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There is not too much of an intro to provide after the Vikings lost 23-6 to the Packers Sunday at Lambeau Field to fall to 4-7 on the season.

Minnesota lost for the fifth time in six games since its Week 6 bye.

Let's get to the comments/questions.

Another disappointing performance by the Vikings. The offense just isn't very good at scoring. Nor is the Vikings defense very good at stopping the Packers on third downs or preventing second half scoring drives. And of course, the special teams return/coverage squads have yet another game determining synapse? I was amazed at, but not really surprised at all, by the Vikings offense absolutely worthless performance in the third quarter Below are my 3 Ups and 3 Downs for the game:

UPS:

1. Nice FG drive to open the game: 52 yarder — well done by Will Reichard!

2. Offense played well at the end of the half — they prevented a late first half score by the Packers and scored the long FG right before halftime. Nicely done.

3. Ryan Wright's punting game was spot on.

DOWNS:

1. We are driving in the second quarter, and K.O. calls a trick play on third-and-1. Followed up by a fourth-down run with Jordan Mason running into the teeth of the Pack defense who sold out on a Jordan fourth-down run; for an easy turnover on downs. What a self-inflicted and totally wasted opportunity. Just plain dumb.

2. We stop the Packers on their opening possession of the third quarter, forcing a Packers punt. Then we give the ball right back to them on the 5-yard line for an outright gift Packers TD after Price touches the punt but fails to recover it. Followed by a Vikings three-and-out — crushing and sad.

3. The entire Vikings offense. We cannot score a TD the entire game? We have absolutely nothing on offense the entire second half? Multiple punts out of our own end zone? Back-to-back to back three-and-outs in the second half? We can't even score a garbage-time TD; but instead have two more McCarthy interceptions? Our offense is just totally unproductive, weak, unreliable and downright unacceptable by any measurement standard? When watching the fourth quarter, my only thought was, "please make it stop." Something has to change.

We are going nowhere at the speed of light in my opinion. Hope we can do better next week, but my confidence is gone. I wish I was looking forward to [Sam] Darnold and the Seahawks.

Respectfully,

— Jeff Ludwig

Kudos to Reichard on the 52- and the 59- (by the way, there was a great catch at the end of that one by equipment staffer Ben Ryan) yard field goals. A great job of snapping by Andrew DePaola and holding by Ryan Wright.

I really thought the execution at the end of the first half, which was dramatically better than the previous week, was going to lead to some momentum in the second half.

It started to happen with the defense forcing a punt on Green Bay's first possession, but the muff and Packers recovery at the 5 started an avalanche.

Wright did have a good day punting, downing the ball at the 2 on one and handling two backed-up-deep punts in the second half.

The trick play was a frequent source of disdain for emailers this week.

I'm not sure why that was the play that was called in that situation, but O'Connell did say it was one the team had worked on during the week.

There's a lot of drinking from the firehose that occurs for young QBs, especially against good defenses. Green Bay has a good defense and was able to create pressures without blitzing, which is disappointing since Sunday was the first time all five intended offensive line starters were simultaneously available.

I really wasn't going to send anything in this week, but I have to give some kindness to a team that really needs it.

This team of football players has so much talent and has shown it time and again in the past, but to see them fall so hard is heartbreaking. The game had several failures, but we cannot put all of it on the QB. We all have seen them play like the best teams in the NFL, but here are a couple of observations I can say.

The defense is still one of the best, especially when you consider the beating they take each week. They only gave one touchdown (I don't count the fumble on the 5-yard line; any team can score there, especially since they just had the ball and punted) I will say this: I question the secondary coverage week after week. When they are in zone, there's always an open WR and any good QB can hit them. What happened to the lack of interceptions this year? What Is the difference?

As for the offense, I do not know what needs to be done, but something has to be done, Coach O'Connell?

— Gill Sorg in New Mexico

The thing about talent in the NFL is every team has it, so Sundays often come down to decisions and execution.

It seemed like multiple times the Vikings would have a blitz about to get home, but Jordan Love would be able to hit a fadeaway throw to one of his receivers, and they repeatedly stayed a step ahead of the coverage by the secondary.

Playing from behind is not conducive to helping force interceptions.

Fourth-and-less-than-1-yard, and instead of spreading the defense out, you get stuffed running right up the middle. Why?

— Ben in Bloomington

The Packers seemed ready for that play and had no problem stuffing it. It seems like the third-and-1 with Hockenson the play before was quickly diagnosed as a sneak being the only option.

Having the fourth-and-1 play stuffed was disappointing, as well.

I was gathering my thoughts about today's game and a commentator said "The last time he saw a Vikings team play so badly was 1984 under Les Steckel!" He summarized the situation so succinctly with that phrase, that not much else needs to be said. This is relevant to those of us of a certain vintage and may require some research for those who weren't born then. It was another dark period to be a Vikings fan.

The only bright spot is Will Reichard! If anyone finds anything else positive about today's performance, then they watched the game through rose-colored glasses.

McCarthy is not progressing. Why not bench him and give Max [Brosmer] the first-team reps this week? It might be a kindness as the comparison with Sam Darnold next game will be there and could just crush him after the team could have and probably should have kept Darnold. There have been many first-round QBs who failed to make the transition to the NFL, so it is no shame to admit that the team selected the wrong guy. McCarthy could have a good career as a back up, just not a starter.

This isn't being cruel; it is just the NFL! The learning curve and the expectations are high, so you better be able to deliver, or coaches pay with their jobs.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Skol

— John Stephens

I think there are aspects where McCarthy is progressing a little bit, but the results desired have not manifested.

The protection was disappointing and so was the offensive production. Six games, with a 2-4 showing that almost was 3-3, is too early to make a final judgement.

Somewhere I can hear Jim Mora standing in Colts attire in front of reporters incredulously saying, "Playoffs! Playoffs?! You kidding me?!" I don't know about mathematically, but this team is out of them. J.J. McCarthy will get (and deserves) a large share of blame for this loss. But the same problems are contributing mightily to outcome. Penalty numbers are better. But costly mistakes on special teams (again) and in the passing game (errant throws, drops) are making it very difficult for the defense and running game to carry this team to wins.

Credit Green Bay. They played a solid, mistake-free game and capitalized on Vikings gaffes. But the idea that this Vikings offense is good for only two field goals against any team is ridiculous.

I'm trying to think of a single player other than kicker Will Reichard who is playing at or above expectation this season. Injuries have been a huge factor. And there have been bright moments for several players week to week. But overall, where is the consistent Pro Bowl talent that we saw last year and supposedly brought in this year?

McCarthy obviously needs time. He's played six games. In one of those games, he was the NFC Offensive Player of the Week. We've seen the flashes. The sample size is too small to draw finite conclusions on his eventual prospects. But I'll say this. Unless there's remarkable improvement in these final games, if there's a QB in the upcoming draft that has franchise potential, and if I'm the GM, I'm not passing on that QB for a linebacker.

Skol!

— Jeff in Sacramento, California

And…

So we're not officially, but … we're eliminated from the playoffs. As I've said all year: we're not a good football team. Here's how I have us the rest of the year: Seattle (L), Commanders (W possibly), Cowboys (L), Giants (W possibly), Lions (L), Packers (L), finishing the year possibly 6-11, but probably 4-13.

J.J. has to show improvement over the rest of the season or I say he's out. K.O. needs to relinquish play calling duties to someone else. And both lines of scrimmage need serious work. Bad play all around. Not well coached/prepared and not disciplined enough to execute.

Embarrassing.

SKOL,

— J.B. Brunet

The Vikings are not mathematically eliminated, but the outlook is bleak, with Minnesota essentially having to win out to give itself the best chance for the playoffs.

I did think Green Bay played fairly well and became the latest team this season to play on its ideal terms against the Vikings this season.

McCarthy had a really tough game for multiple reasons. Every rep of experience is so important, but the "all 11" component of the offense can show up more frequently than it has.

As for some individual players, I'd mention the play of Jalen Redmond and Eric Wilson as again continuing to stand out.

Hi from across the pond (actually on holiday in Spain). Unfortunately, another dismal performance. Not one to get too downhearted, but we are never going to win games with less than 200 yards of offense and less than 100 passing.

More issues on special teams. This season is done. Major remake required for next year and decisions to be made, both on-field and coaching. Continuing with our good season, bad season.

Forever hopeful British Viking,

— Andy

It's really wild how long the stretch of alternating seasons from success to limited success has lasted for Minnesota, really going back to the Brad Childress era. The 2008 and 2009 teams were the last Vikings squads to make the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.

The 2010 season deserves a documentary for all of the craziness. Leslie Frazier had a playoff team in 2012 that was bookended by non-playoff teams. After enduring multiple challenges in 2014, Mike Zimmer began an alternating pattern of playoffs (2015, 2017 and 2019) and non-playoffs. The 2021 team lost a bunch of close games, leading to O'Connell's hire. So far, the even years have been O'Connell's postseason teams, and the odd years have been challenged.

I'm tired of listening to Coach O'Connell stand at the podium and say how proud he was of the effort that the guys gave even though it was in a losing cause. The facts are there was very little effort today, and something is glaringly wrong with this team. Fans are clamoring for McCarthy to be replaced, but the fact that they are not making that move just tells me that Max Brosmer has not shown any more in practice than McCarthy has. The team is walking around with their heads down, sitting on the bench, shaking their heads like they can't figure out what is wrong. It's time for somebody to stand in front of this team and tell them to start acting like professional football players. This is beyond embarrassing and maybe needs to be addressed starting with our general manager.

— Bruce in Gilbert, Arizona

Not every series of moves works out as intended. The plan Minnesota made this offseason for free agency just hasn't been realized. Plenty of decisions made sense, and we passed along the thinking Vikings leadership shared about their decisions. Injuries and irregularity of schedule certainly haven't helped, but they can't be used as full-fledged excuses or to diminish the deep evaluation I'm sure the Vikings will make in assessing why this year has not led to desired results.

Wow, what an embarrassment. I'm at a loss, and this season is officially a waste. I can't imagine what is going through the head of Jefferson. The frustration is visible.

Another game where McCarthy looks lost. He is regressing. The offensive line had all five starters finally, and they were awful. They all got pushed around and abused. And two of them left injured. How could it get worse?

Another game with successful running plays, and we can't keep going with it. Can't sustain and stack quality drives. The play calling is idiotic at times. The Hockenson sneak was absurd. Running up the middle on fourth down was worse. No points when we needed them.

The defense can't be on the field for two-thirds of the game and expect to win. Only giving up 23 points was incredible. They have no chance when they play that much. And another game with a bonehead mistake on special teams.

Please give us something positive to keep going, besides that our draft position keeps getting better.

— Roman in Grand Forks, North Dakota

Was really tough to see Donovan Jackson go down with the ankle injury. He's been another bright spot.

Then, to make matters worse, Christian Darrisaw also left the game with a foot injury.

The defense has been enduring way too much time on the field and too many snaps faced. Part of that is on the offense being unable to sustain drives, and part is on the defense for allowing conversions, although it is harder to put fault on the latter.

I know hindsight is 20/20 but finding a way to lose Darnold and [Daniel] Jones in the offseason and bank everything on a guy who hadn't taken an NFL snap, seems weekly like more and more of a huge mistake. More than all that, [Carson] Wentz being out for the season hurts the most because it doesn't require looking backwards. Wentz gave us our best chance to win and actually did win. McCarthy either would be best served learning from the bench, or if he's not improving, off our team. We had our entire o-line back today, and McCarthy looked horrible: five sacks and two picks. Not a good look for an offense with Jefferson, Addison, Thielen, Hock, Jones, Mason and Nailor. I'm not blaming anyone but McCarthy for this abysmal loss. Horrible.

— Peter in Derwood, Maryland

Wentz was able to help the Vikings go 2-3 in his five starts, and McCarthy is now 2-4 through his first six games. The former's experience level helped his production, even when the offensive line was going through multiple changes on the fly.

I believe there will be people who send most or all of the blame toward McCarthy, but I don't agree with that assignment. Yes, he needs to play better, but so does so much of the team. He was hit as he was throwing on the first interception.

Last week John Randle signed my long-held No. 93 jersey before the Bears game, and I couldn't have been on a higher high as a Vikings fan, but after another terrible performance by J.J. McCarthy I'm not sure I could feel much lower either. I'm not a coach, so I can never know all the nuances of the process, but after previous weeks discussing reads and decision making and then this week after talk of throwing mechanics and then another week of no real development, it seems like he was just never ready to play at this level. My hope is that the team doesn't make the same mistake they did with [Christian] Ponder and keep him just to avoid admitting the mistake and waste the rest of a good team and a favorable contract period. We won't be the only team to choose the wrong QB in the draft, so let's not double down on the loss. He's bringing us enough losses already.

— MB in Arden Hills

I'll again say it is way too early for the jury verdict to come back on McCarthy. It's a developmental process, and the Vikings have said they aren't reducing the bandwidth demands because they believe that is better for the overall development of the QB.

According to Next Gen Stats, the Packers defense generated a pressure rate of 48.0%, their third-highest mark in a game this season.

NGS noted that "five defenders generated multiple pressures for the Packers, led by defensive tackle Warren Brinson, who recorded five pressures and half a sack on 15 pass rushes. Micah Parsons generated three pressures, including 2.0 sacks on the day -- he now has 10 sacks on the season, his fifth season with double-digit sacks."

Well, another week and another struggle as a fan. I do have a question on a statistic, if the NFL keeps this stat, that seems to be a real lingering issue with our defense. I would like to know if they keep a defensive YAC (yards after contact) given up. It seems in critical situations on defense that we just can't bring down backs and receivers after the first contact and they carry us for additional yards that either keep drives going or lead to scores. Our inability to be physical on defense is a very real issue this year compared to teams in the past. We saw that again today in key situations.

— Paul Dwyer in Nebraska

Teams definitely pay attention to yards after contact.

During the game, it felt like at least 50 percent of Green Bay's yards were after contact. Turns out it was worse.

According to NGS, 100 of Emanuel Wilson's career-high 107 rushing yards were gained after contact. Wilson was credited with forcing five missed tackles on the ground, tying his career high.

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