Ultimately youve got to want to play for yourself,"

Vikings mindful of Rodgers mobility 

One of the keys to Jay Cutler's success against the Vikings last Sunday was his ability to move around and keep plays alive with his feet.

Whether scrambling for yards or buying more time for his receivers to get open, the Bears quarterback did a good job of avoiding pressure. The Vikings face a similar challenge this Sunday with Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who is extremely mobile and is very good at throwing on the run.

"It makes it a lot tougher," defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier said. "You're playing zone sometimes or man and the quarterback buys some extra time because something is not open and he's waiting and waiting. It puts a lot of pressure on your secondary to hold up when that happens. It's something we'll have to address this weekend because their quarterback in Green Bay does the same thing. It really puts a lot of pressure on your defense."

Those situations are particularly deflating on third down when a quarterback is able to escape pressure and either hit a receiver or run for the first down. It happened last week on the Bears first drive when Cutler scrambled for 25 yards on third-and-4.

"You're in third-down situations and trying to get off the field and have things covered up pretty good and then the quarterback moves around and somebody eventually gets open," Frazier said. "It puts a lot of pressure on your defense when that happens. So we have to have a good plan to keep [Rodgers] him in the pocket and try and contain him. That will be the challenge for us."

Here are a few notes from the coordinators press conferences:

-- Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell on the team's high turnover total (23): "I know it's oversimplifying it, but it does come down to execution. You can look at the tape. We can point it out to the players and I think for the players it just opens their eyes. They sit there and look at it and say, "Yeah, we see what you're talking about.' And we've had some bad things happen. Couple of guys slip down, ball gets tipped. Those are football plays and things are going to happen. But we can rectify a lot of the situations by just making sure we take care of our assignment."

-- Bevell on having Percy Harvin, Bernard Berrian and Sidney Rice sitting on the bench injured in the fourth quarter Sunday: "We never want to use excuses for ourselves, but it is what it is. That's a situation where we've had a very fluid situation at out wide receiver position this year. You go all the way back where you bring in [Greg] Camarillo, you bring in Randy Moss, you bring in Hank Baskett. All those moves were during-the-season-type moves. Then some of them were backup roles and now all of a sudden their starters. You need a lot of time with the quarterbacks and receivers to be on the same page. They're all in the same meetings. They all go through the same warmup drills. But once you get out there on the field, there are subtle adjustments that you have to make and you have to make quick decisions and those guys need to be on the same page."

-- Frazier said cornerback Asher Allen likely will play after returning from a one-game absence because of a concussion provided he has no setbacks in practice. Frazier said the team will determine whether Allen or rookie Chris Cook will start at the end of the week. Frazier admitted the "revolving door" at right cornerback has been difficult as far as continuity. Teams can stay away from Antoine Winfield and go directly at the other guys, most notably Lito Sheppard. "[Winfield] is not getting a lot of opportunities and there are obvious reasons for that," Frazier said. "We've kind of had a revolving door going on away from him. Thank goodness, he's steady. He's one guy we can count on each Sunday in the secondary. That's been big. But Husain [Abdullah] has played well for us. So has Madieu [Williams]. But Antoine has been a steady force for us."

Well Cheesey, if you can't take Favre at his word, maybe there's something wrong with ya. If Brett says something, he means it!


LOL! I almost made it through this post without cracking up!

"bozz_2006" wrote:

Rivalry: The 100th game between the Vikings and Packers

Between the two teams, they've given us some of the most unforgettable names in NFL history: Lombardi and Grant, Tarkenton and Starr, and the oddity of Brett Favre wearing green for 16 seasons and purple for the past two.

By MARK CRAIG, Star Tribune

Last update: November 20, 2010 - 8:31 AM

THE SERIES: THE PACKERS LEAD THE SERIES 50-48-1 The Score: THE PACKERS HAVE OUTSCORED THE VIKINGS, 537-521

From the frozen fields of the 1960s to the plastic grass beneath a Teflon top in 2010, the Vikings and Packers have created 50 seasons of memorable matchups and rival fans who bicker from across the Upper Midwest and into taverns up and down the common border.

"I think it all started with the Packer fans," said former Vikings defensive end Jim Marshall, who played the Packers 38 times from 1961 to '79. "They really didn't like us much when we first started. And most people in Minnesota had identified with the Packers for years. So it got pretty heated."

Between the two teams, they've given us some of the most unforgettable names in NFL history: Lombardi and Grant, Tarkenton and Starr, and the oddity of Brett Favre wearing green for 16 seasons and purple for the past two.

When the series began on Oct. 22, 1961, the Vikings were an expansion team and the 23-year-old Marshall was in the early stage of an iron-man streak of 282 consecutive games. When the series resumes with the 100th meeting Sunday at the Metrodome, the 41-year-old Favre will make his 295th consecutive start in what will be, according to all indications, his 36th and final Vikings-Packers game.

As quarterback in the final game of his Hall of Fame career, Norm Van Brocklin beat Vince Lombardi's Packers 17-13 in the 1960 NFL Championship Game. As head coach of the expansion Vikings, Van Brocklin was fiery, temperamental and unsuccessful.

"We thought he was crazy," Marshall said. "He was constantly walking up and down the sideline cussing out everybody he could."

Including the officials.

"One time, he got so angry that he was he was looking for something to throw at the officials," Marshall said. "He couldn't find anything, so he reached in his pocket, grabbed a handful of change and threw it at the officials.

"Of course, that got us a 15-yard penalty. Then he went out and started cussing at the guy. And that got us another 15-yard penalty. We had to kind of settle him down and say, 'Coach, we have a game to play and you're backing us down the field.'"

Lombardi won the first six meetings by a combined score of 208-80 and went 10-2 against Van Brocklin. The Vikings' first win in the series didn't come until a 24-23 victory at Lambeau Field on Oct. 4, 1964. By then, Vikings players were beyond fed up with Packers fans.

"They have the tradition of mooning us from the time we get off the plane," Marshall said. "Going into the city, virtually every window you would pass, every car you passed, somebody's showing you their rear end. And that was during the years when they sold glass bottles in stadiums. The fans would throw the bottles at us, so you'd be going down the concrete tunnel and bottles would be bouncing off and breaking all over the place."

The Savior from Superior

Bud Grant won four Grey Cup championships with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Canadian Football League when he replaced Van Brocklin on March 10, 1967. His connection to Minnesota already had been established as a three-sport star at the University of Minnesota and a two-year stint with the Minneapolis Lakers before going on to an NFL playing career with the Philadelphia Eagles.

"People forget I'm actually from Wisconsin," said Grant, who was born in Superior. "I grew up with the great, old Packers. They were always my favorite team. It was always special for me to play the Packers, especially at Lambeau Field. Better than Atlanta or somebody."

Grant lost his first four games in 1967 by a combined score of 117-55 when he traveled to Milwaukee for the first of only two meetings with Lombardi. Lombardi was in his final season as Packers coach. He won Super Bowl I the year before and won Super Bowl II later that season.

"That first game against Lombardi was pretty special to me," Grant said. "They were actually the better team than we were, but we kept it close and got some breaks."

The Vikings won 10-7. Lombardi won the rematch later that season, but Grant would go on to dominate the Packers and finish with a record of 22-12-1 from 1967 to 1983 and 1985.

"Oh, what a real treat it was to get Bud in there after what we went through," Marshall said. "He was so logical. You understood what his program was and why it made sense. I can't remember all the details of that first year, but all I know is we played a hell of a lot better once Bud came in and got us organized."

One game in particular showcased the essence of Grant's Purple People Eaters of the 1970s. On Nov. 14, 1971, the Packers held the Vikings to 87 total yards and five first downs ... and lost 3-0.

"That's what we were made of," Hall of Fame safety Paul Krause said. "We were supposed to win games that way."

Burns flipped sides first

Before Favre was even born, Jerry Burns flipped sides in the rivalry. After serving as an assistant under Lombardi during the Packers' two Super Bowl seasons, Burns spent the next 18 seasons as the Vikings' offensive coordinator.

In 1986, after Grant retired for the second and final time, Burns was named head coach. Four games into that season, he had the chance to put an historical stamp on the rivalry. But he took the high road against an 0-3 Packers team.

Quarterback Tommy Kramer, who had dedicated the game to his ailing mother Marie, had just thrown his sixth touchdown pass early in the third quarter. The Vikings led 42-7 at the Metrodome and Kramer wanted to go for the NFL record of seven touchdown passes in a game, held by five players, including former Viking Joe Kapp, the last to do it in 1969.

Burns pulled Kramer, inserted Wade Wilson, ran the ball and managed to keep the final score at 42-7.

"Now that you mention it, I do remember him not being too happy about it," Burns said. "But I told him, 'Turnabout is fair play.' Maybe the following year, if you're in the same position, they can smear your face or cut your throat, too.

"You don't want to set a record that way."

The rivalry in the 1980s saw the Packers go 14-5, Herschel Walker lose a shoe during his fabulous Vikings debut in 1989, one strike cancel a game in 1982 and another strike create the infamous "replacement" games of 1987. As one of the more ill-prepared teams for the players' strike of 1987, the Vikings went 0-3 with their replacement players, including a 23-16 loss to the Packers in front of 13,911 fans at the Metrodome.

"It was sick," Burns said. "The guys we had on our strike team, they couldn't make Eden Prairie's high school team."

Welcome to the rivalry, Brett

The 1990s welcomed Dennis Green, Mike Holmgren and Brett Favre in 1992. Six years later, Randy Moss made his entrance with five catches for 190 yards and two touchdowns on a memorable Monday night in Lambeau Field.

Favre's rivalry debut, on the other hand, was one to forget.

"I remember it like it was yesterday," former Vikings cornerback Vencie Glenn, who intercepted Favre three times in a 27-7 victory on Dec. 27, 1992. "He wasn't the starter when we played them in the season opener, but watching tape, you knew early on he was a gunslinger out there making plays. But you also knew he was going to throw some balls to you, too. I remember Denny [Green] saying, 'You already got two. You might as well go for the hat trick.' And I went out and got the hat trick."

Favre didn't throw a touchdown pass and was outplayed by Vikings journeyman quarterback Sean Salisbury, who passed for 292 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions.

"It was an honor just being a part of that rivalry," Salisbury said. "You could put a Hall of Fame together just off the guys who have played and coached in it."

Tice's shining moment

Mike Tice is the only person on the Vikings' side of the rivalry to be a player and a head coach in the rivalry. He went 5-4 as a head coach from 2002 to 2005, including 3-2 at Lambeau Field. He also pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the only playoff meeting between the two teams.

It came in a wild-card game on Jan. 9, 2005, at Lambeau Field. The Packers were 10-6 and had beaten the Vikings twice that season on last-second field goals by Ryan Longwell.

Green Bay was riding a 9-2 run, while the Vikings had finished 1-4 to enter the playoffs at 8-8. The Packers were 14-1 in home playoff games, while the Vikings were 2-20 in outdoor road games since 2000. And, oh yeah, an 8-8 team never had won a playoff game.

But the Vikings routed the Packers 31-17. Daunte Culpepper threw two touchdown passes, while Favre threw four interceptions.

"Even our wives didn't think we were going to go into Lambeau Field and win that game," said Tice, who's now the offensive line coach for the Bears. "So it was one of those games where as a head coach you were really able to rally the troops and give them the 'us-against-the-world' speech.

"And it was one of those rare times when that speech actually worked. Things just clicked for us. And the Packers probably took us too lightly."

Favre's farewell

After 1,195 pass attempts, 745 completions, 8,322 yards, 63 touchdowns and 40 interceptions, perhaps it's fitting that Favre's final meaningful game could come against his former team in this rivalry.

Now into his third decade in the rivalry, he's 19-16, including 2-1 with the Vikings. But after two magical performances in 2009, Favre's three interceptions were the difference in last month's loss at Lambeau Field.

"Brett's durability is the greatest thing we've ever seen in sports," Salisbury said. "I mean, I'm sitting here talking about a guy I started against midway through my career in 1992. I've now been in the broadcast business for 15 years, and this guy is still a starting quarterback in this rivalry."

Favre has been loved and hated by both sides. For instance, in 2002, seven years before he helped the Vikings to the NFC Championship Game, Favre was caught on film giving a one-fingered salute to Vikings defensive tackle Chris Hovan during a game-ending brawl between the teams.

Sunday, Favre will be on the other side with no desire to reflect on his first 35 appearances.

"We obviously need a win," Favre said. "So there's no time to think about those types of things."

But there are 60 minutes left to forge one more famous or infamous moment before the first 50 seasons of the Vikings-Packers rivalry comes to a close.


The Vikings are 3-6 and coming off a loss at Chicago. The Packers are 6-3, coming off a bye week and have won three consecutive games, including a 28-24 victory over the Vikings at Lambeau Field on Oct. 24.

But the rivalry rarely presents one team with a layup. The Packers lead the series 50-48-1, but are 23-25 at Minnesota, including 12-15 at the Metrodome. The average score has been Packers 20.9, Vikings 19.4. And Favre is 12-6 as the home quarterback, including 1-0 with the Vikings.

"If [Favre] is going to play his best against anybody, it's going to be us," Packers nose tackle B.J. Raji said this week. "I'm sure he's had this one circled on the calendar."

Sid Hartman: Game rests on arms of Favre, Rodgers 

The Vikings and Packers quarterbacks are struggling this season, but the stakes are high for both Sunday.

Neither Vikings quarterback Brett Favre nor his counterpart on the Packers, Aaron Rodgers, is having the year he enjoyed in 2009.

Favre had a 107.2 quarterback rating a year ago to rank second in the league compared to 72.2 -- or 31st in the league -- this year.

Rodgers was at 103.2 last year for a fourth-place rating in the league compared to 90.6 -- or 15th in the league -- now.

But look for the two quarterbacks to decide the result of Sunday's game.

Despite his ranking, Rodgers has had big days against the Vikings as he has rolled out to complete pass after pass against a Vikings secondary that has had a very ordinary season.

The Packers, with their 6-3 record, wouldn't qualify for a playoff spot if they started today. So that shows why the Vikings will have to win the division to make the playoffs, because their chances of their qualifying for a wild card look to be almost impossible.

However, the only way the Vikings are going to win seven in a row is to perform like they did in the final four minutes and the overtime of their victory over Arizona a couple of weeks ago.

This Vikings are not performing close to what they did a year ago, when they dominated almost every opponent and came within an interception and a costly 12th-man-on-the-field penalty of making the Super Bowl.

Maybe the return to the lineup of receiver Sidney Rice, who missed the first nine games this year after hip surgery, will spark Favre to find his favorite receiver of last year, and the Vikings can find a way to win.

I believe that the Vikings are ready to play their best game of the season today and then have a chance to go on a roll, with the advantage starting today of having four of the next five games at home.

Opportunity is there

Steve Hutchinson, a real leader on the team, said the opportunity to go 10-6 and win the division is there. It's just a matter of eliminating the mistakes and figuring out how to get on track.

Hutchinson said "sometimes it's better to be lucky than good, but you can't really include luck in your game plan, so we just have to continue to work hard."

The veteran guard doesn't have an answer to why the team is 3-6 now compared to 7-2 a year ago.

"I don't know, that's a broad question," he said. "We have most of the same faces in here, for whatever reason we're just not executing the way we did last year. We can't worry about anybody else. We have to take care of our games and our schedule and our business.

"Every game is huge -- this one is the biggest one because it's the next one. As far as we're concerned, it's a one-game season very week for the next seven weeks."

Well, there have been more distractions this year than last season, especially like the rumors of coach Brad Childress being on the verge of getting fired.

Heath Farwell, the captain of the special teams added: "Childress is a great coach, and it's a shame that he's taking a fall for the losses, because it's all of us players not making plays. As far as I'm concerned, guys are on board and we're about winning -- that's all that matters.

Yes, like Farwell said: Childress is the same coach he was last year, when the Vikings went 12-4 and were one play from going to the Super Bowl. But believe me, Childress and his staff are doing just as good a job as they did last year. But one thing they can't do is execute for the players who have beat themselves this year, something they rarely did a year ago.

Longwell has seen both sides of rivalry 

After kicking for the Vikings for five years and nine with the Packers, he's seen plenty of big, close games.

By SID HARTMAN, Star Tribune

Last update: November 18, 2010 - 10:52 PM

For Vikings placekicker Ryan Longwell, who has spent 14 seasons playing with the Packers and the Vikings, this is his 29th game in the rivalry. It is his 10th game on the Vikings' side.

For the Vikings, who are 3-6, it is a crucial game to win if they are to stay in the race for a playoff berth. They will have to play better than they did against the Bears, and I believe they are ready to play their best game of the season.

"For me, it has been a great rivalry, a lot of fun," Longwell said. "It's pretty special to see it from both sidelines and both places, and certainly that's why they're rivals, because [the games] seem to always be close and always important.

"[It's] a big game for us. I think we've got a good group of guys. ... I wouldn't say fragile. I think that with everything that's gone on off the field that this is the group of guys that you'd want in this type of situation, because they are used to it, they are resilient, and we're going to come out swinging. I mean we're not sitting where we want to be, but the group of guys in this locker room is the group you want fighting out of this hole. It gives us the best chance to win, no doubt."

Longwell looked back to the big late rally to beat Arizona to show what the team can do.

"It didn't happen for us for 56 minutes against the Cardinals, and we still had enough fight to get that one, so no, I never worry about the effort of these guys," Longwell said.

Longwell said the Packers have proved they are one of the best teams in the NFL. They are tied for first in the NFC North with the Bears at 6-3.

"They're sitting up top in the division, and we certainly are running out of time, so we need to take advantage when we get these games against division opponents because the wins count like two for one," he said. "You don't want to pass up on too many of these games, like the last one [a 28-24 loss at Green Bay on Oct. 24]."

There has been a big turnover in players at Green Bay since Longwell left after the 2005 season.

"I talk to a few of the guys, but really I've been here for five years now and this is my 10th time playing them, so it's certainly different than my first time," Longwell said. "[Quarterback] Aaron Rodgers, [defensive end] Cullen Jenkins, [receiver] Donald Driver, I think, are a few that come to mind [who are still there from when Longwell was with the Packers]."

One thing Longwell stressed is that the Vikings are not 3-6 because of finger-pointing in the locker room.

"We've got guys that take care of their own jobs and root for each other," he said. "I think there's always disagreements between coaches and players, it's happened all 14 years that I've been in the NFL. But I don't think they have a problem with each other. No, I mean I know we're fighting for each other, we're fighting for ourselves and we're trying to get a win and all the stuff that goes on off the field is really irrelevant to trying to get that done."
Packers tough on road

Unlike the Vikings, who have lost nine in a row on the road, the Packers under coach Mike McCarthy have a 20-16 road record. The Packers were 5-3 on the road last year. This season, they've won at Philadelphia and New York (Jets) and lost at Chicago and at Washington in overtime.

However, the Vikings aren't the only team to have trouble on the road. According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, only 11 of 32 NFL teams have winning records on the road since 2006. The Packers' road record this year will be tested in the next few weeks, with four of their next five games on the road: at Mall of America Field on Sunday, at Atlanta, and then -- after a home game against the 49ers -- games at Detroit and New England.

On the other hand, the Vikings have four of their next five at home. The Bears have three of their next five on the road, with games at Miami, Detroit and Minnesota.

Rodgers, the outstanding Packers quarterback, told reporters this week his vocal cords are really tested when he plays in the Metrodome.

"The toughest thing for me is losing my voice, screaming from the first quarter on," he said. "The toughest stretches are the first quarter and drives after a [Vikings] score, because the crowd is obviously into it. Third down is easy on my voice because we use a silent count, like all teams do on the road. But you have to manage your voice."

It's amazing to look at how few sacks the Vikings have this season (14). The Vikings had a total of 14 alone in the two Packers games last year, including 7 1/2 by Jared Allen.

They will need some sacks Sunday to win, and they can't allow a repeat of what happened in the loss at Green Bay, where Packers wide receivers Greg Jennings and James Jones combined for 10 catches for 181 yards and one touchdown.

I love it when Favre acts like the games against GB are no more important to him then the other games.......does ANYONE believe that???
(I don't)

"Cheesey" wrote:

Angry Wilf leaves with no comment 

Posted by Judd Zulgad

Last update: November 21, 2010 - 5:01 PM

Vikings owner Zygi Wilf politely declined to comment late Sunday morning when approached twice to talk about the job status of coach Brad Childress.

Wilf also did not have any interest in talking a few hours later but this time his demeanor had changed dramatically as he departed the Vikings' locker room following a 31-3 loss to the Green Bay Packers. Wilf stormed out of the locker room, walked briskly past reporters and headed for a service elevator as he and his brother, team president Mark Wilf, likely left to contemplate what they could do about a season that has gone sour.

A security guard turned around to reporters who were in pursuit and said Wilf would have no comment.

The Vikings are 3-7 and remain a game ahead of the even-more -feeble Detroit Lions, who lost to the Dallas Cowboys. It wasn't just that the Vikings lost Sunday but it was how they lost to their biggest rival.

The Vikings haven't fallen by that wide of margin at home since a 33-3 defeat to Jacksonville on Dec. 23, 2001. Coach Dennis Green was fired shortly thereafter. This was Childress' worst loss as Vikings coach since a 34-0 setback at Lambeau Field on Nov. 11, 2007.

Childress said he did talk briefly to Zygi and Mark Wilf, the Vikings team president, afterward but the coach refused to speculate on his future. "I can't really talk about that because that's not my decision going forward," Childress said. "I'll always do what's best for the Minnesota Vikings to get us ready for the Washington Redskins this week and cleaning up this game film with the guys tomorrow. That's really all I have to say of it."

Chldress called his talk with the Wilfs, "just an exchange of greetings really," adding, "that's kind of what we do."

Herrera likely done for season

Right guard Anthony Herrera left the game in the first half and Childress said the veteran likely has been lost to a season-ending left knee injury that is believed to be a torn ACL. Ryan Cook finshed at right guard.

Meanwhile, wide receiver Bernard Berrian started the game after it was decided in pregame warmups that he was good to go. This came despite the fact Berrian aggravated a groin injury last week just before the game at Chicago and ended up not playing.

Berrian was in for the opening series but again aggravated the injury and was used on only one more play when he served as a decoy on a bunch formation that ended with Percy Harvin gaining 16 yards on a rushing attempt.

Sidney Rice returned and by my count played almost 50 snaps.

Sideline meltdowns

The Vikings sideline might have been the most interesting place to focus on Sunday. Defensive end Ray Edwards and struggling cornerback Chris Cook exchanged words at one point, and quarter Brett Favre seemed to bark at offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell after Favre threw an interception in the second quarter.

Favre downplayed that incident.

"If I didn't care, if Darrell didn't care, we might be laughing over there," Favre said. "It's not the first time Darrell and I ... and we're fine. I was mad at myself. To be honest, if I had to do it over again Id proabbly make the same throw. Tramon [Williams] jumped the route. Made a great pick. Ive thrown that particular play, we call dragon, Ive thrown that for years. He made a great play. Darrell was trying to more or less reign me in, and say, theres more football left, and of course I knew that. It just seems like -- this is an understatement -- this is not our year."

Favre, who has said this will be his 20th and final season, was asked a few times if he might walk away given how this season is going. He never said no to the question but instead was very vague.

Favre did say a couple of times he was going to go home and re-evaluate things but he declined to elaborate when asked a follow-up about that statement.

Only time will tell if that means something.