Dec 24, 2004 4 min read

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The Packers and Vikings have quickly forgotten about all their failures this year. Friday’s showdown has fast arrived. Rarely does one NFL regular-season matchup carry this much significance, but the league showed some foresight in scheduling this rivalry game for a nationally televised slot the day before Christmas.

Though families and clergy members in these neighboring states aren’t thrilled with the timing, many people will be delaying dinner plans and skipping afternoon church services to watch Green Bay and Minnesota decide the NFC North title.

“If I was a little thinner I might even think of suiting up for it, but the only thing I have thin is my hair line,” Vikings coach Mike Tice joked. “I’ll just hold the headphones and the pencil.”

Both teams are 8-6, the Packers having rebounded from a 1-4 record and the Vikings having stumbled following a 5-1 start. Regardless of what happens in the final week, however, the winner of this one will be the division champion.

Nobody cares that it’s a down year for the North, as well as the entire conference.

“It’s just as big over here as it is over there,” said Packers coach Mike Sherman, whose club has already clinched at least a wild-card spot. Minnesota needs one more win or one more loss by either Carolina or St. Louis to do so.

After escaping Detroit with a one-point victory when a bad snap at the end of the game cost the Lions an extra point, the Vikings were full of energy and optimism this week – with two less days to prepare and their postseason hopes suddenly very clear.

“We’re fired up and ready for it,” quarterback Daunte Culpepper said.

The Packers blew a big opportunity at home last week, losing 28-25 to Jacksonville when Brett Favre turned over the ball four times. That doesn’t mean they’ve had any trouble refocusing.

“This is probably the biggest game that I’ve played against them, as far as what it means,” said free safety Darren Sharper, who’s about to play Minnesota for the 16th time in his career.

Sharper and his friends in the Packers secondary, one of only two NFL teams to allow 30 touchdowns passing this season, will have plenty to worry about.

Randy Moss didn’t play in last month’s 34-31 loss in Green Bay because of a partially torn right hamstring, but Culpepper passed for 363 yards and four touchdowns and nearly rallied the Vikings to victory without his star receiver.

Though head and neck injuries will keep Robert Ferguson from playing, Javon Walker and Donald Driver give Favre two accomplished targets against a Minnesota defense that has endured another difficult season.

Favre’s career record in the Metrodome is a mere 3-9, however, and the Packers have enjoyed the most success against the Vikings when Ahman Green runs well. In Green Bay’s last two victories over Minnesota, including a 30-27 win on the road in 2003, Green totaled 42 carries for 282 yards.

“If we have to get in there and wing it and we fall behind early, it’s just makes it a complete mess,” said right tackle Mark Tauscher. “You really do control the tempo, because if you’re running the ball and putting points up on the board, that puts the pressure back on their offense to be flawless. If they feel pressure to score, that takes away a lot of their game.”

This game is sure to be intense and entertaining with so much at stake. Throw in national television, the holiday hustle and bustle and it promises to be one of the most memorable meetings between these Upper Midwest rivals.

“They’re in the way, and we’re trying to get somewhere,” said Nate Burleson, who caught a career-high 11 passes for 141 yards and a score against the Packers last month.

Minnesota is the site of some of Favre’s most forgettable performances.

“In years past it hasn’t been so much the dome as it has been us offensively, myself or the way they play against us,” Favre said. “When we play up to our standards, I think we can play with anyone, anywhere.”

The winner-take-all theme for this game should help both teams prepare for the playoffs.

“That’s the atmosphere we’re getting, and that’s the type of mental approach that we have this week,” Culpepper said. “Football itself is a great game, but these type of games are the reason you play.”