The Minnesota Vikings beat the Green Bay Packers on Sunday 27-25 in a divisional matchup that ultimately gave the Vikes a great chance to clinch the division. However, former Eagle, Chris Long, was confused by the Packers’ side of the ball and their decision-making which played a major role in their defeat.
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Long had a lot to say about the Packers not being able to win “big games” — mostly centered around the comedy of errors that they had in the first half.
“You just haven’t won the big game,” Long said about the Packers on his podcast, Green Light. “And I love that team, but you haven’t won the big game. And in this game, it’s like a comedy of errors in the first half.”
It’s a harsh critique from Long, but he has several pieces of evidence to support it. He mentioned how they were facing a great team on the road and fumbled on their first drive. They also stalled in the red zone and failed to take a field goal when the situation called for it, instead opting to go for it on fourth down and coming up short.
It’s simple mistakes like these that get Long, and other fans of the Packers frustrated. They have a world-class head coach, a franchise quarterback, a stud running back, and a stout defense. Yet, when a big game comes around, they seem to make every bad decision possible.
Long went on to talk about a sequence at the end of the first half that could’ve changed the outcome of the game. Minnesota had the ball with four seconds and was in range for a 55-yard field goal try — pretty lengthy for kicker Will Reichard.
But the Vikings got the Packers to jump offsides and moved the ball up five yards, making the 50-yard attempt more feasible.
“Sometimes this team confounds me,” Long pressed on. “You gift Minnesota three points before the half… I know that things change when the scores change, so this is revisionist history, but they gifted them a field goal.”
Reichard nailed the kick, which ended up being the difference, as the Vikings only won by two.
The reason Long was so critical of the Packers is that he’s been rooting for them all year. He believed that after their big win against Kansas City at home last year, they had “graduated” to being a team capable of winning tough games.
But this season has been the complete opposite. They’ve lost to the Eagles, Lions twice, and now the Vikings twice. The only “big games” they’ve won were against the Rams, who were in disarray, and the 49ers, who have also struggled all season.
The Packers’ loss has now turned it into a seeding battle between the Vikings and the Lions. If the Lions can beat the 49ers on Monday night, both teams would be 14-2 — setting up an enticing Week 18 matchup between the two squads in Detroit, as the winner gets the #1 seed and a first-round bye.
