Breaking Down the Rivalry Between the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors
Carter Sullivan Favre retired after the 2010 season.
In terms of the divisional history between the two teams, the Vikings have won more divisional titles. From 1967-2001, when there was a NFC Central division, the Vikings won the division 15 times. In that same period, the Packers won the NFC Central five times.
Since the NFC North division was established in 2002, the Packers have won the division six times and have won one Super Bowl, while the Vikings have won the division twice and failed to reach a Super Bowl.
In terms of Super Bowl history, the Packers have played in five Super Bowls, winning four (Super Bowl I, Super Bowl II, Super Bowl XXXI and Super Bowl XLV).
The Vikings played in four Super Bowls in the 1970s, and lost all four. The last Super Bowl the Vikings played in was Super Bowl XI, when the Vikings lost to the Oakland Raiders, 32-14.Overall in the series, the Packers lead by a 54-47-1 margin.
The Packers have also won five games in a row in the series. The Packers will be attempting to win their third straight game at the Metrodome this upcoming Sunday. The last time the Packers won three straight at that venue was from 1983-85.
Also, with a win on Sunday, the Packers will even up their record with the Vikings at the HumptyDome at 15-15.
Sunday's game is a huge one for both teams. With a win, the Packers will secure the No. 2 seed in the NFC and get a bye the first week of the playoffs. The Vikings need a win to be the No. 6 seed as a wild-card team.
From an individual standpoint, the game is also important. Both quarterback Aaron Rodgers of the Packers and Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson are both in the mix for the NFL MVP award this season.Rodgers was the NFL MVP in 2011, and he is definitely making noise to become a repeat winner. For the season, Rodgers has thrown 35 touchdown passes (versus just eight picks) for 3,930 yards. Rodgers leads the entire NFL with a 106.2 quarterback rating as well.
Rodgers has made a statement to MVP voters over the last couple of games, in which Rodgers has thrown six touchdown passes without an interception, and has quarterback ratings of 116.8 and 125.1, respectively, versus the Bears and Titans.Rodgers has also run for two touchdowns in the last three games.
Meanwhile, Peterson is having a monster year, which is unbelievable given that he tore his ACL late last December. He has 1,898 yards rushing so far this season with 11 touchdowns. "All Day" is averaging a robust 6.0 yards per carry, too.
Against the Packers, Peterson has three goals. One, get a win and make the playoffs. Two, rush for at least 102 yards and get over 2,000 yards for the season. Three, rush for 208 yards or more and break Eric Dickerson's all-time season mark of 2,105 yards, set in 1984.
Bottom line, this game will be the first time since 1992 that both teams play each other in the season finale with something on the line for both squads. That game was also at the Metrodome.
In 1992, a win meant the NFC Central title belonged the Packers, but a loss would send them home, and out of the playoffs. The Vikings would have made the playoffs as a wild card, even with a loss, but they wanted the NFC Central title.
The Packers lost, 27-7.
But Green Bay built off of that disappointment and went to the playoffs six straight years under Holmgren from 1993-98. That included three NFC Central titles, three appearances in the NFC Championship Game, two Super Bowl appearances and one Super Bowl win.
