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Green Bay Packers fall to Minnesota Vikings 34-37

Published  December 30, 2012 8:26pm CST
Green Bay Packers
FOX 6 Now Milwaukee

MINNESOTA -- The Minnesota Vikings defeated the Green Bay Packers at Mall of America Field 37-34 on Sunday, December 30th. The Packers were playing for a first-round playoff bye they would have received with a victory over Minnesota.

A Packers win would have also meant the Chicago Bears would be in the playoffs, which had many Bears fans rooting for the Pack on Sunday.

With Sunday's loss in Minnesota, the Packers are now a No. 3 seed heading into the playoffs.

Sunday's nail-biter of a game was tied 34-34 with just two minutes to play, when Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder completed a third-and-11 pass to Mike Jenkins and Vikings Adrian Peterson did the rest -- completing a 26-yard run that allowed Vikings rookie kicker Blair Walsh to complete a 29-yard field goal as time expired, leading to a 37-34 Vikings victory.

Peterson fell just nine yards shy of setting the all-time single-season rushing record. 

The Vikings led the Packers 20-10 at halftime.

Packers QB Aaron Rodgers threw for 365 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions in Sunday's game.

This was the first time since 1992 the Packers closed out their regular season at Minnesota.

The Packers were 11-4 after a 55-7 victory over the Tennessee Titans last week. They are now 11-5 after this week's loss to the Vikings.

The Packers/Vikings series began when the Vikings entered the league in 1961, and Vince Lombardi’s Packers won nine of the first 10.

The Packers and Vikings last met in Minnesota on October 23rd, when the Packers won 33-27. The Packers and Vikings last met in Green Bay earlier this month, on December 2nd. The final score of that matchup was 23-14, and was a victory for the Pack.

The Packers are NFC North champs after a 21-13 win over the Chicago Bears on December 12th.

In last week's victory over the Titans, the Packers had their best scoring output of Mike McCarthy’s head-coaching tenure. It was the best scoring output by the Packers since they beat Tampa Bay, 55-14, on Oct. 2, 1983, at Lambeau Field.

The Packers will take on the Minnesota Vikings once again next week -- this time at Lambeau Field. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. on Saturday night, January 5th.