The Green Bay Packers beat the Minnesota Vikings 41-17 on Sunday, so it comes down to this: Former Cal quarterback Aaron Rodgers of the Packers against former Cal quarterback Jared Goff of the Lions in their final regular-season game with a playoff berth on the line.
If Rodgers’ team wins he is in the postseason again. If Goff wins, he can get into the playoffs if he gets some help from the team that sent him packing to Detroit, the Rams.
Rodgers and his Packers were dismissed from playoff discussions when they were 4-8, but after beating the Vikings for their fourth straight win, Green Bay is one win from a spot in the postseason.
The Packers, Lions and Seattle are tied for the seventh and final playoff spot in the NFC with 8-8 records, but the Packers own the tiebreaker with the Seahawks so Green Bay would only need to top Detroit next week to reach the postseason.
The Lions, who beat the Bears, would need a win and a victory by the Rams over Seattle to reach the postseason.
The Packers looked like a playoff team on Sunday, handing NFC North Division-champion Minnesota just its fourth loss of the season.
Rodgers did not have a great game by his standards, but it was good enough. He was 15-for-24 for 159 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions and a 95.7 passer rating.
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His one touchdown pass was a beauty and that 21-yard completion to tight end Robert Tonyan gave the Packers a 24-3 lead and may have been the deciding blow for the Packers.
Rodgers later ran for Green Bay’s final score of the day.
Minnesota scored first to take a 3-0 lead the Packers scored the next 41 points. A kickoff return for a touchdown by Keisean Nixon and a 75-yard interception return for a touchdown by Darnell Savage gave Green Bay a 14-3 lead. At that point Rodgers had just one completion for 1 yard.
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Cover photo of Aaron Rodgers by Jeff Hansich, USA TODAY Sports
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