The Green Bay Packers are turning meltdowns into an art form. After ending last season by giving up a 21-3 lead, allowing 25 fourth-quarter points and losing to the Chicago Bears in the NFC Wild Card Round, the Packers gave up a 22-10 lead in the second half of Sunday's season opener and lost to the Minnesota Vikings
by a 39-22 final, giving up 29 straight points (22 in the fourth quarter) to end the Week 1 defeat.So, what went wrong for the Packers during this latest collapse? The failures will sound familiar.
Inside the meltdown in the Minnesota to open 2026:
Red zone failure, special teams failure
A turning point was the big swing to end the third quarter. Up 19-10, the Packers had a chance to go up by 16 points when Jordan Love found Jonnu Smith for a 43-yard completion to Minnesota's
7-yard line with under seven minutes to go in the third quarter. But the Packers did nothing on the ensuing three plays and had to settle for a short field goal, and on the ensuing kickoff, the Vikings ripped off a 68-yard return to set up a quick touchdown. That's a big turn of events; the Packers left four points on the field and then handed the Vikings a short field for a score. What could have been a 26-10 advantage quickly turned into nothing more than a five-point lead. Settling for field goals in the red zone and making costly special teams mistakes are age-old recipes for a pro football collapse.
Another red zone failure, and a costly decision
Another big play, this time a 42-yarder to Matthew Golden on 2nd-and-20, put the Packers back in position to score a touchdown and re-take command of the game to start the fourth quarter. Seven points would have put the Packers up 29-17. But the offense couldn't convert 3rd-and-6 from the 22-yard line when a well-thrown ball went off Golden's hands in traffic, and Trey Smack hit the field goal to put the Packers up 25-17. Or so it seemed. The Vikings were flagged for being offsides, and Matt LaFleur decided to take the points off the board and go for it on 4th-and-1. Jordan Love was stopped on the quarterback sneak, the Packers turned the ball over on downs and the score remained 22-17. LaFleur wanted to be aggressive, and the Packers got the right look for a sneak. Love ended up six inches short. Two explosive plays -- the 43-yarder to Smith, and the 42-yarder to Golden -- netted the Packers all of three points overall. Just not good enough in the scoring area.
The Shawn Hochuli Drive
The Vikings scored a go-ahead touchdown with 6:37 left. How did they get there? With a big, big assist from the officials.
The penalties called by Shawn Hochuli's crew extending the scoring drive for the Vikings:
- Illegal contact on Javon Bullard, negating a sack on 3rd-and-11
- Roughing the passer on Chris McClellan, negating a stop on 3rd-and-3
- Defensive holding on Xavier McKinney, negating an interception in the end zone
All three penalties were, at the very least, questionable calls. On Bullard's illegal contact, the receiver ran right into him. McClellan's roughing penalty was shockingly soft. On McKinney's holding penalty, the tight end initiated contact. Officiating incompetence? Plain ol' bad luck? Both? Extend a drive three times with penalties and any NFL team is going to score. This penalty-fueled drive was the deflating moment for the Packers; they didn't have a pulse the rest of the way.
The wheels fall off on offense
After blitzing Jordan Love all afternoon, Brian Flores smelt blood in the water and his defensive front went into full-on attack mode against an overwhelmed offensive line. On the Packers' first play after falling behind, MarShawn Lloyd was immediately dumped for a 3-yard loss. Playing behind the sticks against Flores is no place to live. On third-and-long, after a sack on second down Love was sacked again, lost the ball and the Vikings recovered the fumble at the 1-yard line. Jordan Mason scored a play later. On the ensuing drive, another pass protection breakdown caused a pressure and a deflected pass that was intercepted and returned to the 14-yard line. The Vikings scored three plays later.
Here are the four drives after the Vikings took a 25-22 lead:
- Packers: 3 plays, -22 yards (TURNOVER)
- Vikings, 1 play, 1 yard (TOUCHDOWN)
- Packers: 2 plays, 7 yards (TURNOVER)
- Vikings: 3 plays, 14 yards (TOUCHDOWN)
Those four series turned a 25-22 game -- the Packers were still right in it, with a chance to go win it -- into a 39-22 blowout. Game over. The Vikings turned a 12-point deficit with 20 minutes to go into a three-score win.
Recurring theme
The Packers lost these four games in just the six games since December of last year:
- Week 15: Up 23-14 in the third quarter vs. Broncos (lost 34-26)
- Week 16: Up 16-6 with 5:03 left in fourth quarter vs. Bears (lost 22-16)
- NFC Wild Card Round: Up 21-3 at halftime, 27-16 with 6:36 left in fourth quarter vs. Bears (lost 31-27)
- Week 1: Up 22-10 in third quarter vs. Vikings (lost 39-22)
This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: What went wrong for Packers during latest second-half collapse?
