For the fifth time this season, the Green Bay Packers played against a team that has a legitimate chance of winning a Super Bowl.

As of Sunday afternoon, the Packers were losing in those contests with a terrible record of 0-5.

Minnesota beat Green Bay 27-25 in a game the Packers desperately needed. Instead, Green Bay lost 0-2 to Minnesota (14-2) and Detroit (13-2) and 0-1 to Philadelphia (13-3) this season.

These teams all stand in the way of Green Bay (11-5) making the postseason, and right now the Packers have done nothing to show they can beat any of them.

When Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love was asked last week how badly his team needed to beat one of the NFL’s elite teams, he didn’t mince his words.

“Bad,” Love said. “Obviously we only have one more chance here this week, so we definitely have to be able, as I said, to be able to win these games against the really good teams in the league and prepare for the situation where where we are.” I’ll be in the playoffs – on the road against good teams. So definitely a good test this week.”

It was a test that Green Bay failed.

Minnesota scored 20 unanswered points in the second and third quarters to build a 27-10 lead. Green Bay scored the final 15 points of the game, but for three and a half quarters the Packers were completely dominated by the Vikings.

If the Packers take solace in their late rally, that’s worth its weight in gold. They were completely outmatched most of the day and need to find answers quickly or their playoff run will be short.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly of Green Bay’s loss to Minnesota.

THE GOOD

EDGERRIN COOPER: The rookie linebacker simply plays at a different speed than most NFL players and is quickly becoming one of the most impactful defensive players in football.

On Sunday, Cooper tied for the team lead with 11 tackles and had four tackles for loss.

“I think we highlight him,” Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley said of Cooper. “I mean, we send him, he referees the games, yeah, I think we’re doing a good job of highlighting him at the moment and I’m not sure there’s much more we can do with him at the moment.” I think “If he continues to develop we can do it, but I think we’re doing a pretty good job of it at the moment.”

BE HIS VALENTINE’S DAY: The Packers were down 20-3 midway through the third quarter when Carrington Valentine made a great interception on Minnesota quarterback Sam Darnold. Valentine returned the pick 31 yards to the Minnesota 18-yard line, but fumbled.

Luckily for Valentine and the Packers, defensive lineman Karl Brooks was “Johnny of the Spot” and was able to recover the fumble. Four plays later, Josh Jacobs had a 2-yard touchdown run that pulled Green Bay to within 20-10.

THIS AND THAT: Karl Brooks sacked Sam Darnold for a 5-yard loss late in the first half. … Emanuel Wilson had his second rushing touchdown in as many weeks and his third rushing TD of the season. … Romeo Doubs had a team-high seven receptions.

THE BAD

FUMBLE ITIS: Josh Jacobs fumbled in his first two games with Green Bay, then didn’t fumble again until Week 15 against Seattle. However, Jacobs fumbled on the Packers’ first drive, giving him four hits on the year Sunday.

Jerry Tillery forced the fumble and Cam Bynum recovered at the Minnesota 38 to end a promising Green Bay drive.

DONE: Minnesota took a 7-3 lead 11:52 into the second quarter when Sam Darnold hit Jalen Nailor for a 31-yard touchdown. Darnold had 3.28 seconds to start the play, the Packers were trailing and Nailor was five yards behind safeties Xavier McKinney and Javon Bullard, making for an easy score.

With the Packers focusing most of their attention on the sensational Justin Jefferson, Nailor had five catches for 81 yards and a touchdown.

KILLER PENALTIES: Trailing 10-3 in the final two minutes of the second quarter, the Packers scored on a third-and-1 from their own 39. Josh Jacobs ran for the first down, but error-prone wideout Dontayvion Wicks was warned for an illegal formation penalty, and Love threw an incomplete throw on the next play, forcing Green Bay to punt.

Minnesota then drove to the Green Bay 37-yard line, but Minnesota’s Will Reichard missed a 55-yard field goal on what appeared to be the last play of the first half. However, Packers linebacker Edgerrin Cooper was offside on that play, and Reichard hit a 50-yard field goal on his second chance to give Minnesota a 13-3 halftime lead.

Midway through the fourth quarter, Josh Jacobs managed a 19-yard touchdown run, but right guard Sean Rhyan was called on to hold on to the play.

TAKE THE POINTS: Green Bay trailed 7-3 late in the first half and faced a 4-2 Vikings score from 23 points.

Instead of kicking the field goal, LaFleur attempted it and Love threw an incomplete throw to Jayden Reed. Considering the Packers lost by two points, those three points would have been huge.

THIS AND THAT: Keisean Nixon was hit with a 17-yard pass interference penalty on Justin Jefferson in the second quarter. … Defensive lineman Devante Wyatt and safety Zayne Anderson were both lost due to concussions. …Daniel Whelan had a 29-yard punt early in the third quarter.

THE UGLY

SECONDARY CRUSHED: Minnesota quarterback Sam Darnold threw for 377 yards, three touchdowns and posted a 116.1 passer rating against a Green Bay pass defense that wasn’t up to the challenge.

Darnold was rarely pressured and was sacked only once. Darnold then dismantled Green Bay’s secondary, completing passes to eight different players, including five players who caught at least four balls.

Green Bay performed respectably against All-World wideout Justin Jefferson (8 catches, 92 yards), but Jalen Nailor (5-81-1), Jordan Addison (6-69-1) and TJ Hockenson (5-68 -0). ) have been hurting Green Bay all along.

FLORES > LAFLEUR: While the Packers made things interesting in the end with two late touchdowns, Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur lost his duel with Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores.

Green Bay’s first six possessions were fumble, punt, field goal, downs, punt and punt. At that point, the Packers found themselves in a 20-3 hole that they couldn’t escape.

The highly creative and blitz-happy Flores outplayed LaFleur for most of the day, which is one of the main reasons the Packers fell to Minnesota for the second time this season.

LOVE hurts: Jordan Love’s final stats were fine – 19 of 30 for 185 yards with a touchdown, no interceptions and a passer rating of 91.7.

However, for most of the game, Love was timid, inaccurate and failed to put Green Bay’s offense ahead.

Love had just 45 yards at halftime and 64 yards after three quarters.

In a game where Love needed to shine, he was well outclassed by Minnesota’s Sam Darnold.

WHERE IS JAIRE?: Green Bay cornerback Jaire Alexander was sidelined for the sixth straight game with a knee injury and has now missed 33 of the Packers’ last 67 games. There were also five games in which Alexander started but couldn’t finish – such as Green Bay’s Week 11 contest in Chicago, when he played just ten snaps.

In total, Alexander only played four games in 2021, seven last season and seven this year. And at this point, it’s unclear whether Green Bay’s will have its top cornerback for the postseason.