GREEN BAY – It's not a do-or-die game next Sunday at Minnesota, but it's plenty important.
Shortly before Green Bay dispatched New Orleans in a 34-0 shutout on Monday Night Football, the second Packers-Vikings clash of 2024 was moved to a 3:25 p.m. CT kickoff at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
The Packers, at 11-4, can no longer win the NFC North, but they can certainly help their wild-card positioning by beating the 13-2 Vikings. More important, the team is fully cognizant of what such a late-season win would mean.
"It's a very big game," QB Jordan Love said after Monday night's victory at Lambeau Field. "You know, division game, and then obviously we lost to them earlier this season so it's one of these games we need to get back.
"We talked about it earlier, we've got to be able to beat these good teams. The Vikings are a very good team and we've got to be able to go into their place and handle business."
When all the playoff dust settles, the Packers as one of the conference's three wild cards will be seeded anywhere from fifth to seventh in the NFC field.
The simplest way to break down the ramifications of next week's game is as follows:
- A win would give the Packers a chance at the No. 5 seed heading into Week 18, and would put them in good shape to avoid dropping to the No. 7.
- A loss would eliminate any chance of getting the No. 5 seed and could put Green Bay in danger of falling to the No. 7.
How Washington (10-5) fares over these last two weeks of the regular season will factor in, too, along with the result of the Minnesota-Detroit showdown in Week 18.
But that massive NFC North battle in the finale only matters to the Packers if they beat the Vikings in Week 17.
"We've got a big test next week," Head Coach Matt LaFleur said. "To go on the road on a short week with a holiday is never easy, especially going to Minnesota.
"So we've got to flip the script here really quickly and get on to the Vikings."
LaFleur added that several assistant coaches used all the down time Sunday and Monday leading up to the night game to review some Minnesota film, which will allow for Tuesday's game-planning process to be full speed ahead right away in the morning. Love said he'd be reviewing game film as soon as he can, too.
The Packers also rested some players, particularly workhorse running back Josh Jacobs, once they had the Saints game well in hand, knowing the quick turnaround before a big game was coming.
Phrases like "measuring stick" and "litmus test" will be tossed around between now and Sunday, and they're proper labels.
But the Packers also remember how, back in Week 4, they got off to an awful start against the Vikings, falling behind 28-0 in the first half before a furious rally fell short, 31-29.
That small margin, influenced in part by a kicker who's no longer here missing two field goals and a starting quarterback who had missed the previous two games and wasn't fully healthy, is the difference between the teams' current positions, or both being tied at 12-3 right now.
The Packers have a significant challenge to get ready in a condensed week, but ready they will be.
"We definitely owe these guys," Love said, "and we'll be motivated to go play them."
