GREEN BAY, Wis. _ A draining, drama-filled season that started with Super Bowl aspirations and five straight victories unofficially ended Saturday in Green Bay with a second straight lopsided loss for the Vikings.
Mike Zimmer's once-mighty defense got shredded at Lambeau Field by the Packers and their MVP-caliber quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, who was responsible for four touchdowns in the first half.
Quarterback Sam Bradford and the Vikings were unable to go touchdown for touchdown with Rodgers and the Packers in a first-half shootout. And after taking a 28-13 lead into halftime, the Packers coasted from there.
The 38-25 loss at Lambeau Field dropped the Vikings below .500 for the first time this season and eliminated them from playoff contention.
The Packers struck first, with Rodgers throwing a 21-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jordy Nelson. On that third-down play, Nelson found a hole in zone coverage then motored to the end zone for the score.
On their next drive, the Vikings, with big gains by running back Jerick McKinnon and wide receiver Adam Thielen, drove deep into Packers territory. But their season-long struggles inside the 10-yard line continued and kicker Kai Forbath was called upon to boot a 22-yard field goal.
The Packers quickly answered with their second touchdown. Rodgers hit wide receiver Davante Adams for a 20-yard score three plays after throwing a 48-yard completion to Nelson, whom the Vikings opted not to cover.
Another Forbath field goal early in the second quarter made it 14-6.
Rodgers and the Packers tacked on another touchdown after center Nick Easton's botched snap gave the home team the ball and a short field. Rodgers found Nelson again, in the end zone, for his third TD pass.
The Vikings pulled back within a score, to 21-13, after Bradford heaved another deep ball to Thielen, who ran untouched to the end zone while the two Packers defenders who collided on the play picked themselves up. The 71-yard touchdown was the team's longest pass play of 2016.
Thielen had six catches for 142 yards in the first half and finished the game with 202 yards, eight shy of the franchise record. In the process, he shot past fellow wideout Stefon Diggs for the team lead in receiving yards with one game left to play.
The Vikings were position to score again late in the first half but Packers outside linebacker Clay Matthews blew by left tackle T.J. Clemmings to sack Bradford, who coughed up the football on the big blindside hit.
The Packers capitalized on the turnover with yet another scoring drive. This time Rodgers opted to run in for the score instead of throwing for another one. His 6-yard touchdown scramble increased their lead to 28-13.
Rodgers was 19-for-22 for 268 yards and three touchdowns in the first half, at that point giving him a near-perfect passer rating of 157.0. Nelson was on the receiving end of seven of those passes for 145 yards and two scores.
Bradford, meanwhile, had 231 yards before halftime on 13-for-20 passing.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Packers made it 31-13 with a 48-yard field goal from Mason Crosby. Rodgers later threw a fourth touchdown pass.
Rodgers finished the afternoon with 347 passing yards, becoming the first quarterback to eclipse 300 against the Vikings this season. It was a second straight no-show by Zimmer's defense, which got stampeded six days earlier in an embarrassing 34-6 loss to the Indianapolis Colts at home.
With the game out of reach, Bradford, who threw for a season-high 382 yards, tossed late touchdowns to Diggs and Thielen to make the score look respectable.
In the end, the Vikings were knocked out of the playoff picture about 17 hours after a fire engine was required to remove the players, two at a time, from the team plane, which after a safe landing Friday evening got stuck in the snow at Appleton International Airport while taxiing to its tiny terminal.
It was the latest bizarre scene from a soap-opera season for the Vikings, who lost their starting quarterback in late August, made a blockbuster trade for Bradford in September, saw their offensive coordinator resign in November and Zimmer have emergency eye surgery a few weeks ago.
The Vikings, who have lost eight of their past 10 games, will close out this lost season next Sunday at home against the Chicago Bears.
