For the second year in a row, the Packers started the season on the wrong foot. In 2021, Green Bay was destroyed 38-3 by the Saints in Week 1. This weekend they failed to do things differently in their trip to Minnesota.
The Vikings won 23-7 in what has been a rather forgettable day for the visitors, especially for Aaron Rodgers. The veteran quarterback completed just 22 of 34 passes for 195 yards, with no touchdowns and an interception.
Rodgers had already warned during training camp that he was concerned about the Packers' wide receiver group, which suffered a big loss when Davante Adams was sent to Las Vegas. However, that's not what he talked about after the defeat.
Aaron Rodgers knows what went wrong for the Packers at Vikings
"We knew there was going to be growing pains," Rodgers said, via CBS Sports. "This is real football. It counts. It's different. There's nerves. ... It's the mental mistakes that we've really got to clean up, and there was too many across the board."
"Obviously it would be great to have a 75-yard touchdown to start the game, but drops are going to happen. It's part of the game. It's the mental stuff that we just can't have because we're hurting ourselves, whether we're going the wrong way on a block or missing a protection-something, missing a hot, not running the right route, the right depth. There was just too many mental mistakes."
It was certainly not how the Packers expected to start their season. However, it's still too early to enter panick mode. Green Bay have a chance for redemption in Week 2 against another division rival when they host the Bears in an exciting Sunday Night Football showdown.
