The Green Bay Packers haven’t hit the panic button yet, but it could happen soon if they fall to the division-rival Minnesota Vikings at Lambeau Field.
Starting this Sunday, Green Bay will embark on a stretch of two games against NFC North opponents in the span of five days.
Only a single game back of the Detroit Lions (who plays Green Bay on Thanksgiving) and Chicago Bears, the Packers are very much still in the hunt for another division title.
Minnesota Vikings (2-8) Analysis: Losers of five of their last six, the Vikings have been all over the place and are looking for any reason to care about this season. A win against the rival Packers would be a perfect reason and an extreme boost to the morale of their fans and organization.
The inconsistency of the Vikings all starts at the quarterback position where Matt Cassell, Josh Freeman and Christian Ponder have all started this season. Ponder has been the best of the three the majority of the time, but he also has too many off-days to legitimately help this team win every week. With an All-Pro running back in Adrian Peterson (albeit a dinged up AP) the Vikings need to find a way to better a passing-game which ranks 25th in the league at 206.2 yards per game.
The Vikings defense isn’t nearly as bad as everyone thinks it is. It’s kind of hard to keep opponents from scoring when the offense struggles to move down the field and commits costly turnovers. However, this unit isn’t perfect either with the pass defense ranking 29th in the league at 280.1 yards allowed per game. It’s pretty simple with the Vikings, they need to throw the ball better and keep opposing teams from throwing the ball against them.
Green Bay Packers (5-5) Analysis: Being without Aaron Rodgers hasn’t been kind to the Packers who have dropped three straight games for the first time since 2008. If the Packers can somehow survive a couple of more weeks without Rodgers, they could be in good shape with a favorable schedule to finish the year.
One reason that most people think Scott Tolzien has played so well despite throwing five interceptions is because he has a beautiful deep ball. Tolzien’s been able to show off his better-than-average arm strength because the offensive line has played lights out over the past two weeks. Last week, the offensive line didn’t give up any sacks, the first time the Packers have done so since week four of last season. Even though the team has struggled to score of late, they still rank in the top ten in both passing offense (5th at 283.1 ypg) and rushing offense (134.3 ypg).
Everyone knows the Packers’ kink in 2013 has been their defense. But in week 11, they came to play and performed much better than what proved to be an embarrasing effort against the Eagles. Corner Tramon Williams appeared to take his recent criticism personally and came up with a diving interception as well as some key tackles. The rush defense has slipped over the past month, so that could be an area to watch with Peterson on the docket.
Brutally Honest Prediction: Packers 27 Vikings 20
Green Bay has officially hit the desperation button instead of the panic button and needs to win this game if they want any shot of making the playoffs this season. Mike McCarthy has a sparkling 12-4 record against the Vikings and there’s no reason the Packers shouldn’t be able to outmuscle the inconsistent Vikings. Peterson will get his and it will be interesting to see if Tolzien progresses to avoiding the big turnover.
TV Coverage: 12:00 PM CT FOX; Kevin Burkhardt (play-by-play), John Lynch (color) and Erin Andrews (sidelines)
Betting Lines: Green Bay favored by 4.0 points and over/under at 43.5 points
2013 Record straight up: 7-3
2013 Record against the spread: 6-4
2013 Record in over/under: 5-5
Week 11 Pick Redux: Predicted NYG 30 GB 24 (actually NYG 27 GB 13); Hit straight up and against the spread (-5), but not the over/under (42.5).
Do you think the Packers can right the ship and stay in the hunt for a playoff spot? Let me know by commenting below.
Nick Grays is a senior writer at the Sports Bank where he covers the Wisconsin Badgers and Green Bay Packers. He also enjoys sharing Fantasy Advice and pretends to be a Golf expert from time-to-time. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here or visit his blog Nick Knows Best. If social media is not your thing, shoot him an email at grays@uwalumni.com.
*Pictures obtained from chicagotribune.com and huffingtonpost.com