Green Bay - The smart money is on the Minnesota Vikings benching veteran Brad Johnson and starting rookie Tarvaris Jackson in their NFC
But the Green Bay Packers probably won't know for sure until game time which quarterback will be under center, so they'll have to have two different approaches ready for Thursday night. Johnson, 38, is a pocket passer with a fading arm and no mobility, while Jackson is an excellent runner with a cannon arm.
"It's a challenge because anytime you play a new quarterback, definitely when they're physically diversely different from the starter, I mean, that's a challenge in itself," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said Monday. "Yes, he's young, inexperienced, but also he's got a very strong arm, he's athletic, so I mean that is a challenge because it does affect the way you may set your edges and things like that when you get into defensive game-planning. That's part of our challenge this week."
The coaches basically have two days to install their game plan because of a short week. There was no practice Monday, there will be a full practice today and there will be a walk-through Wednesday. Then it's game time.
The Vikings have the same challenge, but at least they know whom they're facing Thursday. The Packers aren't sure after Johnson was benched in favor of Jackson in Minnesota's 26-13 loss to the New York Jets at the Metrodome Sunday.
Vikings coach Brad Childress refused to commit to a starter on his radio show Monday, but there are very few people in the Twin Cities who think he'll continue with Johnson at quarterback. Jackson is the future and though Johnson might be able to handle complicated defensive looks better, he's probably not any more equipped to get the Vikings to the playoffs than Jackson.
"You know what? We're still mulling that over right now," Childress said of the quarterback situation. "We just went through some preliminary practice today. We'll see as we go."
The 6-1, 232-pound Jackson has played in two games this season and completed 17 of 27 passes for 212 yards and one touchdown with one interception. His passer rating is 84.2. He has rushed three times for 20 yards.
Regardless of who starts at quarterback, the Packers will be cramming to get ready for the Vikings because there just isn't much time. McCarthy said the most important thing will be to not overwork the players and to make sure they are as fresh as possible for the game.
"We're in for a long evening and we need to get it all in tomorrow," McCarthy said. "We're going to spend a little more time with the players than we normally do. We're going to keep them here a little longer, so we'll have everything in, cleaned up by the time they get out of here tomorrow night."
Familiar spot
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, right tackle Mark Tauscher will be back in his starting spot against the Vikings.
McCarthy said Tauscher will practice full-go today and provided he doesn't suffer any setbacks or doesn't look ready to play, he will be in the starting lineup. Tauscher suffered a severe groin pull in the last Vikings game on Nov. 12 and has missed five games.
The running game has not been as good without him in the game, although rookie Tony Moll has made improvement over the five weeks he has been in the lineup.
Playoff considerations
McCarthy said he was not poring over the numerous possibilities the Packers have for getting into the playoffs because more than likely it will take victories over the Vikings and Chicago Bears to even give the Packers a chance.
As a result, he prefers to stay focused on the next game.
"I talked about it a little bit in yesterday's press conference. We clearly need to focus on one day at a time," he said. "That's where we are as a football team and I think when we accomplish that, good things happen and that is our focus."
There are a number of scenarios in which the Packers can get into the playoffs, including ones where they wind up in a three-way tie with teams from other divisions and win tiebreakers because of a superior conference record. But that's all predicated on them sweeping their last two games.
The scenario that seems most likely should the Packers sweep their last two games would be the New York Giants losing twice, the St. Louis Rams and Atlanta Falcons losing once and the Seattle Seahawks winning once.
It was incorrectly reported Monday that the Packers couldn't overtake the Seahawks because of a head-to-head loss. In fact, if they are involved in a three-way tie with Seattle and the New York Giants, Carolina Panthers or Atlanta Falcons for the final playoff spot (at 8-8), the Packers would enter the playoffs based on a better conference record than Seattle, one of the criteria for breaking a three-way tie.
Seattle would have to lose its last two games against Tampa and San Diego.
The Packers cannot overtake Chicago, Dallas, New Orleans or Philadelphia.
