Minnesota Vikings vs. Green Bay Packers: Full Green Bay Game Preview
The Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings will play for the NFC North crown on Sunday night in a season-finale showdown at Lambeau Field.
The Packers (10-5) have already clinched a playoff berth yet find themselves tied atop the division with Minnesota heading into Week 17 after an embarrassing loss to the Arizona Cardinals last week.
The Vikings (10-5) are also guaranteed a spot in the postseason.
When these two division rivals first met in Week 11, Green Bay reclaimed first place in the NFC North with a convincing 30-13 road victory. In the game, Aaron Rodgers threw for two touchdowns, Eddie Lacy ran for 100 yards and Datone Jones had two of the defense's six sacks.
This week's rematch has a lot more on the line, though. The winner will be the division champion and earn home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs while the other will have to play on the road as one of the NFC's two Wild Card teams.
The Packers have a slight advantage only because they've been in this situation before. In each of the last two seasons, they won NFC North winner-take-all, regular-season finales over the Chicago Bears (2013) and Detroit Lions (2014).
Sunday night's contest gives Green Bay a chance to win its fifth straight divisional title and host either Minnesota or the Seattle Seahawks in the first round of the postseason.
Let's now go over everything you need to know ahead of the Packers' Week 17 matchup with the Vikings.
Viewing Info
Location: Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin
Date: Sunday, January 3
Time: 8:30 p.m. ET
TV: NBC
Week 16 Results and Recap
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NFC North Standings
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | Div. | PF | PA | Streak |
| Green Bay Packers - X | 10 | 5 | 0 | .667 | 3-2 | 355 | 303 | L1 |
| Minnesota Vikings - X | 10 | 5 | 0 | .667 | 4-1 | 345 | 289 | W2 |
| Detroit Lions | 6 | 9 | 0 | .400 | 2-3 | 334 | 380 | W2 |
| Chicago Bears | 6 | 9 | 0 | .400 | 1-4 | 315 | 373 | W1 |
X: Clinched playoff berth
Week 16 Recap
The Packers suffered one of their worst defeats of the season in Week 16 as the Arizona Cardinals won handily, 38-8.
Arizona's defense sacked Aaron Rodgers eight times and returned two strip-sack fumbles for touchdowns as the Packers' banged-up offensive line struggled all afternoon. Dwight Freeney led the Cardinals with three takedowns of Rodgers while Calais Campbell added 2.5 of his own.
On other side of the ball, Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer had his way with Green Bay's two rookie cornerbacks as he threw for 257 yards and two touchdowns. Rookie running back David Johnson had 127 total yards of offense with a rushing touchdown.
For the Packers, Rodgers went 15-for-28 through the air with just 151 passing yards, a touchdown and a pick. Eddie Lacy scored the lone Green Bay touchdown on a 28-yard reception and added 60 rushing yards on 12 carries as well.
It was truly a one-sided contest as Arizona won its ninth straight game and cemented itself as one of the NFC's best teams.
News and Notes
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Kuhn Added to Pro Bowl Roster
Green Bay fullback John Kuhn was added to the Pro Bowl on Tuesday as his position's first alternate. 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.
It will be the third Pro Bowl for Kuhn—he made it last year and in 2011 on the initial balloting—despite having played in less than a quarter of Green Bay's offensive snaps this season.
Kuhn is the fourth Packer to make the league's all-star game, joining quarterback Aaron Rodgers, linebacker Clay Matthews and offensive guard Josh Sitton on the roster.
The Packers have a number of other Pro Bowl alternates who could make the team pending injuries, suspensions or playoff results. Wide receivers James Jones and Randall Cobb, running back Eddie Lacy, offensive guard T.J. Lang, defensive tackle Mike Daniels, linebacker Julius Peppers and cornerback Sam Shields are the others.
Matthews, Peppers and Neal Respond to PED Allegations
Following this past Sunday's loss to Arizona, linebackers Clay Matthews, Julius Peppers and Mike Neal responded to the the recent allegations that they were each provided performance-enhancing drugs in the Al Jazeera documentary, The Dark Side.
"I think it is bulls--t," Matthews told reporters, via Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He continued to deny any connection to PEDs:
"I mean to be completely honest with you it's 100 percent falsified and fabricated information. I don't know who this guy is. I couldn't tell you what he looks like. I have never talked with him or communicated with him, so for him to bring my name up like that out of thin air is bulls--t for a lack of a better term.
I work hard on my reputation and really that is all I have. For seven years, I worked my ass off and for this guy to say that type of thing is not true and for him to recant everything he said, too, just shows the type of source he is. The truth will come out and I am not worried about it because I carry myself a certain way and that is the right way.
"
Peppers also addressed the claims, via Silverstein.
"I was a little bit shocked," he said. "It is not true and completely erroneous and completely irresponsible journalism in my opinion. I don't understand how I could be linked to something like this."
Neal went a bit further and seemed annoyed by the questions.
"You might as well stop asking me questions," he said, via Silverstein. "I mean, I'm sure you saw how pissed off Peyton Manning was about somebody coming out with talk like this. If you want to piss me off, that's one thing, but please don't. ... If you want to talk about football, let's talk about football."
Neither Green Bay player is being punished by the NFL right now—but that doesn't remove the bad light Matthews, Peppers and Neal are being shone in around the league.
Latest Injury News
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Week 17 Injury Report
| Player | Position | Injury | Status |
| David Bakhtiari | OT | Ankle | DNP |
| Bryan Bulaga | OT | Ankle | LP |
| Mike Daniels | DT | Groin | DNP |
| Jayrone Elliott | LB | Quadricep | DNP |
| Letroy Guion | DT | Foot | LP |
| Casey Hayward | CB | Ankle | FP |
| Eddie Lacy | RB | Rib | LP |
| T.J. Lang | OG | Shoulder | LP |
| Corey Linsley | C | Ankle | LP |
| Clay Matthews | LB | Ankle | FP |
| Mike Neal | LB | Hip | LP |
| Justin Perillo | TE | Hamstring | LP |
| Nick Perry | LB | Shoulder | LP |
| B.J. Raji | DT | Concussion | LP |
| Sam Shields | CB | Concussion | LP |
| Josh Sitton | OG | Back | LP |
** Official injury report courtesy of Packers.com **
DNP = Did not participate in Thursday's practice; LP = Limited participation; FP = Full participation
Injury Notes
Although Green Bay's list of injuries is at a season-high 16 in Week 17, most are expected to play in the regular-season finale with minor ailments.
One, though, likely won't.
After missing his first career game this past Sunday in Arizona, starting left tackle David Bakhtiari has sat out both Wednesday and Thursday's practices and looks questionable for this weekend with an ankle injury.
According to Rob Demovsky of ESPN, Bakhtiari was wearing a brace on his sprained left ankle earlier in the week yet is still in danger of missing his second straight game.
Bakhtiari recently said if he feels healthy enough to play, he will.
"If I can play, I'm going to play," the third-year lineman said, via Jason Wilde of ESPN.com. "There's no gray area. It's black and white. I'm too stupid to really think about [making the ankle worse]. I'm going to play if I can play. I'm sure my agent (Mark Humenik) isn't happy—in fact, I know he isn't. But I told him, 'I'm sorry, that's just kind of how I am.'"
The Packers did get back one of their starters at practice, though. Cornerback Sam Shields, who's missed the last two games with a concussion, returned to action on Wednesday.
Shields did some individual drills on the side before joining the rest of the team at practice as he's in the back end of the concussion, per Demovsky.
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Top Matchup
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Packers Run D vs. Vikings RB Adrian Peterson
The Vikings offense runs through tailback Adrian Peterson—plain and simple. Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater plays more of the game-manager role and can make plays when needed, but the workhorse of the offense is the veteran Peterson.
The last time Green Bay and Minnesota played back in Week 11, the Packers run defense held Peterson to just 45 rushing yards on 13 carries—both some of the lowest marks for the Vikings' back this season—with one touchdown run.
It's a little ironic the Packers played so well against Peterson in that contest, considering what he's done to his division rivals in the past.
Before that Week 11 matchup, Peterson had rushed for at least 100 yards in eight of his 14 games against Green Bay, including in four of the last five.
Still, the Packers D will be faced with a tough task when the NFL's leading rusher comes to town. Peterson not only leads the league in rushing yards (1,418), but he's also first in rushing yards (94.8) and carries (20.5) per game. Peterson is tied for second in rushing touchdowns (10).
It'll be up to Green Bay's defensive line and linebacking corps to limit the damage Peterson does on Sunday—or it could mean a division title for the Vikings.
X-Factor
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Packers X-Factor of the Week: RB Eddie Lacy
The Packers offense has struggled mightily to move the ball consistently through the air with the combination of poor wide receiver play and a worse-than-normal Aaron Rodgers this season.
Lately, head coach Mike McCarthy has smartly turned to the run game—headed by Eddie Lacy—to get going on offense.
In fact, it was Lacy who racked up his first 100-yard rushing day of the season against Minnesota back in Week 11. The Green Bay back made good use of his 22 carries as he ran for an even 100.
The game served as a turning point for Lacy, who was in the midst of a disappinting 2015 season before facing the Vikings.
The following Thursday, Lacy ran for 105 rushing yards on 17 carries, and two weeks later, he ran for 124 yards on 24 rushes—both season highs.
The last two games, however, Lacy has produced less as the Packers reverted back to the pass—especially when they trailed for the majority of their game versus the Cardinals last week. A rematch with Minnesota, though, could give Lacy the boost he needs to be reliable back heading into the postseason.
A healthy and productive Lacy would make the Packers offense more effective when facing tougher playoff-caliber defenses. Veteran guard Josh Sitton certainly agrees, as he admitted last Sunday that the offense "needs to change," per Rob Demovsky of ESPN.
"We need to be a team that goes out there and runs it 30 times a game," Sitton told the media, per Demovsky.
Sitton's comments were heard throughout Green Bay's coaching circles and may warrant a slight change in the game plan this week.
"We were very balanced," Packers offensive coordinator Edgar Bennett said, via Demovsky. "I believe we were somewhere in the 70s as far as total plays. Any time you're hitting that mark you're giving yourself more opportunities, so that kind of stood out in how effective we were running the football, which obviously creates more opportunities in the passing game from a play-action standpoint, attacking the middle of the field, downfield throws — all of those things kind of come into play when you're able to run the football."
Whether or not the Packers choose to run the ball more on Sunday, Lacy should see an increase in carries with James Starks having fumbling issues as of late.
Prediction: Packers 20, Vikings 13
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It doesn't get much better than a winner-take-all NFC North title game on Sunday night.
The Packers and Vikings will face off for the second time this season in a game that will decide the division and push one squad down into the Wild Card seeding.
When these teams met back in Week 11, Eddie Lacy had his best statistical game of the season to date as Green Bay made a clear dedication to the run game.
We could see a similar offensive game plan from the Packers as they try to clinch their fifth straight division title.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Packers will have their hands full with Vikings tailback Adrian Peterson—who will no doubt be determined to claim the league's rushing title.
When it's all said and done, though, this contest might just be a low-scoring, defensive battle as each team plays conservatively on a cold night at Lambeau.
Either way, expect Aaron Rodgers to bounce back with some clutch throws when needed as he leads the Packers to an NFC North championship.
Prediction: Packers 20, Vikings 13
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