Lambeau Field plans 2nd day of snow shoveling

Oakland Raiders fullback Marcel Reece is unable to play in the game, following his recent four-game suspension for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs. That could pose a problem for them in this one, the Minnesota front seven will be looking to have a big game. If the Packers don’t win the Super Bowl this season, then eliminating the Seahawks from the playoffs would be the next best thing. Now they might be lucky if they can get out of the first round of the playoffs. Minnesota has the talent and swagger heading into this pivotal showdown to not only capture its first division title in six years, but also make some serious noise in January.

Even when Minnesota took a brief lead in the standings after week 10 at 7-2 staight-up to Green Bay’s 6-3, it was still behind at Even money while the Packers were minus-120.

This game should be pretty close and both teams are pretty evenly matched. The victor of the NFC North this season will play the winners of the NFC South (Carolina) and NFC West (Arizona), while the team who loses tonight and finishes in 2nd place in the NFC North will play the 2nd place teams from the NFC South (Atlanta) and NFC West (Seattle).

The Redskins, as the NFC East champions, are locked into the #4 spot and will be hosting a game on Wild Card weekend. That sent the Packers into the playoffs on the ultimate high, although they crashed the next week against the San Francisco 49ers at Lambeau.

Last, if the Vikings lose to Green Bay and Seattle defeats Arizona, Minnesota would be the #6 seed.

The Packers won 30-13 at TCF Bank Stadium. The Packers play the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, Jan. 3. This time, however, they appear poised to reverse the outcome. The Vikings didn’t have the answer for that tactic in the first meeting but moving QB Teddy Bridgewater out of the pocket could complicate Matthews’ assignments. Rodgers had two fumbles returned for touchdowns while posting his second-lowest totals in completions (15) and yards (151) while failing to connect on 60 percent of his passes for the seventh time in 10 games.

His 123.2 passer rating in that stretch ranks him only behind Washington’s Kirk Cousins.

We are still waiting for quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the offense to finally come alive but he admitted this week in the build-up the whole season has been rather unusual. Though this offense still incorporates a lot of vertical routes, and they’ll need better play from protection against Green Bay. Peterson will run for 100-plus yards for the eighth time this season and his legs will carry the Vikings to a 10-point victory. Aside from Rodgers, the offense have been devoid of playmakers. What have they done lately to help their teams win? The Packers finished 4-12 in both of those seasons. Bridgewater needs to remain mistake free, and the Vikings would benefit from more risk-taking and less throwaways, especially when the opportunity to host a playoff game is on the line. The last time they won in Green Bay was with a guy named Favre.

Tennessee coach Mike Mularkey has gone 2-6 since replacing Ken Whisenhunt, but also has missed his quarterback, rookie Marcus Mariota, for some games. Protection issues were exposed against Arizona, when the Cardinals had eight sacks of Rodgers against a line that had to use two backup tackles. Complementing Lacy is versatile RB James Starks, who is one of five runners with at least 550 yards, two rushing scores, 350 receiving yards and two TD catches this season.