MINNEAPOLIS - Darrell Bevell made his way up the tunnel beneath the Metrodome, en route to a joyous home locker room.

There were smiles and hugs all around - and one phrase the Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator repeated over and over.

"We finally got the monkey off our back," the former Green Bay Packers assistant coach and University of Wisconsin quarterback shouted with glee. "We finally got the monkey off our back."

After five consecutive losses to their arch-rivals from across the border - Bevell and his boss, Vikings coach Brad Childress, had yet to beat Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy - the Vikings' 28-27 victory put an end to the Packers' run of success in the emotionally intense series.

And it happened in one of those classically bizarre only-in-the-Metrodome Packers-Vikings games.

From giving up two safeties on quarterback Aaron Rodgers (one on an intentional grounding call in the end zone, the other on a Jared Allen sack), to essentially making four good plays all day (three interceptions and Will Blackmon's go-ahead 65-yard punt return for a touchdown) and still having a chance to win on Mason Crosby's 52-yard field goal that sailed just wide in the closing seconds, the Packers had to wonder: What in the name of T.J. Rubley and Eric Guliford happened here?

"I think that's what happens in this place," Packers director of football operations John Schneider said. "Playing in the dome, the music's cranked, it's loud, it's hard to communicate, the defense is flying off the ball. They've always used it to their advantage. It's a hard place to play."

Yet the Packers made it look so easy of late, going 4-1 in their previous five games here after going 2-9 from 1992 through 2002. On Saturday night at the team hotel, McCarthy showed his players highlights from each of the Packers' five consecutive wins, which - with the exception of a 34-0 rout last year at Lambeau Field - all had been decided by a touchdown or less, an attempt to illustrate how difficult it would be in Rodgers' first start in the deafening din.

"We know that a game like this, against them, the margin for error is this small," Blackmon said. "You never know. That's just the nature of these games."

After the two safeties and Chester Taylor's 47-yard touchdown catch-and-run, the Packers faced a 21-10 deficit with 10:31 left in the third quarter, with all of their first-half points (a 1-yard Ryan Grant TD run and a 47-yard Crosby field goal) coming off a pair of Gus Frerotte interceptions (one by Charles Woodson, one by Tramon Williams).

Then the game turned in a 2-minute span of the third quarter, in which the Packers' offense was outgained 126-9. First, safety Nick Collins jumped a Frerotte pass and returned it 59 yards for a TD with 5:21 to go in the third quarter. Then the Green Bay defense forced a three-and-out, and Blackmon took Chris Kluwe's 43-yard punt to the house for a 24-21 lead.

Another Crosby field goal gave the Packers with a six-point lead with 5:56 left in the game.

But that's when the defense collapsed. With Peterson (225 combined yards) gaining 64 of their 69 yards - including the final 29 on a touchdown run - the Vikings reclaimed the lead at 28-27 with 2:22 to play.

And yet, despite their offensive ineptitude all day, the Packers still had a chance to win after Rodgers' pass caromed off Ellis Wyms' helmet to wide receiver Donald Driver for a 19-yard gain, setting up Crosby's fateful kick.

"I didn't play as well as I know I'm capable of playing," said Rodgers, who was 18-for-22 against the Vikings in the season opener but 15-for-26 for 142 yards Sunday. "We just can't win like that."

As a result, the Packers (4-5) find themselves back below .500 and a game behind the Vikings (5-4) and Chicago Bears (5-4) - their opponent next Sunday at Lambeau Field - in the NFC North.

"We just completed our ninth game, and I'll just tell you what I told the team," McCarthy said. "We're taking a road that's a little tougher than the one we probably thought we were going to be on, and that's something that's OK. We'll get another chance at home against Chicago and it's important for us to get ready for that game and get back to 5-5. There's a lot of football left to be played."

But it can't be played the way the Packers played it Sunday.

"Minnesota is playing well and obviously moving in the right direction. And we aren't. That's just the reality of it," Woodson said. "It's right there for us. The division is pretty much wide open. They take a step forward, we take a step backward. We've got another division game next week, and we've got to win it. Every game from here on out is a must-win game."

Jason Wilde is a reporter for the Wisconsin State Journal in Madison.