Sliding Packers must turn page for playoffs

The Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Seattle Seahawks and Washington Redskins will all be playing on Sunday.

In order for the Washington Redskins to beat the Green Bay Packers, they have to call a good amount of intermediate to long pass plays because the Green Bay Packers front four rarely gets pressure on the quarterback by themselves.

“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”. The offense has run out of time to mold its identity. Green Bay’s injury-riddled offensive line featured another new lineup with Pro Bowl left guard Josh Sitton moved over to left tackle to replace David Bakhtiari and little-used Lane Taylor plugged in at left guard. To the chagrin of Aaron Rodgers, the Packers didn’t open things up with the vertical throws until the final quarter, which turned out to be too late despite the valiant comeback at the end.

For the Vikings to make it to the next round of the playoffs and send Seattle home early, its defense will have to play much better than it did the first time around.

“We’ve just got to find a way to put it all together”, Rodgers said at a news conference after the Packers’ loss to Minnesota. The Packers may run a lot of play action passes due to the fact that they can fake the handoff to Lacey making the Redskins defense believe that he going to run the ball.

“I hope this is just a step, honestly”.

“You can be pretty direct with (Bridgewater)”, Zimmer said. Thielen also had a second long run, and excluding him, the rest of the Vikings rushed for just 84 yards on 25 carries.

The Minnesota Vikings captured their first division championship since 2009 Sunday, beating rival Green Bay, 20-13. Taking possession at their 42 after the defense forced a three-and-out on Green Bay’s opening possession of the half, Bridgewater hit receiver Jarius Wright for 11, Peterson ran for 10 and receiver Adam Thielen gained 26 on a fly sweep. The Vikings will host the Seattle Seahawks in a wild-card playoff game next weekend while the Packers will travel to Washington after watching their four-year reign atop the NFC North end.

“I think people can sometimes forget who we are”, star cornerback Richard Sherman said. Russell Wilson is playing the best football of his career, but they do have some question marks with so many injuries at the running back position.

The Packers were the final opponent to be determined. Green Bay OLB Julius Peppers’ second-quarter sack gave him 10.5 for the season.

The Packers rank ahead of only the Texans within the playoff field. Since the National Football League began keeping official records in 1932, Peterson, 30, is only the third player in his 30s to win a rushing title.

-RUSHING OFFENSE: C. Adrian Peterson won the rushing title before kickoff and added 67 yards in what was a relatively quiet game.

For the Packers, their biggest issue is wide receiver depth. The players proudly wore their black T-shirts and gray caps announcing them as division champions, posing in small groups for selfies around the hallowed stadium.

GB-Crosby 28 yard field goal, 2:02.

But there is a reason that the Packers are one of only six wild-card teams to have won a Super Bowl title. Green Bay’s defense remains the only reliable component of the team going into the postseason.