GREEN BAY, Wis. — "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong."

There's no pleasure in the presentation of Murphy's Law that Minnesota felt to the umpteenth degree Sunday in its first cool-weather game of the season, a 23-6 loss to archrival Green Bay at Lambeau Field.

The uneven loss pushed the Vikings to 4-7 — farther away from their goal of turning around this season.

Even without star running back Josh Jacobs, the Packers ground attack was cold-blooded in low-40 temps. Backup RB Emanuel Wilson found gold in Minnesota's defense, rushing 28 times for 107 yards and a pair of touchdowns. His 3.8 average was modest, but his broken tackles count was tremendous.

Even without throwing for 150 yards, Green Bay's Jordan Love manicured Minnesota's pass defense, picking and choosing where to go with the ball on weighty downs. Overall, Love was 14-for-21 passing with 139 yards and no touchdowns or interceptions. His rating was 85.2.

Even without dynamic tight end Tucker Kraft, even without stalwart center Elgton Jenkins, and even without a play from scrimmage that was longer than 18 yards, the Packers easily took care of the Vikings.

The dominance didn't happen immediately — but when it did, it occurred all at once and didn't let up.

"It was frustrating," linebacker Blake Cashman said afterwards. "I felt like we actually did a really good job filling our gaps, getting downhill and building a wall defensively. He (Wilson) was just finding space, squirming through (holes) and was able to get some decent runs. That was probably the most frustrating thing."

Cashman had a game-high 16 total tackles, his most since Nov. 19, 2023, and his fifth straight in double digits, which is the NFL's longest active streak and the best by a Viking in one season since at least 2000.

The player that Cashman and everyone else on Minnesota's defense struggled to contain likely would have played a tiny role if Jacobs was healthy and in the lineup. Wilson entered the matchup with a season-high of 61 yards several weeks ago and had never carried more than 14 times in a single game.

"[No.] 23? Ah, shoot. He was running the ball. He was a tough back," safety Joshua Metellus shared, praising Wilson for playing with a chip on his shoulder in place of Jacobs. "He was running hard today."

"I don't even think it was difficult. Like, it's not like they were [explosive runs]. … It was just leaky yardage — us not getting [him] to the ground after first contact," Metellus added. "I don't think it was necessarily anything they did. I mean, we had hats to the ball; he was getting hit in the backfield. It was just a matter of us bringing him to the ground. Obviously, they played really well. He played amazing.

"But I don't think [it was] anything they came up with," Metellus said, emphasizing the issues are correctable. "Like I said – us – if we don't play as a team, all 11, we don't give ourselves a chance."

While Wilson tested the Vikings defense, his impact came in small, steady doses, not chunks. His long rush went for 12 yards, and Chris Brooks complemented him with eight runs for 21, and a long of just 10.

"I didn't feel like guys were worn out," Cashman said. "Everybody was playing with a full head of steam and understanding that we're going to line up and attack the man in front of us, but play with pride."

The reality is a huge difference in time of possession — 37:15 to 22:45 in favor of Green Bay — had an effect on the unit and simultaneously allowed the Packers offense to get into the rhythm it preferred.

Green Bay converted 50 percent of its 14 third-down attempts and suffered only one splashy negative play, a sack by Vikings outside linebacker Dallas Turner on a third-and-15 late in the first quarter.

One play rarely decides the final score, but it certainly has the power to dictate the flow of the game.

After buttoning up on their first defensive series of the second half, forcing Green Bay to punt in a 10-6 contest, the Vikings defense fell victim to a rookie mistake as returner Myles Price inadvertently touched the ball when he initially tried to get away from it on a punt and then engaged a Packers player.

Green Bay recovered it at Minnesota's 5, and Wilson punched in a TD for a 17-6 lead two plays later.

"As a defense, you've got to stand tall and be able to get a stop in the low-red zone, just save your team four points there," Cashman shared. "And that's kind of been the narrative of our season, you know, teams — they get up a couple scores, and they're just try to get big, run the ball and chew up some clock. So I would have loved to see us, defensively, hold Green Bay to a field goal there early in the third quarter."

The 11-point Packers advantage became the biggest disadvantage to the Vikings, especially because the offense couldn't piece together a successful series (Minnesota managed all of 4 net yards after halftime).

Green Bay finished with 42 rushes as a team on 65 offensive plays. In Metellus' eyes, the main issue is that Minnesota has not been able to play complementary, clean football, in each phase, for 60 minutes.

"When one phase makes a good play, the other phase has to come back and make a good play," Metellus said. "And the minute we can get all that, literally, the team game, we play as a team, we'll find ourselves in a good spot. But it's frustrating. I don't have much to say besides that we've got to figure it out quickly.

"This is a winning football team in this locker room, and I'll believe that until the day I die," Metellus emphasized, adding it's part of his job as a team captain to lead by example. "To not get the results really just brings you back to your foundation. And what I play the game for and what we all play the game for is the process. We've just got to trust the process, fall in love with the process. The results are going to be the results. … We've just got to make sure our process is right; the chips will fall where they [may]."

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