Power Rankings: Packers getting hot
After their victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday, the Green Bay Packers moved up one spot in the USA TODAY NFL Power Rankings. They enter Week 16 at No. 12.
Green Bay is preparing to face the Minnesota Vikings, who took the biggest tumble on the board this week. The Vikings find themselves at No. 22 after a six-point fall following their loss to the Colts.
Here’s USA TODAY's blurb about the Packers:
Sample size is scant (63 career carries), but Ty Montgomery averages more than 6 yards per. Has he made Eddie Lacy permanently expendable?
And the rankings had this to say about the Vikings:
Might we have just seen Adrian Peterson's final home game for Minnesota? If so, it would be an unfortunate curtain call for an all timer.
Elsewhere around the web, the Packers jumped a whopping 11 spots in ESPN’s power rankings, which puts them at No. 9.
Do you think Aaron Rodgers has a flair for the dramatic? Over the past two seasons, Rodgers is 4-of-6 when passing 40 or more yards downfield in the final two minutes of regulation. The rest of the NFL is 2-of-39 in those situations. The Packers hope to not need a late-game bomb to win against the Vikings this week.
Over at NFL.com, Elliot Harrison moves the Packers into the Top 10 as well, raising them two spots to No. 10.
Scary stuff there for the Cheeseheads late in Sunday's contest . Don't freak out. A division win on the road is a division win on the road, particularly when it comes in balmy, nine-degree weather. Barring a major misstep against a freshly-blown-out Vikings squad , the Packers will be playing for their eighth straight playoff berth Week 17 in Detroit . How ridiculous was Ty Montgomery , a converted wide receiver, rushing for 162 yards and two tugs on 16 carries? Almost as ridiculous as throwing a ball 60 yards in the effing cold to essentially ice the game.
Finally, Pete Prisco moves the Packers up two spots in his rankings, bringing them to No. 16 overall, just barely in the top half of the league.
If they win their last two, they win the division. It's that simple. They are the team nobody wants to play.