After 8 sacks, Packers hope O-line can protect Rodgers

“Well the Cardinals beat the Packers by 30 but the Vikings only lost to the Cardinals by three so that means the Vikings must be better than the Packers!”

When players arrived at the Vikings’ Winter Park training facilities on Monday, their lockers didn’t have any extras to remind them of this weekend’s gravity. Since that eye-opening defeat, they’ve fallen behind the Packers in the division.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) is sacked by Arizona Cardinals outside linebacker Alex Okafor (57) during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2015, in Glendale, Ariz.

If Sunday’s game between the Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers was supposed to be a potential championship game preview, then don’t count on seeing Mike McCarthy’s team in the Super Bowl.

How can they do that?

An optimist could make the case that the Cardinals’ strengths hit the Packers at their most vulnerable spots.

“Things are flowing right now”, defensive tackle Calais Campbell said.

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was sacked eight times in a 38-8 loss at Arizona on Sunday, but Minnesota coach Mike Zimmer said that has no bearing on next week’s game. “Letting the quarterback tackle you – blah, blah, blah”. I thought we put good pressure on the quarterback tonight.

“If you’d have said at the start of the year that Week 17, we’d have a chance to go up to Green Bay for the division title, I think we’d have taken that”, said tight end Kyle Rudolph.

On a national stage, one they’ve historically failed on, the Vikings dominated with defense. It’s not like Starks is touching the ball 25-plus times per game, thus making his ratio of carries-to-fumbles a somewhat reasonable percentage. “We have a lot invested to win this division and that’s why we’re focused on beating the Vikings starting today”.

The Green Bay Packers might already be in the playoffs, but it could be a short run once they get there.

Why: The Vikings would hold the No. 6 seed due to their loss to the Seahawks earlier this year.

The Cardinals’ impressive defensive display came in their first game without safety Tyrann Mathieu, who is out for the rest of the season due to a torn ACL. Green Bay’s biggest receiver threats are Randall Cobb and James Jones, who have 792 and 788 total yards, respectively. Those numbers left the Packers offense at No. 24 in the league, and a shocking No. 26 in passing. That game was also the last of the regular season and the most recent time the Vikings made the playoffs. When a team plays poorly, the head coach is poor. As Sports Illustrated’s Andy Benoit wrote in November, the Packers rely heavily on isolation routes and one-on-one matchups for their wide receivers. We were able to stay balanced run to pass there, I think our time of possession was plus 14. A bruised offensive line finally shattered, and Rodgers was sacked nine times. Luckily the defense was taking the ball away or this could have been a problem. The Vikings can take a page from Arizona’s playbook and blitz far more than they did in Week 11. The reason those two remaining games are not yet decided is because the NFC North itself has not been determined.

Zimmer also knows they have much to prove. “We’ve been in situations before where we’ve had to rely on people and it’s not a fun deal”.

It’s no surprise, then, that he’s willing to risk injuries to win a game that has been on his team’s schedule since early last offseason.