Sam Darnold’s ability to pick apart Green Bay’s defense underscored one of the biggest challenges facing the Packers in the playoffs.

Injuries to the secondary have left the Packers vulnerable against quality passing attacks.

Jaire Alexander, the Packers’ two-time Pro Bowl cornerback, missed a sixth straight game with a knee injury Sunday as Darnold threw for a career-high 377 yards in the Minnesota Vikings’ 27-25 victory over Green Bay.

Asked Monday if there’s any chance Alexander could return the rest of the season, Packers coach Matt LaFleur replied, “I don’t know.”

Alexander remains exceptional in pass coverage when he’s available, but he has played just 10 defensive snaps over the past two months. He missed a Nov. 3 loss to Detroit with a knee injury and was on the field for 10 plays at Chicago the following week before the injury knocked him out again.

“I do know that he’s been dealing with swelling and, you know, he doesn’t feel right to go out there and play,” LaFleur said. Other Green Bay defensive backs are hurting as well.

Rookie safety Evan Williams has missed two straight games with a quadriceps injury. Rookie safety Javon Bullard returned Sunday after missing two games with an ankle issue, but Zayne Anderson left with a concussion six days after his breakout performance in a 34-0 victory over the New Orleans Saints.

The Vikings (14-2) capitalized, as Darnold threw three touchdown passes while building a 27-10 lead.

“We’ve got to do a better job in coverage, for sure,” LaFleur said. “I think your coverage is going to get better if you can get a better pass rush, as well, so it all goes hand in hand.”

The Packers (11-5) are slotted as the No. 7 seed in the NFC playoffs, though they could move up to sixth if they beat Chicago (4-12) and Washington (11-5) loses at Dallas (7-9) on Sunday. The No. 7 seed will have to visit the NFC East champion Philadelphia Eagles (13-3) in the wild-card round.

They don’t have much of a chance of winning playoff games on the road if they play the way they did Sunday.

“I didn’t feel like it was to our standard, and you got to give them credit,” LaFleur said. “I mean, that’s a good football team. But I thought there was a lot of things within our own control in terms of playing with fundamentals and discipline that we did not do a very good job of. And that was disappointing. It just was sloppy football.”

Pacheco out

Kansas City coach Andy Reid is planning to give running back Isiah Pacheco most of the week off to rest his sore ribs.

Reid hasn’t decided who else will get time off before their regular-season finale in Denver.

The Chiefs (15-1) already have clinched the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs, and with it the lone first-round bye, rendering their game against the Broncos meaningless to them. But while Reid will no doubt rest Pacheco and anyone else dealing with nagging injuries heading into the postseason, there is also the risk of rust setting in among starters who get such a long break.

Kansas City would not resume its pursuit of an unprecedented third straight Super Bowl title until at least Jan. 18.

Briefly

Steelers >> Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin said he is hopeful cornerback Joey Porter Jr. will be available when the Steelers (10-6) host the Bengals (8-8) on Saturday night. Porter has an injured knee.

Jets >> Team officials are scheduled to interview former Panthers and Commanders coach Ron Rivera this week for the head coach opening, according to NFL Network. In addition, former Jets coach Rex Ryan told ESPN New York that he expects to speak to the team about the post.