Halfway through their first Border Battle of the 2025 season on Sunday at Lambeau Field, the Minnesota Vikings could feel the momentum building in their favor.

The Vikings opening 30 minutes against the rival Packers had featured two scoring drives courtesy of Will Reichard's leg – both field goals from 50+ yards, with the latter kick being a 59-yarder, making it the second-longest made field goal in Lambeau Field history behind David Akers' 63-yarder with the 49ers back in 2012. Despite not finding the end zone in the first half, Minnesota only trailed by four points and saw a healthy 86 yards rushing from the duo of Jordan Mason and Aaron Jones, Sr., as well as a solid start from J.J. McCarthy (7-of-11 for 62 yards) and Justin Jefferson (three catches for 41 yards).

Minnesota appeared to keep that momentum rolling to start the second half, as it forced a Packers punt to begin the third quarter. The next 12 seconds, however, completely flipped the script for the remainder of the afternoon.

Vikings returner Myles Price initially let the punt find the field, but ended up getting a little too close for comfort. The ball ricocheted off his hand and was recovered by the Packers' Zayne Anderson at the Vikings 5-yard line. Two plays later, Green Bay (7-3-1) found the end zone, and never looked back on its way to a 23-6 victory over Minnesota (4-7).

Sunday's game not only gave Minnesota its fifth loss in the past six games, but it also caused the Vikings to move back in this week's Power Rankings. Here's a look at where the Vikings landed going into Week 13:

No. 23 (down 2 spots): Eric Edholm, NFL.com

The Vikings have cornered themselves into a tough situation with J.J. McCarthy, who hasn't grown as expected and is now dealing with his third worrisome injury – he was placed in the concussion protocol after Sunday's loss to the Packers – in two seasons. … Justin Jefferson is averaging 35 fewer receiving yards per game than he did in the 2023 season, when Nick Mullens, Joshua Dobbs and Jaren Hall started more than half of Minnesota's games. It's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. The more interesting question to ponder might be how the Vikings plan to handle the QB position in the offseason. McCarthy can't just be handed the starting job without some competition, right? Perhaps Max Brosmer – slated to start if McCarthy can't go this week at Seattle – will show he's that guy.

No. 22 (down 2 spots): Gary Davenport, Bleacher Report

The decision to make McCarthy the future of the franchise under center looks to have been a debacle of epic proportions. McCarthy's bad throw percentage and on-target percentage are both the worst in the NFL. In Sunday's loss to the Packers, McCarthy threw two interceptions and passed for 87 yards – total.

In the second half, Minnesota had four net yards of offense. Four.

After winning 14 games last year with Sam Darnold, the Vikings need to go .500 the rest of the way in 2025 to win that half that many games.

No. 22 (down 2 spots): Nate Davis, USA Today

WR Justin Jefferson's career average of 93.5 receiving yards per game is the highest in NFL history … and 20 yards clear of what's been able to produce in 2025 amid the Vikes issues behind center.

No. 23 (down 2 spots): Josh Kendall, The Athletic

Coach Kevin O'Connell has been the NFL's biggest proponent that it's teams that typically fail quarterbacks, not the other way around. But how do the Vikings keep playing McCarthy when he so clearly isn't ready and has been historically bad? On the other hand, can you really bench him for an undrafted rookie? Maybe they won't have to make a decision this week with McCarthy in concussion protocol.

No. 24 (down 2 spots): Conor Orr, Sports Illustrated

While we work in a league of painful impatience, what is happening with McCarthy has a different feel than your typical early struggles. Perhaps it's the historical context of his performances via EPA data, which has this past Sunday as one of the worst individual QB performances of the last two decades. Maybe it's additionally a vibe thing from Kevin O'Connell onward. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious about Max Brosmer.

No. 23 (down 2 spots): Vinnie Iyer, Sporting News

The Vikings will not be returning to the playoffs after getting buried in the tough NFC North standings. Looking at J.J. McCarthy in relation to the other quarterbacks in the division, it's clear where the most important disparity is.

No. 23 (down 3 spots): Frank Schwab, Yahoo! Sports

It is hard to bury a player after six games, but J.J. McCarthy's miserable 57.9 passer rating is as bad as you'll see. He's in concussion protocol, so undrafted rookie Max Brosmer is likely to get a start.

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