Biggest Takeaways from Minnesota Vikings' Week 11 Loss

The Minnesota Vikings lost for the first time since Oct. 4 as the Green Bay Packers used two touchdown passes from Aaron Rodgers and six sacks of Teddy Bridgewater to beat the hosting Vikings by a 30-13 final on Sunday at TCF Bank Stadium.

The defeat snapped Minnesota's five-game winning streak since the bye week and seven-game home winning streak dating back to last season. 

The Vikings and Packers are both 7-3, but Green Bay now holds the head-to-head tiebreaker. Minnesota is currently the No. 5 seed in the NFC. The two teams play again in Week 17 at Lambeau Field. 

Here are the top takeaways from Minnesota's 30-13 loss in Week 11. 

Packers Give Vikings Some of Their Own Medicine

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The Packers flipped the script on the Vikings, using a dominant effort from the defensive line and a balanced attack on offense to control the contest and ice away a win. Minnesota has made a living this season off a similar recipe. 

Green Bay had six sacks and 10 hits of Teddy Bridgewater, while Eddie Lacy snapped out of his season-long slump and rushed for 100 yards. 

The Vikings offensive line couldn't keep Bridgewater upright. The Packers won up front from all angles, and it took some nifty escape work from the second-year quarterback to keep Green Bay from far more damage in terms of sacks. The pressure was set up in part by the Packers' early-down ability to stop Adrian Peterson, who rushed for only 45 yards on 13 carries. 

As is the case in many games every week, the Packers won because they controlled the line of scrimmage. The Vikings aren't used to losing that area of the field.

Penalties Kill the Vikings in All Areas

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A rash of penalties hurt the Vikings in both halves and in all three areas of the game. 

Minnesota's offense committed drive-killing penalties on three of the first four possessions, the defense handed the Packers 55 free yards on a touchdown drive before the half and Cordarrelle Patterson negated his big kick return with a boneheaded 15-yard penalty in the fourth quarter. 

Overall, the Vikings finished with a season-high eight penalties, while the team's 110 penalty yards were the most by the franchise since 2003. 

Among the biggest ones were holding penalties on Matt Kalil and Brandon Fusco, Anthony Barr jumping offside on third down, a 50-yard pass-interference penalty on Terence Newman, an offsetting roughing-the-quarterback call on Linval Joseph and Patterson's unnecessary-roughness infraction. 

Up for Kyle Rudolph, Down for Mike Wallace

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Another disappointing day from Mike Wallace was overshadowed by one of the best games of Kyle Rudolph's NFL career. 

While Wallace caught zero passes, Rudolph hauled in six for 106 yards and a touchdown. His 47-yard catch-and-run for a score gave the Vikings a 6-3 lead in the first half, and his 33-yard catch down the seam in the second half set up Minnesota's only points of the final 30 minutes. 

Bridgewater and Wallace just can't get on the same page. Wallace dropped a surefire first down in the first half and was just a step behind Bridgewater's deep ball in the fourth quarter. Both occurrences—the drop and the slight overthrow—are becoming weekly happenings for quarterback and receiver.

Wallace has just two catches on 14 targets for 26 yards over the last four games. Go back six games, and he has eight catches on 28 targets for 85 yards. Amazing inefficiency. 

Teddy Tough

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One could argue that the Vikings have lost both of Teddy Bridgewater's best games in 2015. 

They couldn't complete a spirited comeback in Denver, and they couldn't overcome a bevy of mistakes on Sunday. The blame for this one doesn't fall at the feet of the quarterback. 

Despite facing pressure on nearly every dropback and briefly leaving the contest due to a shoulder injury, Bridgewater still completed 25 of 37 passes for 296 yards and a score, while rushing four times for 43 yards. He took six sacks, with a handful coming on plays where he held the football too long. But he also twisted and maneuvered out of another half-dozen sacks, using his athletic ability to escape and make plays with his legs. 

The Vikings seemed hesitant to put the game in his hands, likely due to the repeated failings of the offensive line. But as was the case in Denver, Bridgewater showed he can handle all levels of pressure while still ripping the ball down the field. Minnesota will always run through Adrian Peterson first, but the needed adjustment to Bridgewater came too late on Sunday. 

Time to Buckle the Bootstraps

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Losing by 17 points at home with a chance to take control in the NFC North wasn't a great way for Minnesota to kick off its gauntlet within the conference. But after 10 games, the Vikings are 7-3, in a theoretical tie with the Packers atop the division and well-positioned in the playoff race. Ask 100 fans back in August if they'd take that start and at least 99 would. 

Still, the Vikings have work to do. 

Minnesota will travel to Atlanta, host Seattle and visit Arizona over the next three weeks. The Falcons are 6-4 and currently the No. 6 seed in the NFC, the Seahawks have won the conference in back-to-back years and the Cardinals are 8-2 and cruising in the NFC West. Getting out of that three-game stretch at 9-4 or better would be a huge win for the Vikings, especially with that Week 17 showdown at Lambeau Field looming. 

Minnesota can either galvanize after this loss and attack the next three weeks, or start to lose confidence and fade from the postseason picture altogether. The Vikings have accomplished so much in 2015 that a fade seems unlikely. But Mike Zimmer's club will still have to play much better in all phases to get out of the next month alive in the NFC.