Green Bay Packers vs. Minnesota Vikings: Watch, listen, stats, others’ predictions

Eddie Lacy rushes for a touchdown during the third quarter against the Minnesota Vikings at Lambeau Field. Green Bay won 42-10. Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports photograph

The Green Bay Packers square off against NFC North Division rival Minnesota Vikings Sunday at noon today in a matchup of two longtime foes that have been meeting since the Vikings were established and joined the NFL Central Division back in 1961.

With a long history … a bitter history … today’s matchup will be played not only in a new (temporary) venue in Minnesota, the Packers will not have to once again game plan around Adrian Peterson.

Instead, the focus of this one centers around Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and whether he can continue to dominate on the offensive side of the ball.

It will be important for the Packers to score a lot of points again and not allow any kind of momentum to turn toward the Vikings, who have an upstart defense that could keep them in the game if Rodgers has difficulty getting his offense into the end zone.

Without their star running back, the Vikings have turned to their two young backups – Matt Asiata and Jerick McKinnon – however, with Asiata ruled out, the Vikings will turn to McKinnon and newly-signed Ben Tate.

But it will be incumbent on the Packers defense to slow Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. It will be Bridgewater’s first start against the Packers because he missed the last meeting with an ankle injury.

The Packers head into today’s game at 7-3, tied at the top of the NFC North with Detroit, who has their hands full with their matchup in Foxboro against the New England Patriots. Should the favored Packers win at Minnesota and the Lions lose at New England, the Packers will hold first place in the division for the first time in 2014.

Though the Packers are not facing a must-win situation, they must win to take control.

It. Is. Tim.

It’s a huge opportunity today.

This matchup against the Vikings is a big game, no matter how you slice it … one that will continue to change the complexion of the Packers’ season.

It’s not time to relax; it’s time to continue the push toward a division title and a playoff berth.

The only way to do that is to keep winning games.

If the Packers are to keep pace with and possibly take a one game lead on the Lions, they have to win.

In fact, at this point in the season, the championship-caliber teams take care of their own business – they win – and then let the forces determine the outcome of other games.

So, to get you ready for Packers football, we’ve put together the basic television, radio and Internet information about the game, a bunch of statistics, and even some predictions to digest along with your noon lunch or game time festival.

We start with game day information, continue on with statistics and conclude our slide show with a bunch of predictions …

So, start the slide show, turn the pages and discover everything you would want to know about the Green Bay Packers vs. the Minnesota Vikings …