GREEN BAY, Wis. — In Mike Zimmer's first game at Lambeau Field, the Vikings lost 42-10 on national TV, starting former first-round pick Christian Ponder after an injury to Teddy Bridgewater.
The blowout loss they absorbed on Sunday night had a similar feel.
After building a 20-0 led in the first half, the Packers leaned on their running game to pull away to a 37-10 victory, punctuated when A.J. Dillon plowed through the Vikings' defense for a pair of second-half touchdowns.
The loss eliminates the 7-9 Vikings from the NFC playoff race and sets up a meaningless season finale for the second year in a row. It is the fifth time in eight seasons the Vikings have missed the playoffs in general manager Rick Spielman and coach Mike Zimmer's time working together.
Rodgers completed 20 of his 25 passes in the first half for 211 yards and two touchdowns, filleting a Vikings secondary that offered him plenty of matchups to pick from with Patrick Peterson not shadowing Davante Adams. Rodgers targeted his favorite receiver 10 times in the first half, completing eight passes for 118 to Adams and hitting him for a 13-yard touchdown that put Green Bay up 20-0 in the second quarter.
The 13-3 Packers also ran for 88 yards in the first half, with Aaron Jones breaking two runs of more than 25 yards in a game for the first time in his career. Things might have been even more lopsided at the end of the first half if the Packers hadn't settled for two field goals early in the game; tight end Josiah Deguara dropped a touchdown pass on Green Bay's second possession after splitting the Vikings' two-safety look with a route up the middle on Green Bay's first possession.
It was the kind of offensive performance that would require a masterful answer from the Vikings. Playing without Kirk Cousins, they came out tentative.
They opted to start veteran Sean Mannion, whom they'd signed at the end of the preseason, over rookie Kellen Mond, believing the third-round pick could struggle in a prime-time game in frigid temperatures against the NFC's top seed. But after coach Mike Zimmer said Mannion would handle his opportunity well, the Vikings could not come up with any answer for the Packers.
Mannion ended the first half with 57 yards on 9-of-15 passing; he didn't attempt a pass that traveled longer than six yards in the air until the Vikings' final drive of the first half that led to a Greg Joseph field goal.
The quarterback ended up with the Vikings' longest run of the first half on an 11-yard scramble, as a Packers team that had allowed 499 rushing yards in its last three games held Dalvin Cook to 17 yards on seven carries.
The Vikings didn't eclipse 100 yards of offense until their ninth possession of the night at the end of the third quarter. Their first touchdown of the night came on the final play of the third quarter; Mannion threw the first TD pass of his career to K.J. Osborn, after center Garrett Bradbury caught Adrian Amos' deflection of a throw to Tyler Conklin and rumbled 21 yards for the Vikings' longest play of the night.
After Dillon scored to make it 37-10, the Vikings brought in Mond, but later put Mannion back in again.
