MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The final weekend of November has arrived

Elgton Jenkins Jersey , with this Green Bay-Minnesota game predictably carrying plenty of weight toward the race for the NFC playoffs.The twist, though, is the Packers and Vikings are stuck in the thick of the wild-card mix. The Bears, having beaten the Vikings last week, are the team with a healthy lead in the NFC North, which has been won only by Green Bay (five) or Minnesota (two) since Chicago’s last division title in 2010.“I definitely didn’t expect to be sitting where we’re sitting, but our record is what it is,” Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. “Obviously, Minnesota has a strong team. They’re probably surprised where they’re sitting as well. So I don’t think either of us is out of the division race.”Both the Packers (4-5-1) and Vikings (5-4-1) have one more game remaining against the Bears (8-3), but they’re each lugging that 29-all tie in Green Bay on Sept. 16 down the stretch like a back tire that’s low on air.“Maybe it will help us, and maybe it’ll hurt us, too,” Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said. “I don’t really know.”The Packers will play three of their final five games at home, which is helpful because they’ve yet to win on the road this year. They’ll have a more-mobile Rodgers than in their last matchup with the Vikings Dexter Williams Jersey , when he was grinding through a knee injury.“He looks like his old self, unfortunately,” Zimmer said.If the Vikings beat the Packers at home for the third straight time, they’ll at least own a tiebreaker over their biggest rival. They’d still be 1½ games behind the Bears, though, with a difficult stretch of the schedule ahead.“We’ll definitely have to play four quarters,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said, “and maybe more than that.”Here are some other key angles to follow with the game:NOT-SO-PRIME TIMEThe Vikings are playing in the NFL’s premier Sunday night slot for the second straight week, triggering a magnification of their struggles with the bright lights on this season. They’ve lost all three of their night games, in Los Angeles to the Rams on Sept. 27, at home against the New Orleans Saints on Oct. 28. and at Chicago last week. The Rams, Saints and Bears boast the top three records in the NFC, a combined 28-5.“I guess we’re just playing good teams,” Zimmer said. “That might be the real factor.”Cousins has a 4-12 career record as a starter when kickoff is in the evening Vince Biegel Color Rush Jersey , though he has a 68 percent completion rate with 31 touchdowns and 16 interceptions and an average of 305 passing yards in those 16 games.“It gets a little bit convoluted when you try to look at a stat and pair it with a player,” Cousins said. “It becomes maybe a bigger, more complicated picture than just a win-loss record and trying to judge performance.”THIRD DOWNERSThe Packers are 19th in the NFL with a 38 percent conversion rate on third down. They’re up against a Vikings defense that leads the league on third downs, allowing the chains to move only 28 percent of the time.One problem for the Packers has been the absence of wide receiver Randall Cobb, long one of Rodgers’ most reliable options. He has missed half of Green Bay’s games with a hamstring injury, including the last two contests, but he could return to action Sunday.SACKMASTER FACKRELLOutside linebacker Nick Perry missed Green Bay’s last game at Seattle, but third-year backup Kyler Fackrell made his absence moot with three sacks, his second such performance this season. Fackrell has eight sacks this year, more than starters Perry and Clay Matthews combined.“The more you play, the more you get comfortable with it, the less encumbered you are with the thinking part,” defensive coordinator Mike Pettine said.JONESING FOR THE BALLPackers running back Aaron Jones didn’t play against the Vikings earlier this season because of a suspension for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy. Jones has 342 rushing yards and four touchdowns over the last four games, plus 12 receptions for 100 yards and a score. He’s the league leader in yards per rush with an average of 6.4.HELP FROM HARRISVikings safety Andrew Sendejo will miss his sixth straight game because of a groin injury https://www.thepackersfanshop.com/Antonio-Morrison-Jersey , but Anthony Harris has capably filled in as the starter in the previous two games. He had two interceptions against the Bears.“I’m just coming in each day preparing like I’m going to be out there every snap and just trying to take advantage of any opportunities given,” Harris said. “So each year, I’ve just been trying to take strides in getting better and increase my role and help this team win.”Harris signed with the Vikings in 2015 as undrafted rookie out of Virginia. Zimmer praised his progress with becoming more of a physical player as well as gaining a better understanding of the system.“I just think confidence,” Zimmer said. “You know, he sees things and reacts. He’s a good visual player, I think. He’s very smart.” One day after Green Bay Packers interim head coach Joe Philbin refused to commit to playing his team’s best player in week 16, said player put speculation to rest. On Wednesday, quarterback Aaron Rodgers put any speculation to rest, making it clear to the media that he will suit up against the New York Jets on Sunday.In fact, Rodgers appears to be facing these final two weeks as a point of pride as well as taking it as an opportunity to lead by example in the locker room:Interestingly, these will be the first games Rodgers has played with the Packers out of playoff contention since his first season as a starter in 2008. Green Bay made the postseason every year from 2009 to 2016, then Rodgers was placed on injured reserve after the Packers were eliminated by the Carolina Panthers in week 15 last season.Rodgers was also asked about the ability to get more snaps with the Packers’ young receivers, and acknowledged that “there’s definitely some value there.” Considering that a lack of chemistry with newcomers like Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Equanimeous St. Brown Quinten Rollins Jersey , J’Mon Moore, and Jake Kumerow have seemingly been a major part of Rodgers’ struggles this year, it does make some sense to allow him to get competitive repetitions with those players in the final two weeks.The arguments against Rodgers playing largely come down to his health. He has dealt with a knee injury since week one, and he appeared to tweak his groin during Sunday’s loss in Chicago as well. Two more games means another 120 snaps or so, each of which has the opportunity to result in an even more serious injury.In addition, Rodgers will likely be playing out the string in an offense that is quite different to what he will be running in 2019. Joe Philbin does not seem to be a legitimate candidate for the permanent head coaching job, meaning that a newcomer will likely institute a fairly different offensive scheme. In that context, perhaps the chemistry argument falls apart a bit, since the players will all need to learn an entirely new playbook.Regardless, it seems that despite sportsbooks moving the point spread from Packers -3 to Packers +1 early this week, Rodgers will still be in uniform and under center on Sunday.