MINNEAPOLIS — Trey Smack’s 40-yard field goal had just sailed through the uprights at U.S. Bank Stadium, giving the Green Bay Packers an eight-point early fourth-quarter lead. 

But wait, the Minnesota Vikings had been offsides on the play, turning a fourth-and-6 into a fourth-and-1 — leaving head coach Matt LaFleur with a choice:

Take the points and kick off, or to take Smack’s three points off the board and go for it on fourth-and-short.

He chose … poorly.

Quarterback Jordan Love, who’d been 3-for-3 on QB sneaks for first downs last season, was stopped short of the line to gain by the Vikings defense, turning the ball over.

With the momentum on their side and the U.S. Bank Stadium suddenly springing to life, the Vikings offense marched 83 yards in nine plays — with help from multiple Packers defensive penalties, one of which wiped out an Evan Williams interception — to take a lead they would never relinquish.

In fact, they only expanded it, on their way to a 39-22 victory.

After Aaron Jones’ touchdown run and the ensuing Carson Wentz-to-Justin Jefferson successful 2-point conversion made it 25-22, the Packers took over on their own 30-yard line with 6 minutes, 30 seconds to play.

With the frenzied crowd in full throat, the Packers’ next three plays went thusly:

First down: Running back MarShawn Lloyd was dropped for a 3-yard loss.

Second down: Love was sacked for a 9-yard loss by Dallas Turner and fumbled, but right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele recovered it.

Third down: Love was sacked again, this time by ex-University of Wisconsin standout Andrew Van Ginkel, who ripped the ball away and returned it to the Green Bay 2-yard line, setting up Jordan Mason’s 1-yard touchdown run that made it 32-22.

And, incredibly, it somehow got worse from there.

Two plays after getting the ball back, Love was hit as he threw and tossed an interception to Vikings cornerback James Pierre, setting up a 9-yard Wentz-to-Jefferson TD.

Stunningly, the Packers — after spending all offseason and all summer talking about the importance of FINISHING — went from up 25-17 after Smack’s field goal to down 39-22 with 3:55 to play.

Here are three other aspects of the Packers’ 39-22 loss that stood out:

1️⃣ Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, known for his aggressive approach, took it to the nth degree against Love. It didn’t go so well for the Vikings — until the second half started.

Despite all that high praise for Love’s acumen at setting protections at the line of scrimmage, the fearless Flores went after Love — big time. And during the first half, he paid the price.

Although Love was under seemingly constant pressure — the Vikings blitzed on 83% of Love’s drop-backs during the first half alone — he managed to navigate it brilliantly with his patented fadeaway, back-foot throws to avoid defenders who were closing in on him and still deliver accurate balls.

Love also threw a near-interception that Minnesota’s Isaiah Rodgers should have picked off, but whether it was a 32-yarder to wide receiver Christian Watson — a ball that Watson caught despite being interfered with — or under-pressure completions to tight end Tucker Kraft down the seam, Love took advantage.

At halftime, he’d completed 9 of 19 passes for 199 yards and two touchdowns (an 81-yard Watson catch-and-run with 65 yards of YAC and a 2-yarder set up by that 32-yard catch) for a passer rating of 120.3 rating.

Undeterred, Flores kept the pressure on in the second half and … well, you know what happened.

Love finished the game having completed 21 of 42 passes for 387 yards with the same two TDs and an interception for a passer rating of 88.1. He was sacked four times — all in the second half.

2️⃣ Two guys who faced down some adversity — cornerback Keisean Nixon, who had to fight for his starting job in camp, and wide receiver Bo Melton, who was demoted from the 53-man roster to the practice squad — answered the bell.

Nixon, who said at midweek that he wasn’t bothered by the portion of the fan base that was hyper-critical of him — “I just stand on business in whatever I do,” he said — had a huge day.

Not only did he have an interception on the opening possession of the game against Kyler Murray, he also had a tackle for loss on a run play, a half-sack and quarterback pressure.

Melton, meanwhile, had a 69-yard punt return, caught a 10-yard pass to pick up a first down and downed one of Daniel Whelan’s punts inside the Vikings’ 5-yard line.

3️⃣ While LaFleur’s decision to take Smack’s field goal off the board in the fourth quarter was a mistake, the rookie kicker had a solid — but imperfect — NFL regular-season debut.

After going 9 for 9 on field-goal attempts and 7 for 7 on extra points during the Packers’ three preseason games, Smack insisted at midweek that he hadn’t been “perfect” in exhibition play, saying some mis-hit balls went through the uprights anyway.

No one would say he was perfect on Sunday, since he did miss a first-half extra point, but otherwise, Smack was, well, on point.

He opened the scoring with a gorgeous 59-yard field goal — the second-longest in team history behind Lucas Havrisik’s 61-yarder in Arizona last year — and then added 43- and 26-yarders … until LaFleur nullified his 40-yarder in the fourth quarter.

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