- The Green Bay Packers return to Lambeau Field for the final home game of the season, hosting the Minnesota Vikings in primetime on Saturday.
- It is the first time Green Bay has played a Saturday game in back-to-back seasons since 1994-95.
- It will be the fourth time the Packers and Vikings have played on a Saturday during the regular season (1973, 1991, 2016).
- The Packers have won their last five regular-season games played on Saturdays, including a 38-25 win over the Vikings last year.
- Green Bay is 17-12 in regular-season Saturday games since 1925.
- Including playoffs, Green Bay has a 9-2-1 mark (.792) against the Vikings at Lambeau Field under Head Coach Mike McCarthy and a 16-7-1 (.688) record overall.
- The Packers have scored 23-plus points in 10 of the last 11 home games versus Minnesota.
- It is the fifth straight season that teams have met in a prime-time game.
- Of the past 30 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.
- Through 114 meetings, which includes two postseason contests (1-1), the Packers hold a 60-52-2 edge over the Vikings in the all-time series.
- The Packers are 11-4-1 in the last 16 games between the teams during the regular and postseason.
- Next week, Green Bay will finish the regular season in Detroit for the second consecutive year, marking the first time it has finished the regular season on the road against the same team in back-to-back seasons since 1991-92 (Minnesota). Last year, the Packers beat the Lions, 31-24.
WITH THE CALL
- NBC will broadcast the game to a national audience. Play-by-play man Al Michaels joins analyst Cris Collinsworth in the booth with Michele Tafoya reporting from the sidelines.
- 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.
- Westwood One Sports will air the game on radio across the country. Brandon Gaudin (play-by-play) and Ross Tucker (analyst) will call the action, with Hub Arkush reporting from the sidelines and Jason Horowitz hosting the pregame and halftime shows.
- The broadcast is also available on Sirius Satellite Radio (WTMJ feed).
BREAKING DOWN THE ROSTER
- The Packers currently have a 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, 33 of them (62.3 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 15 players on the roster that began their careers as undrafted free agents, with 10 of those originally signed by Green Bay.
- Over a third (39.6 percent) of the players (21 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 the five players were draft picks of the Packers (K Mason Crosby, WR Jordy Nelson and LB Clay Matthews, QB Aaron Rodgers) and three have made at least one Pro Bowl.
- Of the 53 players on the roster, 43 began their pro careers with the Packers (81.1 percent).
- Only 17 of the 53 players on the roster (32.1 percent) were selected in the first three rounds of the draft, with 14 being drafted by the Packers.
GREEN BAY'S ROSTER ...
BY AGE (as of Dec. 23)
- 21-24: 22 players
- 25-28: 23 players
- 29-32: 3 players
- 33-plus: 5 players
BY EXPERIENCE
- R-1: 15 players
- 2-3: 15 players
- 4-5: 10 players
- 6-9: 7 players
- 10-plus: 6 players
BY DRAFT ROUND
- 1st: 6 players
- 2nd/3rd: 11 players
- 4th/5th: 15 players
- 6th/7th: 6 players
- Undrafted: 17 players
THE DOPE ON THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT:
- Packers vs. Vikings
- All-time, Regular season: 59-51-2
- All-time, Postseason: 1-1
- All-time, in Lambeau Field:23-18-2
- Streaks: The Packers are 10-3-2 in their last 15 meetings with the Vikings.
- Last meeting, regular season:Oct. 15, 2017, U.S. Bank Stadium, Vikings won, 23-10
COACHES CAPSULES
- Mike McCarthy: 131-76-1, .632 (incl. 10-8 postseason); 12th NFL season
- Mike Zimmer: 37-26-0, .587 (incl. 0-1 postseason); 4th NFL season
- Head to Head:McCarthy 4-3
- vs. Opponent:McCarthy 16-7-1 vs. Vikings; Zimmer 3-4 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.
- With their win in Week 15, Zimmer has led the Vikings to their fourth NFC North title and second since 2009.
- Coached DE Everson Griffen to 22.5 sacks from 2014-15, the sixthbest 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 23-13-1 (.635) 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 played with Vikings QB Case Keenum for two seasons in St. Louis and Los Angeles...Packers LB Ahmad Brooks and DT Quinton Dial were teammates of Vikings CB Tramaine Brock with the 49ers… Brooks and Dial also teamed with Vikings LS Kevin McDermott in San Francisco…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 DT Mike Daniels and Reiff (Iowa), 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) and Clark, Hundley and Vikings LBs Anthony Barr and Eric Kendricks (UCLA).
