Heading into a pivotal Week 17 match-up against the Minnesota Vikings, the Green Bay Packers will be prepared for another thrilling showdown with their long-time NFC North rival. As the playoffs fast approach and the Packers get ready for another deep postseason run, they’ll need all-around great performances from their star-studded cast.

With Rodgers current hot streak of 16 touchdowns and zero interceptions over the past five games, it’s hard to imagine the Vikings will be able to slow him down on Sunday. So with all this going for the Packers, we’ll now discuss who the Packers x-factor will be against the Vikings, and it clearly won’t be Aaron Rodgers.

Packers X-Factor against the Vikings: Marcedes Lewis  

After a quiet showing against the Browns last weekend, a big game from Marcedes Lewis is exactly what the Packers will need to help lead them past the Vikings in Week 17. In previous games this season, Lewis has come away with some big catches for the Packers with the game on the line. As they aim to keep the one seed in the NFC and clinch homefield advantage throughout the playoffs, the Packers will need everyone to step up.

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At this moment, Lewis is the one player that must step his game up and come through for the Packers in the last few weeks of the season – especially with the Vikings still fighting to earn a wild card spot in the NFC playoffs and set on sweeping their season series with the Packers. With so much riding on Sunday’s big game, Lewis will need to come away with some huge plays for Green Bay as they look to stay on the winning track to finish out their season.

Between Aaron Jones, Davante Adams, Allen Lazard, and AJ Dillon, the Packers have gotten plenty of production on offense, but an extra set of hands to help them move the chains definitely couldn’t hurt. In their relentless pursuit of a Super Bowl title, the Packers will need all hands on deck and that means Lewis will need to come through with another strong performance that can put them over the top as they seek another crucial victory late in the year.

The addition of Lewis has proven to be highly beneficial for the Packers this season, but his production has gone down as of late. On the flip side, he’s still been vital to their success on offense at times and whenever they’ve been able to implement him into their offensive game plan, they’ve seen their fair share of success this season.

So be on the lookout for Marcedes Lewis to step up for the Pack this weekend and help the cheese heads break even with the Vikings and improve to 13-3 on the year. If ever there were a time for Lewis to have a huge game for the Packers, it would undoubtedly be this Sunday against Minnesota where they’ll be set to dish out a ton of damage and deny them of a playoff appearance in 2022.