A. Their chances of making the playoffs are very slim. It was nice seeing them perform better than expected but the team’s various flaws have shown up as we’ve gone along. They still have glaring personnel issues in lots of areas including receiver, d-line, linebacker and secondary.

I think they got very fortunate schedule-wise in the early part of the season. Their only legit victory was against San Francisco. Beating Detroit twice doesn’t look like much of an accomplishment the way they’ve fizzled. Now, if they’d beaten the Bears in Chicago, I might sing a different tune. But that loss was just so frustratingly familiar.

Total flop against a division opponent on the road. If they beat the Packers I’ll change my mind again but as of now I expect this team to finish 8-8 at best. And they’ll need some breaks to get to eight wins.

A. Well that’s a question with two answers. If they lost him off the team they have now, they’d be toast. Because the whole offense is built around him. That doesn’t address the larger question of where they’d be if they’d never drafted him or if they’d traded him rather than give him a contract extension.

Cause there’s a line of reasoning that says they should’ve let him walk and started over with a whole new approach. I don’t know if I necessarily agree with that. I think you just should try accumulating as much talent as possible and then figure out how to use it. Peterson is a weapon.

I just don’t know if they’ve ever quite figured out how to really get the most out of him. Not just his performance but how the offense plays off him.

A. Ponder doesn’t handle the rush well. If his first read isn’t there he’s usually bailing. He hasn’t yet mastered the art of stepping up in the pocket and delivering the ball. His problem is, he’s not that good a passer on the run either. When he runs to throw it usually winds up in disaster.

He must learn to stay in the pocket, delivering the ball with the rush in his face. Take the hits. That’s what all the good ones do. They know they’re not always going to have a strong pocket. They’ve got the clock in their head. They get the ball out.

Ponder just doesn’t seem to have that instinctive feel. He seems a bit mechanical. He isn’t natural like some other young guys we’ve seen this year (Luck, Wilson, Griffin).

This is the same story we heard last week against the Bears. Their offensive line was all patched together and the Vikes were supposed to maul them. So what happened? They sacked Cutler once and it wasn’t even a real sack. He tripped over his center’s foot. The Bears made all the right adjustments. They chipped and they eschewed the deep drops. And the Vikes didn’t really get their act together until the second half but by then it was too late.

So I don’t know what will happen. Maybe the Vikes will try to bring more pressure early. Or maybe they’ll just go into their standard Cover-2 look and hope the front four can do the job. But those pass rushers just aren’t the same on grass as they are on the turf. It negates a lot of their speed. And the up-the-middle rush is just non-existent right now for this team.

Kevin Williams is a has-been and neither nose tackle is really much of a rusher. It’s all edge rush and you can neutralize those guys with technique and the occasional tight end chip.

A. I’ll be interested frankly to see how much running the Packers do. The Vikes’ run defense has had its struggles. This might be a good week to go to the ground. Randall Cobb is another guy who worries me. I could see him going off this week. Rodgers is going to do what he does.

I’m not that concerned about his overall stats, it’s just the big play that kills you. They might hit him a few times and slow down the offense, or the Packers might have some of the execution troubles they’ve had, but then he just hits you with the one huge play.

I’ve actually got the Packers winning this one 28-13. Very optimistic assessment from me.

Vikings Vs. Packers Preview: 5 Questions

With Lombardi Ave.

Ray Rivard of Lombardi Ave. does the honors this week…

1. Why can’t the Packers beat the Giants?

A. The Packers can beat the Giants and did so last season, you might remember, in New York on a last second kick from none other than the 2012 struggling Mason Crosby. The past two games (playoff and last Sunday’s) were difficult to figure out. In both games, the Packers were out-coached and out-played. It was like in both games that the Packers didn’t want it as much as the Giants. It might be that it’s a case of losing the battle in hopes of winning the war, but it didn’t look good for the Packers last week. But even more importantly the thing for Green Bay isn’t that they lost to the Giants last week, but how they respond this week against the Vikings.

2. It looks like Greg Jennings will get back on the field this weekend. How big a difference will it make having him back out there?

A. I think it will be significant, especially for Aaron Rodgers. Even if Jennings only catches a couple of passes Sunday, just having him on the field will be a boost for the Packers. His presence will give Rodgers that extra target that he hasn’t had, really, since the first game of the season when Jennings was first hurt. He tried going against Seattle in the season’s third game, but aggravated the injury and hasn’t seen the field since. It will be great for the Packers to have him back on the field and should he stay injury-free the rest of the season, he will certainly help the Packers in their drive for a playoff berth.

3. How much has the loss of Clay Matthews hurt the defense?

A. Measuring Matthews’ value is difficult. No question, when you take away the team’s leading sack leader, it’s going to have an effect. He’s a leader and a producer. His replacements, Dezman Moses and Frank Zombo, have been adequate, but they don’t add up to a single Matthews. Getting him back will be crucial for the Packers defense and necessary if this team is going to have any chance of winning these upcoming divisional match ups.

4. Mason Crosby’s struggles must be driving everyone nuts over there. Why not call up Ryan Longwell? His leg should be well rested.

A. Mike McCarthy hasn’t blinked in his support of Crosby, but putting him on the field for a 55-yard field goal in windy New York didn’t help the kicker’s confidence. Ryan Longwell is ok for the golf course, but certainly isn’t ready to hit the football field. In my opinion, this could be a very important week for Crosby. It sounds like the weather will be good at Lambeau Field Sunday and if he’s able to get a couple of kicks to be true, it could go a long way in helping him snap out of the funk he’s in.

5. The Packers are sort of grinding along. Big change from last year when they steamrolled through the regular season. Can they put it together for a true Super Bowl run or is this team just too flawed?

A. Amid all the injuries and the warts that have erupted on this team, there’s no question they can still make a run to the Playoffs and certainly toward another Super Bowl. The next month’s games against NFC North Division rivals will be the key. They could get into the Playoffs through the wild card, but the Packers certainly want to win the division and get at least one home Playoff game. The thing playing in the Packers advantage is the fact that they should be getting some important players – Woodson, Matthews, Shields – back from injuries. First things first, however. It all starts with Sunday’s game against the Vikings and the need to get back to winning.

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