Packers vs. Vikings: Postgame Grades, Notes and Quotes for Minnesota

The Minnesota Vikings had their five-game winning streak snapped at TCF Bank Stadium on Sunday, as the Green Bay Packers rallied to a 30-13 victory to end their three-game losing streak.

Green Bay was able to get on the scoreboard first, but quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and Minnesota responded quickly. Following the first of five Mason Crosby field goals, Bridgewater found tight end Kyle Rudolph for a 47-yard touchdown. Blair Walsh missed the ensuing extra point, however, and the Packers were able to knot the game up at six later in the first quarter with a field goal.

With the Packers leading 9-6 after a third field goal, Aaron Rodgers found wide receiver Randall Cobb for a 10-yard score during the closing seconds of the first half.

Crosby added yet another field goal to put the Packers up 19-6, but the Vikings would once again respond. Bridgewater led Minnesota down the field, and running back Adrian Peterson found the end zone from six yards out, giving the Vikings hope once again.

This hope was immediately crushed on the Packers' ensuing drive, as Rodgers found James Jones for a 27-yard score on a beautiful throw to the corner of the end zone. The Vikings appeared poised to respond once again, but Peterson lost a critical fumble, effectively sucking all the energy of out of the stadium.

Crosby added one final field goal to complete a perfect 5-of-5 day, giving Green Bay a decisive victory and allowing the Packers to reassert themselves as the class of the NFC North.

Bridgewater finished 25-of-37 for 296 yards and a touchdown pass, adding 43 rushing yards on four carries. Peterson carried 13 times for 45 yards and one touchdown. Kyle Rudolph led all receivers with six catches, a career-high 106 yards and a score, while Stefon Diggs chipped in six catches and 66 yards of his own.

Linval Joseph led the team with nine tackles on defense, while both Everson Griffen and Captain Munnerlyn added a sack apiece.

Position Grades for Vikings

Ann Heisenfelt/Associated Press

Position Grades

Quarterback: B

The Vikings may have lost, but this was not the fault of Teddy Bridgewater. Bridgewater, who shouldered a much greater load than usual, was efficient and consistent. He kept Minnesota competitive even with his offensive line completely letting him down.

Running Back: C

Adrian Peterson found the end zone, and he played a solid game overall. But his game-changing lost fumble ended any chance of a Vikings comeback. He simply cannot keep turning the ball over during key moments of critical games.

Wide Receivers: C

Stefon Diggs and Jarius Wright continue to excel in their roles, but Mike Wallace is a complete disappointment. He had a key drop early in the game on third down and slowed up on a well-thrown deep ball from Bridgewater. It might be time for the Vikings to admit they dropped the ball on that trade.

Tight Ends: B

Kyle Rudolph was one of the few offensive players who stood out against the Packers. He played at a high level and made more plays on offense than anyone other than Bridgewater. Rhett Ellison and MyCole Pruitt both chimed in with positive snaps as well.

Offensive Line: F

It was an absolutely dreadful performance for Minnesota's offensive front five. They gave Bridgewater no time in the pocket, allowing the Vikings quarterback to be sacked six times by a team that had not recorded a sack over the past three games. In addition, this group committed a number of penalties (Matt Kalil in particular) and failed to open lanes for Peterson.

Defensive Line: B

The Vikings defensive line played pretty well for the most part, but there were multiple lapses that allowed Green Bay running back Eddie Lacy to break free for big gains. It wasn't a dominating performance by any means, but this loss certainly is not on the shoulders of Minnesota's defensive front four.

Linebackers: B

A lot of what was said about the defensive line also applies here. Anthony Barr and Eric Kendricks both played solid games, but they were not the massive playmakers the Vikings needed them to be on Sunday.

Defensive Backs: C

Xavier Rhodes continued to struggle in coverage against the Packers, getting beaten badly on a double move by James Jones. Terence Newman, who has been particularly effective as of late, committed a fairly obvious pass-interference penalty late in the second half that went for 50 yards on third down. Harrison Smith and Andrew Sendejo (actually) both played pretty solid games, which brings this grade up to average.

Special Teams: F

Just about everything that could go wrong went wrong for the Vikings special teams. The kickoff coverage unit allowed a 70-yard return, Blair Walsh missed an extra point and Cordarrelle Patterson committed a stupid personal-foul penalty to effectively negate the damage he did on his kick return. It's getting bad when Jeff Locke has the best game of this unit, and he wasn't exceptional by any means.

Coaching: C

Minnesota was outcoached on Sunday; it's as simple as that. Head coach Mike Zimmer did not take advantage of Green Bay's being forced to use a backup center, and offensive coordinator Norv Turner, similar to Zimmer, also called the game way too safely. The Vikings needed explosive plays on both sides of the ball, and their coaching staff did not put its players in position to make them—particularly on third down.

Mistakes Sink Vikings

Ann Heisenfelt/Associated Press

With exception to the offensive line, the Vikings didn't necessarily play badly against the Packers. But, they did make far too many mistakes to win.

In total, Minnesota committed eight penalties for 110 yards, with the majority of these yards being racked up on a 50-yard pass-interference call on Terence Newman that led to a Packers second-quarter touchdown.

The Vikings also lost the turnover battle. Adrian Peterson lost a huge fumble with Teddy Bridgewater leading the offense down the field. Green Bay recovered the ball, which not only put Minnesota in a difficult spot, but took the wind out of its sails as well.

This game essentially came down to which team made fewer mistakes, as both the Vikings and Packers were close in total yardage (342 to 320), yards per play (5.5 to 4.6), time of possession (29:38 to 30:22) and third-down efficiency (38.4 to 37.5 percent), respectively.

Minnesota made more mistakes in the end, and the scoreboard emphasized these issues.

This, however, can be spun as a good thing, as the Vikings clearly can play with the Packers now, assuming they minimize their issues the next time these two teams meet during Week 17.

Time to Admit Mike Wallace Trade Was a Mistake?

Dave Reginek/Getty Images

Plenty of fans were skeptical when the Vikings traded for Mike Wallace back on March 14, and the high-paid wide receiver is proving they had reason to be.

Over the past five games, Wallace has been targeted 19 times, coming down with just six catches for 62 yards. Included in the 13 incompletions are a multitude of drops and plays that could have been made but were not for one reason or another.

These issues were on full display against the Packers on Sunday, as Wallace dropped one pass—which would have resulted in a first down—and slowed up on a deep ball that may have appeared overthrown. These are both plays that a No. 1 wide receiver being paid $9.85 million, per Spotrac.com, has to make, and he is consistently proving incapable of doing so.

One game should never define a player, but a sample size of 10 is more than enough to determine if a player is playing well. Wallace has caught 28 passes for a total of 318 yards and one touchdown since arriving in Minnesota, and that is not adequate production for what is expected from his position.

It may be time for the Vikings to re-promote Charles Johnson or Adam Thielen and sit Wallace on the bench because the results just are not coming.

Mike Zimmer: 'Sometimes You Have to Give the Other Team Credit'

Ann Heisenfelt/Associated Press

As expected, Mike Zimmer was not happy about his team's loss on Sunday. The Vikings head coach said his team did a number of things well, but he freely admitted that his team was outplayed this time around.

"We got beat today, but there were some good things in there too," Zimmer said during his postgame press conference. "We had some penalties, yeah, but when [Aaron Rodgers] gets out of the pocket he can make some plays. Sometimes you have to give the other team credit."

The Vikings were definitely beaten by the Packers on Sunday; there is simply no other way around it. Green Bay played the better football game from start to finish, minimizing mistakes and taking advantage of every issue Minnesota had. It was a tough football game to swallow for Zimmer, the players and fans of the Vikings, but there is no reason to jump ship after just one loss.

As the Vikings coach alluded to himself, there are still plenty of games left, and Minnesota certainly is not out of the hunt in the NFC North just because of one loss.

"We still got six more games to go; let's play them out," he said.

Teddy Bridgewater: 'We Kind of Shot Ourselves in the Foot'

Ann Heisenfelt/Associated Press

Teddy Bridgewater touched on a similar note as his head coach during his postgame press conference, noting that his team made too many mistakes to win on Sunday.

"Those guys did a good job and held in some of our run plays, but we kind of shot ourselves in the foot on some plays," the 23-year-old QB said.

He later went on to say he believes the Vikings were prepared, and it was more of an issue with execution that cost his team a chance to win: "Those guys did some things today that we were prepared for; we just didn't execute."

Whether or not the Vikings were prepared for what the Packers showed is up for debate (to some degree), but it's pretty obvious that Minnesota did not execute to the best of its ability on Sunday. This is a very good football team. But it's also a young team as well, and it is still in a bit of a transitional period.

There are going to be times when the Vikings make mistakes, and unfortunately for both the team and its fans, these mistakes all appeared at the wrong time—during a key rivalry matchup with the Packers.

As Mike Zimmer noted a few weeks back in a press conference, this team is still learning how to win. The Vikings did not play winning football against the Packers, but there is still plenty of time left to right the ship and take control of the NFC North later this season.

"The unique thing is we control our own destiny," Bridgewater said. "We have a chance to face Green Bay again January 3. Right now we just have to learn from today."

Statistics courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.

For more Vikings news, statistics and discussion, find me on Twitter @RobertReidellBT.