Vikings Team Grades: Minnesota Officially Eliminated From Playoffs

There are plenty of scenarios in which either team could get a wild-card spot with a loss, but if Detroit/Green Bay kicks off at the same time as the other teams going for that last wild-card spot, the game, for intents and purposes, is do or die.

The Vikings trailed the Packers by eight points late in the second quarter, and had driven to the Green Bay 41, when Bradford dropped back to pass and was hit from the blindside by Clay Matthews after the linebacker had gone around the over-matched Clemmings. Ultimately, the inability to cover Packer receivers killed the Vikings today.

If you ask Aaron Rodgers – and he was indeed asked after Saturday’s 38-25 victory over the Minnesota Vikings that put the Packers at 9-6 and extended their winning streak to five games – not many.

The veteran QB also has played well against quality defenses, including two wins against top 10 defensive units in the Seattle Seahawks and Vikings.

With the season over, save for the finale against the Chicago Bears next week, the offseason chatter, at least, begins in earnest.

“I was concerned because if he doesn’t jump right back up that’s unusual”, head coach Mike McCarthy said after the game.

Aaron Rodgers had touchdowns of 21 and 20 yards in the first quarter to cap possessions that lasted 2:40 and 1:48.

Rodgers said his calf injury was no worse than it was before the game. “We had some adversity and we stuck together”. With this loss, they were officially eliminated from the playoff picture and were assured to be spending the postseason watching games rather than playing. (They somehow have to trade up for a first-round pick.) What do they do with Adrian Peterson (Renegotiate or say good-bye.) Bradford or Bridgewater? In the second half, he caught just two passes for nine yards, but the Packers were then comfortably ahead. However, turnovers turned a couple good drives into points for the Packers.

“One time a guy fell down, one time on the deep route to (Jordy) Nelson, (cornerback Xavier Rhodes) pulled off it too soon”, coach Mike Zimmer said about the porous pass coverage. “There were a lot of mistakes, a lot of self-inflicted wounds, and they came back to bite us”. Rodgers has not thrown an INT in his last 206 attempts, six shy of his career high (212) set in 2014 (second-best mark to Starr’s streak of 294). It should be noted that Rodgers has thrown 14 touchdown passes and no interceptions in the five straight wins. The Packers are tied for third in the league with 16 interceptions as as a team, which is as many as Manning has thrown this year.

Regardless of whether Rodgers takes home the MVP award (and he has to be right up there with Matt Ryan, Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott now), Nelson has to be the leader in the clubhouse for Comeback Player of the Year. “And that was an MVP performance”.

That need for improvement was further complicated by the fact that Green Bay’s next three opponents all had better records than they did.

Zimmer said the Vikings defense wasn’t playing lethargic like they did last week, but Rodgers was able to buy time in the pocket and make plays downfield. However, that’s when Rodgers made his “run the table” comment and the Packers haven’t lost since.

“It doesn’t feel very good, ” Thielen said. Let’s break it all down starting with the things that made Minnesota Vikings fans happy about this game! “To start 5-0 and not make the playoffs and not make the run like we would like to in November and December, it definitely hurts”, cornerback Captain Munnerlyn said. For the game, he finished with 12 catches for 202 yards and two touchdowns for his best game as a pro.