Sam Darnold’s strong performance against Green Bay’s defense highlighted one of the Packers’ biggest issues heading into the playoffs.
Injuries in the secondary have made the Packers vulnerable to strong passing teams.
Jaire Alexander, the Packers’ two-time Pro Bowl cornerback, missed his sixth straight game with a knee injury on Sunday. Darnold threw for a career-high 377 yards in the Minnesota Vikings’ 27-25 win over Green Bay.
When asked Monday about the possibility of Alexander returning this season, Packers coach Matt LaFleur responded, “I don’t know.”
Alexander is known for his excellent pass coverage when healthy, but he has only played 10 defensive snaps in the past two months. He missed a game against Detroit on Nov. 3 due to the knee injury and only played 10 snaps the following week against Chicago before the injury kept him out again. He hasn’t played since.
“I do know that he’s been dealing with swelling, and, you know, he doesn’t feel right to go out there and play,” LaFleur said.
Other Packers defensive players are also dealing with injuries. Rookie safety Evan Williams has missed the last two games with a quadriceps injury.
Rookie safety Javon Bullard returned on Sunday after missing two games with an ankle injury, but Zayne Anderson left the game with a concussion, just days after his breakout performance in a 34-0 win over the New Orleans Saints.
The Vikings (14-2) took advantage, as Darnold threw three touchdown passes and gave Minnesota a 27-10 lead.
“We’ve got to do a better job in coverage, for sure,” LaFleur said. “I think your coverage is going to get better if you can get a better pass rush, as well, so it all goes hand in hand.”
The Packers (11-5) are currently the No. 7 seed in the NFC playoffs, but they could move up to the sixth spot if they beat the Chicago Bears (4-12) and the Washington Commanders (11-5) lose at Dallas (7-9) on Sunday. As the No. 7 seed, the Packers will have to face the NFC East champion Philadelphia Eagles (13-3) in the wild-card round.
The Packers have little chance of winning playoff games on the road if they play the way they did in Minnesota.
“I didn’t feel like it was to our standard, and you’ve got to give them credit,” LaFleur said. “I mean, that’s a good football team. But I thought there was a lot of things within our own control in terms of playing with fundamentals and discipline that we did not do a very good job of. And that was disappointing. It just was sloppy football.”
