In a lot of ways, I feel like the Vikings have been the Packers’ primary rival over the course of my lifetime. While Bears games carry more tradition—and this year’s reprise will likely be heated—games against Minnesota have felt more meaningful in recent decades.

Packer fans have been tortured by an uncoverable Randy Moss, gashed by an untackleable Adrian Peterson and had nightmares haunted by that echoing horn: BAHH-WOOOOOOOOOO!

That isn’t to say that the Packers haven’t gotten their fair share of shots in. Green Bay went on a 10-1-1 stretch from 2010-2015 against the Vikings. However, the Packers are just 1-4-1 against their neighbors since.

As for this year’s vintage of the Vikings, it’s been a strange year, and they’re probably better than their 5-4-1 record indicates. Kirk Cousins hasn’t quite been the savior that he was paid to be, but he’s far outperformed Case Keenum’s season in Denver this year. And while the vaunted defense struggled early, it appears to have stabilized a bit and is 11^th in points per game.

With the exception of that totally baffling blowout loss to the Bills in Week 3, the Vikings have been very predictable against their schedule. Their other three losses have been against the NFC’s elite teams: the Rams, Saints and Bears.

Minnesota still has games at New England, at Seattle and at home against the Bears on its schedule, so a Packers win Sunday would very much leave Green Bay alive in the NFC playoff race. A loss doesn’t technically end the season, but it might as well. Welcome to the November playoffs!

11.5

Minnesota still has a very good defense, and it’s anchored by Danielle Hunter, who is second in the NFL in sacks with 11.5. He’s also tied with Aaron Donald for the league lead in tackles for a loss. The Packers’ offensive line has been very good at protecting Aaron Rodgers this season, and David Bakhtiari is as good as it gets for a left tackle, so this strength-versus-strength matchup should be a fun one to watch.

-34.4%

Zimmer appears to be from the Bill Belichick school of defensive planning, where he specializes in taking away what the opposition does best. According to Football Outsiders, the Vikings are the best in the league at defending No. 1 wide receivers, with a DVOA of -34.4 percent.

Davante Adams will likely see plenty of safety help over the top and some true double coverage. This could make the possible return of Randall Cobb a lifesaver, especially with Jimmy Graham’s productivity up in the air as he deals with a broken thumb.

90.2

This Vikings defense doesn’t give away anything for free. Minnesota is tied for the league lead in tackling rating, according to Pro Football Focus, at 90.2.

Moreover, Minnesota is the NFL’s best at shutting down running backs in the open field, according to Football Outsiders. The Vikings don’t field an invincible defense, but they certainly don’t surrender free yards. The Packers will have to earn everything they get against this unit.

3.62

Minnesota’s offense has been hit-and-miss this year, but the run blocking has been very poor, averaging a league-worst 3.62 adjusted line yards per carry, according to Football Outsiders. The Vikings’ running backs have been tackled at or behind the line of scrimmage on 23 percent of runs, which is a bottom-five rate.

On the other side, however, is the Packers’ equally poor run defense, which stuffs just 13 percent of rushes and now must play without Mike Daniels. As much as this game has some great strength-on-strength matchups, the Vikings’ run game against the Packers’ defense is the stoppable force against the moveable object and could be crucial in the outcome of this game and the Packers’ 2018 season.