Leslie Frazier wasn't completely out of his mind the other day when the coach said the Vikings could still finish 8-8 and make the playoffs if the team played its best football.
After all, a year ago, the Vikings won their final four games to earn a postseason spot.
So why would it be impossible to start against a beat-up Green Bay team Sunday and go on a six-game winning streak that would even the Vikings' record and give them a chance to make the playoffs? Frazier talked about how there wasn't any dominant team in the NFC North and the way things were going, anything could happen.
Some of the right things happened for the Vikings in the division Sunday. The Bears got walked over by the Rams 42-21 and the Lions lost to the Buccaneers 24-21, so they are both 6-5. The Packers were 5-5 going into Sunday's game against the Vikings at Lambeau Field.
The Vikings still have home games with the Bears and the Lions and were in a position to help their own situation if they played like they did in the first three quarters at Green Bay. They led 23-7 early in the fourth quarter, but they blew the 16-point lead and wound up tying the Packers 26-26 in overtime.
Flynn steps in
Yes, it is hard to figure out the Vikings. They couldn't stop quarterback Matt Flynn, who was traded by the Seahawks to the Raiders in April and released; picked up by the Bills in October and again released; and picked up by Green Bay in November. Flynn was looking for a job when Packers starter Aaron Rodgers broke his collarbone earlier this month, otherwise he still would be unemployed.
Flynn, who previously backed up Rodgers with the Packers from 2008 to '11, replaced Scott Tolzien midway through the third quarter and proceeded to complete 21 of 36 passes for 218 yards and one touchdown. He found a way to lead the wounded Packers to 16 fourth-quarter points to send the game into overtime and keep the Packers from defeat.
"[Flynn] gave them a spark," Vikings defensive end Jared Allen said. "I think he knows the offense a little bit, obviously, and he is familiar with us. They went to their no-huddle hurry-up [offense], but penalties are what really killed us. I think we had a third-and-10 offsides and then a pass interference. We had two penalties that kept drives going.