive interception. Then, Darnold was able to find Jalen Nailor to turn a 3rd-and-14 into a 31-yard gain.

Darnold pounced on those missed chances by finding Jordan Addison for a 29-yard touchdown pass one play later for the 7-0 lead.

The Packers were backed into their own 3rd-and-long on their first drive, but couldn't convert after Dontayvion Wicks dropped a low pass from Jordan Love. That forced his team to settle for a 37-yard field goal, but Brayden Narveson's kick hit the right upright and was no good.

The Vikings were able to work themselves out of a jam again on their second drive. Dropping back to pass on 3rd-and-1, Darnold was allowed to escape a crowded pocket for a fresh set of downs.

A pass interference call on Eric Stokes got the Vikings out of another 3rd-and-1 later in the drive and set them up just outside the goal line. Darnold was able to find Josh Oliver just three snaps later for an easy touchdown to extend the lead to 14-0.

Things went from bad to worse for the Packers on the ensuing drive. Love was trying to find Christian Watson over the middle on third down, but multiple Vikings converged on him and Kamu Grugier-Hill came away with an interception. To make things even worse, Watson limped off hurt after the play. He was taken to the locker room with an ankle injury.

The Vikings capitalized on the turnover by having Aaron Jones march all over his former team, then running Jordan Addison to the right for an 8-yard touchdown for the 21-0 lead with 11:50 left in the second quarter.

Love showed off his arm on the Packers' next drive. He found Romeo Doubs for 20 yards, and Jayden Reed for a good 8-yard gain on 2nd-and-11. His third pass of the drive fell incomplete, but that's because Reed was being interfered with by Josh Metellus and a flag was thrown.

That's where the positive plays ended, however. On 2nd down, Love was sacked for a loss of 10 yards, then his 3rd-down pass to Tucker Kraft was broken up by Camryn Bynum. That forced the Packers to settle for a 49-yard field goal which Narveson pushed wide right.

The Packers were able to force the game's first punt, however Vikings punter Ryan Wright was able to pin them at their own 6-yard line. A Josh Jacobs run and a 7-yard Love pass to Doubs got the Packers out of the shadow of the goalposts, but again things went south.

Love threw a pass to Luke Musgrave that sailed over his head but was catchable for Doubs, who was standing a few steps behind Musgrave. Doubs bobbled the pass, and Shaquil Griffin was able to intercept it.

Darnold showed off his skills two snaps later, finding Justin Jefferson for a beautiful 14-yard touchdown pass to extend the lead to 28-0 with 5:28 to play in the first half.

Love's inaccuracy denied the Packers of two big plays late in the quarter. First, Doubs was unable to haul in a potential 17-yard pass that would have moved the Packers into the redzone, then Wicks was unable to grab a low throw in almost the exact same spot on the next play.

Forced into a 4th-and-10 on the Minnesota 34, Love tried to go for it all with a pass to Bo Melton in the endzone. But the pass was way too high and was nearly intercepted by Byron Murphy.

The Packers finally got a break in the last minute of the first half. After going three-and-out, the Packers were forced to punt but Nailor muffed the kick and Melton recovered it.

That gave the Packers the ball near the goal line. They first opted to go for a pass, which was completed to Doubs but he was ruled to be outside the endzone. Head coach Matt LaFleur was incensed by the call, yelled at the referees and was given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

The extra distance didn't matter, as Love was able to find Reed in the endzone for the Packers' first points of the day. That play closed out the half on a much-needed high note.

Love's low throws bit the Packers in the tail again on the opening drive of the second half. Wicks was unable to haul a 3rd down pass in, turning a first down into a punt following a successful challenge by the Vikings.

The Vikings were again allowed to get out of jail on their first drive of the half. On 3rd-and-10, Darnold found a wide-open Addison across the middle of the field for a 25-yard gain.

Darnold and Jones combined for 37 rushing yards on the next 3 plays, and looked primed to continue gashing the Green Bay defense, but Darnold opted to go to the air on 2nd-and-1 from the Packers' 20-yard line and his pass was intercepted by Xavier McKinney at the 2-yard line.

That marked McKinney's fourth consecutive game with an interception.

The Packers were unable to take advantage of the turnover, going three-and-out after back-to-back incompletions from Love.

Green Bay was able to force a punt late in the third quarter after Darnold was sacked, and quickly moved into Viking territory. However, the offensive stalled out after a holding penalty on Tucker Kraft and a low screen pass from Love to Reed that was dropped.

The Packers opted to go for it on 4th-and-8 from the Vikings 32-yard line, but Love's pass to Wicks in the endzone bounced off of his chest and fell incomplete.

Green Bay forced another punt, and was driving to begin the fourth quarter. Love completed five consecutive passes to get the Packers to the Vikings' 6-yard line. He missed on his next throw while being dragged down, but was able to find Wicks in the endzone to cut the score to 28-14.

Things got even more hopeful on the ensuing drive after Keisean Nixon hit Darnold from behind and forced a fumble. Edgerrin Cooper recovered the ball to set the Packers up at the Vikings' 20-yard line.

Two snaps later, Kraft took a pass from Love 13 yards to the house. Love found Kraft again for the 2-point conversion to cut the score to 28-22 with 10:16 to play.

Just as comeback hopes grew, the Vikings found their groove again. Darnold completed four consecutive asses to move into the redzone, but the Packers were able to force a sack and an incompletion to force a field goal, which Will Reichard converted from 33 yards out to bring the score to 31-22.

Love started the next drive with a great 36-yard pass to Wicks to get into Vikings territory, but when he went back to Wicks on the next play his pass was intercepted in the endzone by Murhpy.

Green Bay forced another punt, but two plays into the ensuing drive Tucker Kraft fumbled and Bynum recovered for the Vikings. Darnold was able to get out of another 3rd-and-long on the drive after Jefferson made a great catch on the sideline, but the Vikings were halted on 4th-and-1 at the Green bay 4-yard line.

The Packers got the ball back with 2:18 on the clock and quickly got to work. In just four plays they moved from just in front of their own goal line all the way to the endzone, with Love finding Wicks for a 17-yard touchdown pass.

That meant the game came down to an onside kick. Dan Whelan kicked it, but the Vikings had no problem recovering to seal the win.

Next up for the Packers is a trip out west to take on the Rams on Oct. 6. That game will air on WISC-TV at 3:25 p.m. CT.

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