HEADLINE

Vikings RB Mattison inactive for Packers showdown

Field Level Media

December 24, 2019 at 12:24 am.

The Minnesota Vikings’ hopes of getting a home game in the playoffs will ride on the arm of Kirk Cousins … and the legs of Mike Boone.

Less than two hours before hosting the Green Bay Packers on Monday night, the Vikings announced that backup running back Alexander Mattison (ankle) was among the club’s inactives for the game. It will be the second straight game missed for the rookie third-round pick.

But unlike last week against the Los Angeles Chargers, the Vikings are also without starting running back Dalvin Cook against the Packers. Cook has sustained a couple of injuries in recent weeks, with a chest injury the official reason he is sitting out Monday.

That means Boone, a second-year player who signed with the Vikings as an undrafted free agent before last season, will make his first career start. After rushing for 47 yards on 11 carries as a rookie, Boone has 21 carries for 97 yards and two touchdowns this season, both scored against the Chargers.

The Vikings (10-4) trail the Packers by one game in the NFC North with two games to play. A win would not only create a tie atop the division, but it would keep alive the possibility that five NFC teams finish 12-4, with two divisions, Seeds 1-3 in the playoffs and both wild-card slots all needing tiebreakers.

The Vikings and Packers have clinched spots in the playoffs.

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