- The Green Bay Packers will travel across the state to take on the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday.
- Green Bay has won five of the last seven at Minnesota.
- Of the past 29 regular-season meetings between the teams, 20 of those games have been decided by seven points or less.
- They have split the season series both of the past two years.
- The Packers have a 28-27 record in away games against the Vikings.
- Through 113 meetings, which includes two postseason contests (1-1), the Packers hold a 60-51-2 edge over the Vikings in the all-time series.
- The Packers are 11-3-1 in the last 15 games between the teams during the regular and postseason.
- The Packers have scored 30-plus points in eight of their last 14 regular-season games against Minnesota. That included a 38-point effort the last time the two teams played last season, a 42-point game in 2014, a 44-point outing at Minnesota in 2013, the most points ever scored by Green Bay at the Metrodome, and a 45-point effort at Lambeau Field in 2011.
- Since Head Coach Mike McCarthy took over in 2006, the Packers have a 15-6-1 record (.705) against the Vikings in the regular season.
- Since 2006, the Packers have scored 20-plus points against the Vikings in 19 of 22 regular-season games. The Packers' 614 points scored in the regular season since 2006 are the most against the Vikings in the NFL, and Green Bay's average of 27.9 points per game leads the league among teams that have played Minnesota at least four times over that span.
- Sunday will kick off a stretch for the Packers of three NFC North contests in the next four games.
- Including the playoffs this will be McCarthy's 200th career game as head coach.
- The Packers are 4-1 this season, marking the fourth time since 2006 that Green Bay has won at least four of its first five games (5-0 in 2015 / 5-0 in 2011 / 4-1 in 2007).
- The Packers have won 10 of their last 11 regular-season games and are tied with Kansas City of the best record in the NFL over that span.
- Dating back to 2006, the Packers (31-11, .738) hold the second-best winning percentage in the month of October behind the New England Patriots (40-8, .833). Green Bay has won 22 of its last 26 games played in the month of October.
- Dating back to 2008, Rodgers leads the NFL (min. 300 pass attempts) in passer rating (108.4), passing touchdowns (81) and touchdown percentage (6.9) in the month of October, while ranking No. 3 in passing yards (9,796).
- The Packers are the only team with four touchdowns on opening drives this season. Green Bay leads the league with 27 points on opening drives.
- The Packers are No. 1 in red-zone efficiency this season (15 TDs on 19 drives, 78.95 percent). Green Bay has scored nine TDs on 10 red-zone drives over the last two games.
WITH THE CALL
- FOX Sports, now in its 24th season as an NFL network television partner, will broadcast the game.
- Play-by-play man Thom Brennaman joins analyst Troy Aikman and sideline reporter Erin Andrews.
- Milwaukee's WTMJ (620 AM), airing Green Bay games since November 1929, heads up the Packers Radio Network that is made up of 50 stations in five states. Wayne Larrivee (play-by-play) and two-time Packers Pro Bowler Larry McCarren (analyst) call the action. McCarren first joined the team's broadcasts in 1995 and enters his 23rd season calling Packers games. After originally being paired together in 1999, McCarren and Larrivee enter their 19th season of broadcasts together.
- The broadcast is also available on Sirius Satellite Radio (WTMJ feed).
- DIRECTV subscribers can watch the game on Channel 709.
BREAKING DOWN THE ROSTER
- The Packers currently have an 53-man roster that is composed of 25 offensive players, 25 defensive players and three specialists.
- Of the 53 players on Green Bay's roster, 34 of them (64.2 percent) were draft picks of the Packers. Dating back to 2007, Green Bay has at least one member of each draft class still on the roster.
- Green Bay has 12 players on the roster that began their careers as undrafted free agents, with 10 of those originally signed by Green Bay.
- Over a third (34.0 percent) of the players (18 of 53) on Green Bay's roster entered the league as a sixth-round or seventh-round pick or as an undrafted player.
- The Packers have five players on the roster that played in the NFL prior to the 2009 season. Four of those five players were draft picks of the Packers (QB Aaron Rodgers, K Mason Crosby, WR Jordy Nelson and LB Clay Matthews) and three have made at least one Pro Bowl.
- Of the 53 players on the roster, 44 began their pro careers with the Packers (83.0 percent).
- Only 21 of the 53 players on the roster (39.6 percent) were selected in the first three rounds of the draft, with 18 being drafted by the Packers.
GREEN BAY'S ROSTER ...
BY AGE (as of Oct. 15)
- 21-24: 25 players
- 25-28: 19 players
- 29-32: 5 players
- 33-plus: 4 players
BY EXPERIENCE
- R-1: 13 players
- 2-3: 16 players
- 4-5: 9 players
- 6-9: 9 players
- 10-plus: 6 players
BY DRAFT ROUND
- 1st: 7 players
- 2nd/3rd: 14 players
- 4th/5th: 14 players
- 6th/7th: 6 players
- Undrafted: 12 players
THE DOPE ON THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT:
- Packers vs. Minnesota
- All-time, Regular season: 59-50-2
- All-time, Postseason:1-1
- All-time, in Minnesota: 28-27
- Streaks: The Packers are 11-3-1 in their last 15 meetings with the Vikings.
- Last meeting, regular season:Dec. 24, 2016, Lambeau Field, Packers won, 38-25
COACHES CAPSULES
- Mike McCarthy: 128-70-1, .646 (incl. 10-8 postseason); 11th NFL season
- Mike Zimmer: 29-25-0, .537 (incl. 0-1 postseason); 4th NFL season
- Head to Head: McCarthy 4-2
- vs. Opponent: McCarthy 16-6-1 vs. Vikings; Zimmer 2-4 vs. Packers
MIKE McCARTHY…Is in his 12th year as the Packers' 14th head coach.
- Led the Packers to their eighth consecutive playoff appearance last season, tied for the third-longest streak in NFL history. Has also led the team to nine playoff appearances in the last 10 years (2007, 2009-16).
- Ranks second in franchise history in total victories, trailing only Curly Lambeau.
- Guided the Packers to top-10 finishes in scoring in eight straight seasons (2007-14), joining the Patriots as the only other team to accomplish the feat over that time; Packers finished first overall in scoring in 2014.
- Reached the 100-win plateau faster than any active NFL head coach, needing just 155 games.
- Joined Vince Lombardi and Mike Holmgren as the only coaches to guide the Packers to a Super Bowl title with a win over Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XLV.
MIKE ZIMMER…Is in his fourth year as the Vikings' 10th head coach.
- The Vikings defense ranked No. 3 in the NFL in 2016, producing four Pro Bowlers.
- Part of a coaching staff that acquired QB Sam Bradford late in the 2016 preseason, guiding Bradford to a 71.6 completion percentage, which set an NFL record.
- In 2015, led Minnesota to its third NFC North title and first since 2009.
- Coached DE Everson Griffen to 22.5 sacks from 2014-15, the sixth-best mark in the NFL over that span.
- Was the defensive coordinator in Dallas (2000-06), Atlanta (2007) and Cincinnati (2008-13) before being hired as Minnesota's head coach.
THE PACKERS-VIKINGS SERIES
- The Packers began the series with six straight wins before Minnesota rattled off 22 victories in 32 contests from 1964-79.
- Green Bay began a run of its own in 1979 that saw 16 wins over 21 games and lasted until 1990.
- Since 2000, the Packers are 23-12-1 (.653) versus the Vikings.
- Over two Wild Card playoff contests, Green Bay and Minnesota have each scored 41 total points and won a game by 14 points.
NOTABLE CONNECTIONS
Packers offensive perimeter coach David Raih grew up in Edina, Minn. ...Green Bay defensive coordinator Dom Capers coached with Minnesota defensive coordinator George Edwards in Miami for two seasons (2006-07)...Packers S Marwin Evans spent his freshman season at Rochester CC in Rochester, Minn. …Packers quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt was a colleague of Vikings defensive backs coach Jerry Gray in Buffalo...Green Bay defensive line coach Mike Trgovac coached with Minnesota offensive line coach Tony Sparano in Washington during the 2001 season...Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer was Atlanta's defensive coordinator in 2007 when Packers secondary-cornerbacks coach Joe Whitt Jr. was the Falcons' assistant defensive backs coach...Whitt Jr. coached with Minnesota assistant defensive backs/quality control coach Jonathan Gannon in Atlanta in 2007 and at Louisville from 2003-06...Green Bay tight ends coach Brian Angelichio coached with Vikings assistant offensive line coach Andrew Janocko for one season at Rutgers (2011) and two in Tampa Bay (2012-13)...Green Bay running backs coach Ben Sirmans and Minnesota assistant wide receivers coach Drew Petzing coached together at Boston College from 2010-11…Additionally, Vikings P Ryan Quigley was at Boston College during Sirmans' time…Sirmans would go on to coach running backs for the Rams while Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur held the same title in St. Louis…Packers TE Lance Kendricks' first career touchdown reception came from Vikings QB Sam Bradford, as the pair were teammates with the Rams for three seasons…Bradford played in St. Louis while Sirmans was with the Rams…Kendricks would also play with Vikings QB Case Keenum for two seasons in St. Louis and Los Angeles...Packers LB Ahmad Brooks and DTs Quinton Dial and Ricky Jean Francois were teammates of Vikings TE Blake Bell and CB Tramaine Brock with the 49ers…Brooks and Dial also teamed with Vikings LS Kevin McDermott in San Francisco…Minnesota OL Joe Berger and Green Bay TE Martellus Bennett were teammates in Dallas during Bennett's rookie season in 2008…Vikings CB Terence Newman and Bennett played for the Cowboys for four seasons from 2008-11…Bennett would go on to play with Vikings DT Linval Joseph with the Giants in 2012…Vikings WR Michael Floyd and Bennett were teammates with the Patriots for part of the 2016 season...Vikings K Kai Forbath and Packers G Jahri Evans teamed with the Saints in 2015…Evans also played with Minnesota DT Tom Johnson for three seasons in New Orleans…Packers LB Clay Matthews played at Southern California with Minnesota DE Everson Griffen for two years (2007-08)...Additionally, Griffen (2009) was Southern California teammates with Packers LB Nick Perry...Perry played for the Trojans while Vikings RBs coach Kennedy Polamalu was Southern California's offensive coordinator…Polamalu went on to be the offensive coordinator at UCLA during Packers DT Kenny Clark and QB Brett Hundley's time with the Bruins…Forbath played at UCLA while Raih was an intern with the Bruins…McDermott was Bruins teammates with Hundley in 2012...Vikings T Riley Reiff played for Iowa while Raih was a graduate assistant for the Hawkeyes…Other notable college teammates include: Packers T Bryan Bulaga, DT Mike Daniels and Reiff (Iowa)...Bell and Packers FB Aaron Ripkowski (Oklahoma)…Packers G Justin McCray and Vikings RB Latavius Murray (Central Florida)…Packers P Justin Vogel, Vikings WR Stacey Coley and G Danny Isidora (Miami)…Vikings C Pat Elflein and Packers C Corey Linsley (Ohio State)…Green Bay LB Jake Ryan and Minnesota LB Ben Gedeon (Michigan)…Vikings CB Trae Waynes and Packers LS Taybor Pepper (Michigan State)...Clark, Hundley and Vikings LBs Anthony Barr and Eric Kendricks (UCLA).
