4 mind-numbing stats from Vikings’ Week 17 loss to the Packers

Now that the dust has settled from the Minnesota Vikings’ 37-10 loss to the Green Bay Packers, it’s easier to take in all of the weird things that happened during that game. What’s a Border Battle game between these longtime rivals without a few things happening that make absolutely no sense whatsoever?

The Vikings were actually the last team to defeat the Packers. So there was hope they could potentially pull off an upset and keep their fading playoff hopes alive, and then the news broke of quarterback Kirk Cousins’ positive COVID test.

That essentially took all of the air out of the room and left the banged-up Vikings with backup quarterback Sean Mannion—at the mercy of Aaron Rodgers and the No. 1-seeded Packers.

Here are four mind-numbing statistics from that Sunday Night Football matchup:

RB Dalvin Cook had three receptions and no receiving yards

One of the main reasons why the Vikings’ coaching staff is being raked through the coals after losing to the Packers is the team’s inability to get Dalvin Cook more involved. The rushing attack was flat-out nonexistent because the Packers basically called Minnesota’s bluff. They dared them to throw the ball downfield with Mannion.

But surely, the team could have come up with more creative ways to get Cook involved in the passing attack. The fact that he was only targeted three times in that game is borderline criminal.

Cook could have served as a viable safety blanket for Mannion, who hadn’t had a meaningful snap of football since 2019 before that game.

QB Sean Mannion was the leading rusher with two carries for 14 yards

How was Mannion the leading rusher on a team with one of the most versatile running backs in the game?

You know it’s a bad night when a three-time Pro Bowler like Cook is held to only nine carries for 13 yards. It doesn’t matter if the Vikings are playing the 2021 Packers or the 1985 Chicago Bears defense. That can’t be allowed to happen.

If the Vikings made more of an effort to at least threaten with the passing game earlier, there might have been bigger holes for Cook to run through. But for every snap, the Packers were all over him the moment Mannion handed him the ball and got out of the way.

Not a single sack for the Vikings defense

The Vikings couldn’t register a single sack on Aaron Rodgers in the game. Green Bay’s offensive line dominated to the point where defensive players had to watch helplessly as the Packers’ quarterback and MVP frontrunner torched their defensive backfield all night long.

It was one of those performances where you just shake your head and move on to the next week.

And backup cornerback Kris Boyd clearly got the worst of it in coverage on Davante Adams and Allen Lazard. If anyone was hoping for a sack or two at some point, it had to be Boyd with Rodgers literally targeting him on nearly every pass attempt.

With so many players out with injuries and illness, that defensive front looked like a shell of the monstrous unit blowing up opposing offenses earlier in the season.

Center Garrett Bradbury was the fourth-leading receiver with the longest reception

Even in a loss, Vikings center Garrett Bradbury deserves a game ball for his heads-up play after a pass was knocked loose from tight end Tyler Conklin. Bradbury just happened to be at the right place at the right time to catch the pass and turn up the field for a 21-yard play.

It was the longest play of the night for the Vikings. If only for a moment, the big man embodied his inner Adam Thielen and just went for it.

By the end of the game, that one reception had him sitting behind Justin Jefferson, K.J. Osborn and Conklin as the team’s fourth-leading receiver.

Not bad for an offensive lineman.

1

1