Vikings lose to Packers, 24-19

Last night's game was somewhat disappointing, aside from the fact that the Vikings couldn't put together a game-winning drive at the end of the 4th quarter. Tarvaris Jackson didn't do himself any favours by only completing 16 of his 35 pass attempts for a 59.0 passer rating. He gained 178 yards in the air and another 65 on the ground, but he looked nervous throughout the game and the interception he threw to close out the Vikings' last posession was awful.

Chip Scoggins has this to say:

Jackson did some nice things scrambling (9 carries for 65 yards), but like last season, he was too inconsistent and made poor throws at critical times. The fact is the Vikings made a lot of offseason moves but decided to stick with Jackson as their quarterback.

It’s clear that Brad Childress has decided he will sink or swim with Jackson and tonight’s performance has to be tough to take. This was a sloppy game in which both teams made plenty of mistakes but it was certainly a game the Vikings could have won.

Overall, the defence did well, but the lapses were costly: a deep pass to Jennings and a long run by Grant, both of which led to touchdowns for the Packers. Jared Allen was kept muzzled — no sacks and no tackles — although the player he was going up against had managed to do the same thing to him last season when the Packers played the Chiefs.

The offensive line should hang their heads over this game: Jackson was being hit far too easily by Packer defenders. That's not to excuse Jackson's mistakes, but no quarterback can play well if he's got defenders draped over his back.