NFL 2013 Season Week 12 Picks

is it fair to say that if the pack doesn't beat the vikings, we might be.... *gulp*... done?

You've barely lost any ground so far, so no, I doubt it. The Lions had a bye, played the Bears, which is kind of a wash either way, and then lost.

The Packers still hold the tie breaker (currently) over Detroit, having beaten them head-to-head. They probably can't afford to fall too far behind Chicago, though. If the Packers lose to the Vikings and the Bears beat the Rams, the Packers would more or less be 3 games behind the Bears. That being said, the Bears have lost to the Lions twice, meaning the Packers currently have a better divisional record (1 loss vs 2 losses). Basically, there is a lot that can happen in the final 6 weeks regardless of what happens this weekend.

If they lost to the Vikings, then the Lions, that might be hard to come back from, cause of the tie breaking/divisional implications, but just losing to the Vikings probably doesn't kill you.

Even if you meant it as "man, if we can't beat the Vikings, who can we beat?" Rodgers will be back eventually.

This has their odds at 16% http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/playoffodds

Most likely they need to go 5-1, unless both the Lions and Bears deedle their way to 9-7 and the Packers could somehow win the 3 way tiebreak. Going 5-1 will be a lot easier if they win this week.

They have so many injuries that I'm almost thinking it would be best if they do lose. Then, because this season is a bust, just tell Rodgers to take his time instead of possibly coming back too soon.

I heard people saying from the get-go that a collar bone injury can be the type of thing that may initially seem like "hey, this shouldn't be that long", and then turns out to be longer than originally thought. My physical therapist wife says that typically a collar bone would take about 8 weeks to heal, but she also notes that most injuries I ask her about take about half the time for an NFL player than it would for a normal human being. Also, it sounds like it is just a fracture (and not displaced), so that could make the healing process a little faster. That being said, I'm going to assume that Rodgers is done until at least week 16 if for no other reason than I can then accept the fact that this season is possibly in jeopardy already and not get too worked up by if they finish a game out of the division lead.

All that being said, Scott Tolzien seems like he might have some potential. McCarthy said that other than the interceptions, Tolz hit "all his big throws" last week, and that he's never seen a QB hit every big throw they called for him to make. The fact that the packers weren't putting any points on the board and that he threw like 3 interceptions in the game probably made all that seem pointless, but even still, I wouldn't be shocked if Tolzien became their backup longterm, or ended up starting elsewhere someday.

Or the Packers go 3-1 by the time Rodgers returns, and now he's nice and rested for the most epic Super Bowl run ever.

That was about the most "Vikings" finish to a game ever. Play too well for your own good to force the QB move. Lose the lead, get cute on offense when all you need is to hold the ball (still Patterson has to catch that, and probably the tipped td), and wind up with a tie. So that hurts the draft pick, only half hurts the Packers, and you didn't win. Blerg.

No "still" allowed, they absolutely should have just been running it every play at that point. And the Packers should not have even attempted to field the punt with 2 seconds left, and I think both QBs were legging out 5 yard runs when their teams needed 40 yds in 30s, etc. It's almost like both teams were trying for the tie.

http://qz.com/150577/an-average-nfl-game-more-than-100-commercials-and-just-11-minutes-of-play/

Yeah, they always do that. They have all day to try for the big hitter, and they wait until a situation where they need to hold it, would really put themselves behind the 8 ball with the down/distance if they don't hit on it, and, arguably, wouldn't even want to get yards that quickly.