GREEN BAY, Wis. — For the second time this season, the Green Bay Packers’ rally fell short, and they lost to the Vikings.

Sunday’s 27-25 loss in Minnesota dropped the Packers to 11-5. The Vikings are 14-2 and have won nine straight. They are still alive for the NFC North division title and the NFC’s top seed.

Despite the comeback, Jordan Love was decisively outplayed by Sam Darnold. The Vikings have some great offensive weapons for Darnold to work with. Still, Darnold threw for a career-high 377 yards against the Packers.

The Vikings’ offense has been given the majority of the attention, but Minnesota’s defense deserves praise as well. Under coordinator Brian Flores, who deserves to be a head coach again next season, the Vikings defense stifled the Packers until matters were settled.

The Packers will wrap up the regular season next weekend at Lambeau Field against the reeling Bears, who’ve lost 10 straight. 

The Packers will be in the playoffs as a wild card, meaning they’ll have to win on the road against a good team to advance. Can they do something they didn’t in the regular season? They went 0-5 against the Detroit Lions, Vikings and Philadelphia Eagles. That’s the question they’ll need to answer in January.