MINNEAPOLIS — The top of the NFC standings are towering over the Green Bay Packers as they move toward the playoffs, casting a long shadow shaped like Vikings, Lions and Eagles over what has been an otherwise-promising season on both sides of the ball.
For as well as the Packers (11-5) had been playing down the stretch, they left Minnesota with a rather murky outlook for the playoffs after stumbling into a 17-point deficit that proved too large for their late surge in the 27-25 loss to the Vikings on Sunday.
''They continued to compete and battle, but you just can't do that against good teams. The margins in this league, especially against a good football team, are razor thin," coach Matt LaFleur said. "I don't think we were at our best, but that's a credit to them in our slow start — and that's me as much as anybody.''
The Packers gained 126 yards in the fourth quarter and still finished with a season-low 271 yards. The defense allowed 441 yards, which was also a season worst.
The most glaring set of numbers after this frustrating afternoon, though, was this: 0-5. That's Green Bay's record against the top three teams in the NFC: Minnesota, Detroit and Philadelphia.
There's no shame in losing to those opponents that carry a combined 40-7 record into Monday, particularly when four of those defeats — save for the 10-point loss to the Lions on Nov. 3 — came by a total of 12 points.
''It's not about who we can and can't beat. We can beat everybody. If we figure out how to finish, we'll win games,'' cornerback Keisean Nixon said.
But the Packers will more than likely be on the road the entire time they're alive in the playoffs, so any path to the Super Bowl would undoubtedly trigger rematches with one, two or even all three teams from that daunting trio.