Postseason gives struggling Packers offense a fresh start

In the 10 weeks since then, culminating with Sunday night’s 20-13 loss to the Minnesota Vikings at Lambeau Field in the regular-season finale that cost them the NFC North title, the Packers have tried just about everything to correct their offense to little avail.

With that nemesis slain, the Vikings (11-5) take aim at the Seahawks (10-6) with even bigger stakes on the line next Sunday, a noon kickoff in an NFC wild-card playoff game, Minnesota’s first since losing to Green Bay in a wild-card game in January 2013.

Minnesota’s keys to success: Though you might not have been able to tell from the way they played in their loss to Seattle in December, the Vikings won the NFC North this season the old-fashioned way – with a strong running game and defense.

The Vikings knocked away a desperation pass in the end zone from Aaron Rodgers on fourth down as time expired.

Grimes had a 12-yard touchdown reception and added a three-yard rushing score in the second quarter to help Houston take a 20-3 lead by halftime.

The Seahawks opened as 5-point road favorites at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com against the Vikings for their Wild Card matchup, with Seattle having topped Minnesota 38-7 and easily covered the 3-point spread on the road when they met in early December.

Meanwhile, Green Bay (10-6) lost its second game in a row, fell to fifth seed and will play next weekend at Washington.

The Vikings on Sunday can accomplish their first playoff win since 2009 if they defeat the Seahawks, who beat them by 31 points last month, at TCF Bank Stadium.

After the Packers burned their second timeout, Rodgers’ end-zone pass to Jones was intercepted by Xavier Rhodes.

Adrian Peterson won the National Football League rushing title with 67 yards rushing and a touchdown on 19 carries. “That’s a team that’s going right now and they’re rolling”, Minnesota quarterback Teddy Bridgewater said of the Seahawks, “but the thing with Seattle, I think we got our season going after that loss, also. I don’t know. I have pretty high expectations”, Zimmer said. Denver turned to Peyton Manning to take advantage of New England’s slip-up in the AFC. He gave the Vikings a scare after leaving midway through the third quarter with a lower back injury before returning late in the fourth. But the defense stifled Green Bay’s dysfunctional offense at almost every turn until the hectic fourth quarter. “Coach Zimmer is very excited, but at the same time, he is not satisfied”, Bridgewater said. McCarthy was left with no other good alternative in Week 17 and opted to move his best lineman, Josh Sitton, to left tackle.

“Yeah, we’ve got to play better”. Okung held Griffen without a sack or QB hit on Russell Wilson in the first game.

Rodgers had another sub-par game, throwing for 291 yards on 28-for-44 passing with one touchdown and one interception.

On the line: Rodgers was sacked eight times last week by Arizona, with the Cardinals front overwhelming a battered Packers offensive line. They try to rely more on the run these days, however Eddie Lacy had just 13 attempts for 34 yards. That’s because, Zimmer believes, the Vikings seem to have realized how hard, and well, they have to play to win. The Packers played without starting LT David Bakhtiari (ankle).