Packers Are Who We Thought They Were

One day after a 20-13 loss to the Minnesota Vikings at home ended the Packers’ four-year run as division champs and provided another frustrating moment in a season full of them, the vibe was positive and coach Mike McCarthy’s message was straightforward, Daniels said. And the Vikings defenders didn’t have much time to catch their breath as the Packers kept the pedal to the metal on offense while unsuccessfully trying to rally from a 20-3 deficit. National Football League rushing champ Adrian Peterson was held to 67 rushing yards and 3.5 yards per attempt, and quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was held to 99 passing yards and a 45.7 rating.

If you look at the totality of the Green Bay Packers’ 2015 season, you won’t find an entire game where the long-praised Packers offense played with excellence for the entirety of the game.

The Vikings defense also helped their cause as Captain Munnerlyn scooped up an Aaron Rodgers fumble for touchdown to give Minnesota their 20th and final point. Arizona sacked Rodgers eight times and returned two of his fumbles for touchdowns. The Packers (10-6) will travel to Washington to play the NFC East champion Redskins, also on Sunday.

The Redskins are on a four game winning streak and the Packers have lost their last two but the Packers are a perennial playoff team and will come into this game with nothing to lose.

Green Bay Packers’ Morgan Burnett (42) stops Minnesota Vikings’ Adrian Peterson (28) on a rub during the first half an NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 3, 2016, in Green Bay, Wis. “I think you have to have fresh starts for the right reasons”, McCarthy said. “We’ve just got to do it. There’s no magic to it, right?”

“The one thing you have going for you, you get that us against the world mentality”, said 620WTMJ Packers analyst Mark Tauscher.

– The Vikings (11-5) will host the Seahawks (10-6) in an NFC wild-card game Sunday.

“That was one of the most impressive things, to me, of the night”, Zimmer said.

“It’s not a surprise that we are where we’re at, but they’ve earned this opportunity and we have to go take it”, Zimmer said. “I should have just let the clock run out”. Like I told them last night, it’s not a surprise that we are where we’re at.

In Rodgers’ first 10 games, he threw 23 touchdown passes and three interceptions. It was the first time the Packers had failed to win a Division game to all three teams – Chicago, Detroit and Minnesota – at home since 1968.

NOTES: Peterson said he had an X-ray taken of his back to make sure there was nothing wrong with his spine.

The mental reset that might come with the start of postseason play doesn’t mean that the Packers forget about their problems.

11-5, first in the NFC North.

Griffen finished the season with 10-1/2 sacks and 22-1/2 over the past two seasons. The Packers finished the season 4-6 after starting 6-0.

Rodgers, however, stepped up in the fourth quarter, scrambling to keep several plays alive, and led the Packers to a 14-play, 80-yard drive capped by a 16-yard strike to Richard Rodgers.