The Green Bay Packers have dropped three in a row with All-Pro quarterback Aaron Rodgers looking on with a fractured collarbone.
Time to panic? Not yet, but notched at 5-5 in the rugged NFC North, the Packers desperately need a win at home against Minnesota on Sunday.
The playoff picture
How would your team's prospects look if the season ended today? See where each team stands in the playoff picture midway through the season. **More ...**
"They're definitely vulnerable right now,"Vikings cornerback Chris Cook said Monday, per the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "Rodgers is a key guy for them and he pretty much makes their offense go."
There's no replacing the world's finest passer, but ignoring backup Scott Tolzien would be a mistake. His 1:5 touchdown-to-pick ratio speaks to a work in progress, but Tolzien has shown a knack for rifling the ball downfield. His growing chemistry with pass-catchers Jordy Nelson and young Jarrett Boykin have popped out on film over the past two weeks.
Cook, of course, is familiar with the concept of vulnerability at the quarterback position. Minnesota has shuffled from Christian Ponder to Matt Cassel to Josh Freeman and back again during a lost campaign that has the Vikings nestled in the division's basement.
Only the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles are allowing more yards per game than Minnesota, and nobody has given up more points this season. Bake in an amped-up Lambeau crowd, and we're far from cakewalk territory for the wandering Vikes.
We recapped every Week 11 game on the latest "Around the League Podcast."
