Matt LaFleur: 'Right thing' to rest key Packers vs. Vikings - ESPN

MINNEAPOLIS — Health over momentum. That's what Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur went with in Sunday's regular-season finale against the Minnesota Vikings.

Locked into the seventh seed in the NFC playoffs, the Packers started third-string quarterback Clayton Tune and did not start 16 key contributors (a few played only on special teams). The result was predictable: a 16-3 loss that featured minus-7 total passing yards as a team, their fewest in a game since 1976.

It meant the Packers (9-7-1) enter the playoffs with zero momentum. They lost four straight games to end the regular season. Their last win came Dec. 7 against the Chicago Bears.

It also meant the Packers came away without any new major injury concerns to starters. Safety Javon Bullard was the closest thing to a scare. He played 21 defensive snaps before someone landed on his knee, ending his day, but Bullard said afterward that he would be fine. Backup receiver/kick returner Bo Melton (knee) was the only other announced injury.

It was a different approach than last year's regular-season finale against the Bears, when LaFleur played his starters even though they could only improve from the seventh to the sixth seed at best. And it burned him when receiver Christian Watson tore his ACL and was lost for the playoffs.

«I think we did the right thing today.» LaFleur said Sunday. «And we'll see. Time will tell. But I feel better about this certainly than I did a year ago after the game. It was a double whammy when we lose the game and you lose a key player for us to go into that run. I thought this was the best decision.»

That meant on offense the Packers not only held out Jordan Love but also Watson, Romeo Doubs and Josh Jacobs, plus four of their five starting