-A VICTORY TODAY would give the Packers an in-season, four-game road winning streak for the first time since 1989, a year in which they won their last four away games - at San Francisco (21-17), at Tampa Bay (17-16), at Chicago (40-28) and at Dallas (20-10).
The Packers own a more recent five-game road winning streak, but one recorded over two seasons (from Dec. 1, 1997 to Sept. 27, 1998).
A victory today would also be an eighth straight win for the Green and Gold, their longest such streak since 1963.
-CLOSING IN: Placekicker Ryan Longwell is nearing a major plateau in Packers individual scoring history. He enters today's game needing only 17 points to become the fourth player in the team's 83-year annals to score 700 points in a career.
The 28-year-old California alumnus, who has scored in every game of his NFL career to date (89 consecutive games) coming into this afternoon's contest), has posted 683 points to date (150 field goals and 233 points after touchdown).
Legendary Don Hutson is the team's all-time scoring leader with 823 points, followed by Chris Jacke with 820 and Paul Hornung with 760.
Longwell, with 87 points in 9 games this season, is on a pace to score a career-high 156 points. His career-best season to date: 131 points in 2000.
-QUARTERBACK BRETT FAVRE, again extending his NFL record for quarterbacks, today makes his 167th consecutive start. It also is the longest active streak in the league at any position.
Favre likewise is playing in his 169th consecutive game, the second-longest consecutive-games played streak in team history, behind only Pro Football Hall of Famer Forrest Gregg (187 games).
-RUNNING BACK AHMAN GREEN needs to gain just 30 rushing yards this afternoon to move past Edgar Bennett (1992-96) into eighth place on the team's lifetime list. He goes into action with 3,324 yards in 40 games (an average of 83.1 yards per game). Bennett closed out his Green Bay career with 3,353 rushing yards.
-GREEN, INCIDENTALLY, has averaged 83.3 yards rushing in four appearances against the Vikings to date, including a 161-yard performance - the second best yardage day of his career - in the Packers' 33-28 victory here in the Metrodome on Dec. 17, 2000.
-ON THE SUBJECT of rushing, Green and rookie Najeh Davenport jointly own the Packers' longest runs from scrimmage of the season. Green broke away on a 43-yard sortie during the Packers' 34-21 victory over the Chicago Bears at Champaign, Ill., Oct. 7, and Davenport matched that excursion during the third quarter of last Sunday's 40-14 win over the Detroit Lions.
-LINEBACKER NATE WAYNE, who has come close each of the past two years, is in a fair way to emerge as the leading tackler on Green Bay's defense at season's end. Wayne is well out front at the moment with 77 stops, including a team-leading 54 unassisted tackles, coming into today's game. Fellow linebacker Hardy Nickerson is runner-up at this point with 63 stops.
Wayne has had four double-digit tackle games to date, including a team-high 16 against Washington Oct. 20. The highly mobile Ole Miss alumnus finished second on Coordinator Ed Donatell's platoon in 2000 with 126 tackles and third last year with 102 after missing four games because of injury.
-WIDE RECEIVER DONALD DRIVER, who made a career-best 11 receptions against the Lions last weekend, already has caught more passes in 9 games than he did during his first three NFL seasons (1999-2001). Driver, who has 46 receptions to date and now is on a pace to catch 81 passes, had a career total of 35 receptions after completing his third season in '01.
-ROOKIE SAFETY MARQUES ANDERSON and veteran safety Darren Sharper own two of the NFC's best averages for interception return yardage among conference leaders with 3 or more "picks." Anderson has averaged 38.0 yards per runback for his three thefts, Sharper 33.5 yards for his 4 larcenies.
-NEXT WEEK: The Packers return to the road for an inter-divisional game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, leaders of the new NFC South Division at Raymond James Stadium next Sunday (Nov. 24). Kickoff is set for 3:15, CST (Wisconsin time).
