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The Vikings upset the Packers at Lambeau Field on Sunday, giving Green Bay only its second home loss of the Matt LaFleur era. After the game ended, quarterback Aaron Rodgers tried to pinpoint the reason(s) for the team’s second loss of the season — and its second in three games.
“I don’t think we overlooked anybody,” Rodgers told reporters. “I don’t know if we handled the elements as well as we have in years past. It was obviously cold and windy. I don’t know if we played with the same type of energy that we needed to. We had fans the last two weeks, no fans this week. I don’t know if that had something to do with it, but I didn’t feel like we played with a lot of energy today.”
He later explained that some of the mental errors may have arisen from playing in the cold, and that there were “lulls” in the third quarter. He also said the strength of the wind on Sunday fell into the top three of his Lambeau Field experiences.
Whatever the case, Rodgers called the loss to the Buccaneers an “anomaly.” With another loss so soon on its heels, maybe it wasn’t. Maybe the Packers are settling in to a second-tier status that ultimately will keep them from getting back to a Super Bowl.
The next piece of evidence comes in only three days, when the Packers return to San Francisco on Thursday Night Football.