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GREEN BAY, WIS. — The taunting began early, when Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander mimicked Justin Jefferson's celebration dance.
The insults escalated throughout the Packers' 41-17 defeat of the Vikings on Sunday, with Alexander pushing Jefferson repeatedly during a Packers interception return, Green Bay fans mocking the Vikings' "Skol'' chant and Lambeau-leaping to Wisconsin fourth-quarter favorite "Jump Around."
By the end of an embarrassing loss to their primary rival, the Vikings were left to worry about seeding, and seeds of doubt.
Never before in franchise history has a Vikings team won 12 games while periodically destroying its legitimacy as a championship contender.
Only two late touchdowns kept them from becoming the second team in the Super Bowl era to win 12 games while losing two games by 30 points or more. The 1991 Detroit Lions retain that title.
A team led by a coach nicknamed "KO" keeps winning close and losing by knockouts. The Vikings are 11-0 in one-score games. In their four losses, they have been outscored 139-50. Their point differential with one game remaining in the regular season is minus-19.
They have suffered disheartening losses in September, November, December and January, hitting sofa-sized speed bumps that make their championship aspirations seem more the product of dreams than plans.
"This is a momentum-based game," Kevin O'Connell said. "When you turn the football over, when you do not sustain drives offensively, eventually it's just too much for your team to overcome.
"That's where we've got to find ways in all phases of our team to do whatever we can to limit the momentum, that avalanche that has tended to happen."
The week after their most lopsided loss of the season, a 40-3 drubbing at home against Dallas, the Vikings won their next two games. After their Week 2 loss at Philadelphia, they won seven straight. After their loss at Detroit, they won two straight.
But if the Indianapolis Colts hadn't been incompetent enough to blow an NFL-record lead, the Vikings would have lost three of their last four games, with all three losses coming to teams that, if the season ended today, would miss the playoffs.
"We gave up plays we shouldn't have," safety Cam Bynum said. "It's the definition of complementary football. They ran the ball well, they threw the ball well. With respect to them, they're a really good team, obviously."
Would the NFL's top teams, if you snuck truth serum in their Gatorade, say the same about the Vikings?
And would they like the Vikings' chances after all that occurred on Sunday, when Minnesota lost two more offensive linemen, including star right tackle Brian O'Neill, to injuries, and Jefferson was held to one catch, and Kirk Cousins threw three interceptions?
The Vikings slipped frequently on the semi-frozen tundra. Is their season one long, slippery slope?
O'Connell used the word "avalanche." Cousins used the word "snowballing."
Put the Vikings in a close game in the fourth quarter, and they're clutch. Beat them up early, and, unless you're a bad team with an interim coach hired out of a television studio, they might stay down until their corner throws in the towel.
"We've got to play better," Cousins said.
Against NFC teams that are in playoff contention, the Vikings are 4-4. They remain 11-0 in one-score games, which means they are 1-4 in games won decisively.
A noncompetitive loss in the late-afternoon broadcast slot on New Year's Day likely destroyed any argument that could have previously been made for Jefferson or Kirk Cousins to be the NFL Most Valuable Player.
Instead, the highlight of postgame interviews became Alexander wearing a massive Packers hat — presumably, to house a big head — and taking issue with analysts calling him a "good" cornerback. "I'm a great cornerback," he said.
A rematch in the playoffs is a possibility. The Vikings are headed for the third seed. The Packers could clinch the seventh seed next week. Theoretically, the teams could meet in the NFC Championship Game.
Given the way the Vikings have played against NFC contenders, making it that far would require a Minneapolis Miracle, or two.
