3 Vikings most to blame for demoralizing beatdown against rival Packers

1) Kevin O'Connell's Vikings were not prepared one bit for their biggest game of the year

This was the Vikings season right here. If they won this game on their home turf, they'd be the team battling with teams like the Seahawks and Saints for the last Wild Card spot. With that loss, it's highly unlikely they get in. It certainly did not look at all like the Vikings players knew this was a game they had to have.

Starting with the quarterback. As we discussed, Jaren Hall looked completely overmatched. Kevin O'Connell's decision to start him makes some sense as Josh Dobbs and Nick Mullens had struggled so mightily, but he clearly wasn't close to NFL-ready with how he looked against the Packers.

Credit to O'Connell for making the change at quarterback, but he waited far too long. The Vikings were doing absolutely nothing when Hall wasn't giving the ball away, raising the question as to why in a game of so much importance their head coach was so fixated on keeping the flustered quarterback in the game?

Would things have been any different with Mullens playing more? Probably not. Still, it was obvious from the jump that this was not the spot for Hall, and O'Connell blew it. The Vikings' head coach and play-caller showed little ability to adjust in a game when they got nothing going offensively, which even without Kirk Cousins was supposed to be a whole lot better with Justin Jefferson healthy.