Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers Final Score: Vikings Get Destroyed, 42-10

The Minnesota Vikings announced approximately 90 minutes before kickoff at Lambeau Field that rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater would not play after an ankle injury suffered against the Atlanta Falcons. It's safe to assume that the game was pretty much over at that point, but the two teams went through the motions anyway. . .and it came out very badly for the Vikings.

The Green Bay Packers had their way, and the Minnesota Vikings couldn't get out of their own way for the better part of the evening, as the home team smashed their way to a 42-10 victory in a game that didn't even feel like it was that close.

The Packers scored 14 points in each of the first three quarters, and the Vikings didn't manage to reach Green Bay territory until late in the third quarter of play. The Vikings shot themselves in the foot numerous times, including a second quarter that featured three turnovers. . .two Christian Ponder interceptions (one of which went for a pick-six for Julius Peppers and another which lead to an Aaron Rodgers touchdown pass) and a Matt Asiata fumble. It was 42-0 going into the fourth quarter of play, and the Packers basically let off the gas after that. The Vikings scored some meaningless points late to avoid the worst loss in the history of the Vikings/Packers series.

The numbers, on the surface, don't look that bad for the Vikings. . .at least defensively. The Packers had 321 total yards on offense, Aaron Rodgers had 156 yards passing, and Jordy Nelson had just one reception. Granted, that reception was a 66-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter, but hey. . .we're looking for any bright sides we can get here.

Offensively, however, this was a disaster for Minnesota, and has basically put the Christian Ponder era to bed. The team had the three turnovers, Ponder was sacked six times, and the Vikings managed only 111 rushing yards against a unit that came into the game as the NFL's worst defense against the run. The lack of chemistry between Ponder and anyone else in a white jersey was pretty obvious.

The Vikings fall to 2-3 on the season, and will now have some extended time off before hosting the Detroit Lions at TCF Bank Stadium in Week 6 of the NFL season. By that time, Teddy Bridgewater will likely be healthy and ready to come back, and the Vikings can attempt to bounce back from a pretty embarrassing loss.

Thanks to everyone that hung out with us for this one in our Game Threads, particularly those that stuck it out until the very end. We'll start putting this one behind us and start looking ahead to Detroit starting tomorrow because, hey. . .the sooner, the better.