Last stand at Lambeau: After a season spent fending off disaster, the challenge toughens

It has been the site of a Thursday night embarrassment, an NFC North title on the final night of the regular season, a schism on Christmas weekend and a shutout victory a year later.

It's where the Vikings stubbed their toe on their way to a tie, let the ball slip out of their hands on the way to a loss and took their biggest rival's breath away on a windswept afternoon last November.

Now, Lambeau Field could be where the Vikings make their last stand.

The 2021 Vikings, the eighth team under the charge of Rick Spielman and Mike Zimmer, have lurched along like a bettor at a craps table, winning just enough to keep from walking away. They have won back-to-back games three times to get back to .500, including wins over the Chargers and Packers in November fueled by an aggressive offense that hinted at making them a dangerous playoff team.

But each time they steadied themselves, the Vikings fell back, surrendering leads to Cowboys backup quarterback Cooper Rush and the winless Lions, shuttling through five different starting offensive lines and scrambling for depth on defense after investments they had made — particularly in the secondary — didn't pan out.

They are 7-8, despite having outscored opponents by 12 points. They placed 26 players on the COVID-19 list between Oct. 5 and Friday, when quarterback Kirk Cousins tested positive. On Sunday night, the Vikings could be without as many as five of the 15 defenders who have played at least 300 snaps for them this season: Defensive end Danielle Hunter is out for the season with a torn pectoral muscle; defensive end Everson Griffen is away from the team while treating his mental health; linebacker Nick Vigil is on the COVID-19 list; cornerback Cameron Dantzler is doubtful to play because of a calf injury; and cornerback Bashaud Breeland was released Dec. 18 after sources said a practice altercation with teammates escalated to the point it required Spielman's intervention.

Because the Eagles beat Washington on Sunday afternoon, the Vikings will have to win at Lambeau Field as 13½-point underdogs without Cousins — and in only the second game they have been double-digit underdogs in the Zimmer era — to keep their playoff hopes alive.

"We know what's at stake," wide receiver Justin Jefferson said. "We know we need these next two games, and we got to come out with energy and got to come out with that fire. If not, it's going to be the same results as the other games before that we lost."

Close but ...

The Vikings head east in a win-or-else situation for myriad reasons that have cost them games in heartbreaking fashion.

They have been penalized for more yards (973) than any team in the NFC and have allowed more points in the final two minutes of a half (107) than any team in the league. Kicker Greg Joseph missed a game-winning field goal in Week 2 against Arizona; Rams punt returner Brandon Powell had a 61-yard touchdown that provided the decisive margin in the Vikings' most recent loss.

Minnesota tried overhauling its secondary after the group's abysmal performance in 2020, but events complicated that: Former first-round pick Jeff Gladney was released after a grand jury charged him with felony family violence in August, and Breeland, signed to a one-year, $3 million deal this summer, was cut two days before the Dec. 20 game in Chicago.

And like many teams, the Vikings have struggled to stave off COVID-19.

After training camp began with tension between the front office and locker room over the fact the Vikings had the NFL's lowest rate of players vaccinated against COVID-19, the team went nearly two months without a positive case.

Then the virus raged through the organization, taking both vaccinated players (such as Garrett Bradbury and Patrick Peterson) and unvaccinated players (among them Harrison Smith, Dalvin Tomlinson and Dalvin Cook) off the field.

Cousins, also unvaccinated, went on the list Friday. The news threatened an uneasy relationship between the quarterback and the organization, after Cousins and Zimmer had found some common ground through weekly film-study sessions, and meant the Vikings would start backup QB Sean Mannion.

"Sean knows the game plan cold," Zimmer said. "Like I said, he's an extremely brilliant person. He puts in the work every single week like he's going to be the starter. And he is this week."

Rodgers remains

Cousins likely will miss one game while on the COVID-19 list, just like Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers did in November after testing positive. The Vikings put themselves in what could be a do-or-die situation on Sunday night by going 6-8 in one-score games; Green Bay wrapped up its third consecutive division title by going 12-2 with Rodgers on the field, including 6-1 in one-score games.

The Packers quarterback, who could win his fourth NFL MVP award, might be in his final year in Green Bay, after his dissatisfaction with the organization had him mulling retirement and exploring a trade last offseason. If his 27th career start against the Vikings is his last, it could also be his coldest: The temperature at kickoff Sunday is projected to be 7 degrees, which would be the 11th-coldest in Lambeau Field history and the third-coldest in Rodgers' time as the starter.

He is 15-10-1 against the Vikings but 7-6-1 against them since Zimmer took over and implemented defenses that have contained him at times. In the Vikings' 34-31 victory in November, though, Rodgers threw for 385 yards and posted a 148.4 passer rating, both career highs against Minnesota.

His final throw of the game was a 75-yard touchdown to Marquez Valdes-Scantling, as the Packers rallied from a 13-point deficit in one of the back-and-forth matchups that both Rodgers and Vikings veterans like Smith have come to cherish for the challenge.

"There was a play last game where he knew I was going to come down into the box, and he called me down," Smith said. "Nobody else saw it before he got under center, but he looked around and he saw what our defense looked like, and where I needed to fit. He kind of gestured [for me] to come down and get in my place. No one knows those things, but that's kind of the stuff that's the little game within the game. It's fun. It adds a layer to the game."

Sunday night, the Vikings will try to come up with enough defensive looks to slow Rodgers. They could lean heavily on Cook, who returned from the COVID-19 list on Wednesday, and hope Mannion can cut through the cold for his first victory as an NFL starter.

"I think they're going to rally behind Sean," Zimmer said. "They know how important this game is. They believe in Sean."

It's a gamble, but the Vikings have gambled plenty this season. They might be left to cross their fingers and hope one more bet can pay off.