At 4-1 and off three straight wins, the Green Bay Packers took a one-game lead in the NFC North into the Twin Cities and a showdown with the Minnesota Vikings. The longtime rivals had split their season series each of the previous two years. In 2016, the team each won at home: In Week 2 on a Sunday night at Minnesota, Mike Zimmer’s club came away with a 17-14 win. Three months later at Lambeau Field (Week 16), Packers’ quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw for three scores and ran for another in the first half in an eventual 38-25 victory for Mike McCarthy’s club.
So what would happen on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium? It would be an afternoon that resulted in a major loss.
Down goes Aaron Rodgers
It proved to be a costly outing in the Twin Cities for in more ways than one for the defending division champions. Early in the first quarter, Green Bay Packers star quarterback Aaron Rodgers went down after an incompletion and stayed on the turf. He would eventually be carted off the field and undergo x-rays. And eventually the 13-year pro was diagnosed with a broken collarbone. How long the prolific signal-caller would be out of action is yet to be determined. In any case, that means Brett Hundley is the Packers’ new starting quarterback for now. So how did the Packers fare on Sunday down one of the best players in the league?
When the afternoon was over in Minnesota, Green Bay came up short via a 23-10 setback. The Packers’ ground attack that had a big afternoon in Dallas one week earlier was limited to 72 yards on 24 carries. Meanwhile, Hundley hit on only 18-of-33 throws for 157 yards and one touchdown. But he was also sacked four times and threw three interceptions in the 13-point loss.
What went wrong?
After Rodgers’ exited, Hundley’s first pass attempt of the afternoon was deflected and eventually resulted in a one-handed interception by Vikings’ cornerback Xavier Rhodes. But while the young quarterback had his issues with the talented Minnesota defense, it was running back Jerick McKinnon that gave the Green Bay Packers’ defense fits all afternoon.
He led all players with 69 yards rushing on 16 carries. His three-yard scoring run in the second quarter capped off an eight-play, 84-yard drive. Earlier in the quarter, he weaved his way through the Green Bay defense via a 27-yard touchdown reception to give Zimmer’s club a 7-0 lead. All told, McKinnon touched the ball a combined 21 times and totaled 99 yards from scrimmage and a pair of scores.
The defeat dropped the Packers’ record to 4-2 this season. But it was the loss of Rodgers early in the game that is the talk of the NFL. So when will the prolific quarterback return, if at all in 2017?
