As the week ESPN, NFL Network and other media types has waited for ever since the 2008 off season comes, the Packers and Vikings both has questions that need to be answered.

This week will be billed as Brett Favre vs the Packers (and GM Ted Thompson), but it is more then that. 1st place is on the line in the NFC North and for the Packers inparticular, a 2 game lead over the Vikings and Bears is on the line.

Both teams come into the game with winning records, 3-0 (Vikings) and 2-1 (Packers) but got there in very different ways.

The Packers beat the Bears and their lone loss came to the Bengals, who lost a heart breaker to the Broncos in week 1 (and beat the defending Steeelers in week 3), and had a rash of injuries to the offensive line. They bounced back with a solid performance against the Rams (a game they should have won in convincing fashion).

The Vikings on the other hand just got a tough, wild, last second win against a tough 49ers team. But the 49ers were undermanned (with Frank Gore hurt on the 1st play of the game) and are less talented then the Vikings.

Both teams have MAJOR issues on the offensive line. The Vikings offensive line has not done a good job pass blocking for "Lord Favre". He has been on his back more then he (or any other Vikings fan or coach) would like to be. Adrian Peterson is so good that he makes up for some poor blocking because of his ability, but to say they have under achived so far would be correct.

The Packers line hasn't been much better towards Aaron Rodgers. He has been picking himself up way to much and with Chad Clifton out, good be in for a long day vs Jered Allen. The Packers also need to do a better job of run blocking for Ryan Grant. His 3.8 avg is not going to get the job done against the NFL's best run defense (the past 3 seasons).

The keys to the game (for both teams) come down to these few things:

1. Can Minnesota protect Favre?

2. Can the Vikings WR's make plays vs the Packers secondary?

3. Favre seems to try to hard against certain teams (remember the Dallas games Packers fans?) and this will be one of those games. He will force some balls and the Packers ball hawking secondary will have more then a few shots to pick him off, can they do it?

4. Can the Packers get enough pressure/knock downs on Favre for him to start "forcing" bad throws?

5. Can the Packers block long enough for Rodgers to exploit a Viking secondary?

6. Jermichael Finley has to show up. He is a miss match against the Vikings slower LB's.

7. A.D. Peterson will have to not only gain the yardage, but also put the ball in the end zone. Can the Packers stop him?

8. Percy Harvin will be the Vikings version Finley (except on CB's).

9. Dom Capers vs Brad Childress and Mike McCarthy vs Leslie Frazier.

10. Who will win the T.O.P.?

I really hope McCarthy has some "special" plays up his sleeve or Rodgers and Grant are in for a rough day.

Those play-action, QB roll-outs were a start. And the FB run with the fake to Grant was a very nice surprise.

Here's another question though...

Which Crosby will show up Monday night? 2007 or 2008 Crosby?

If Packers can make this a game, we might end up having to rely on Crosby near the end. Boy, that's a scary thought. And to think that I almost bought his jersey after the 2007 season (that's how much I liked him). And now I'm wondering if he deserves a spot on this team.

There's no question we will have to bring our best effort and then some to win this game. Their strengths seem to play right into our weaknesses. Their strong D-Line vs our Weak O-Line. Their great run game vs our inconsistent run defense. I think as a Packer fans, we have to accept that, as much as we want to, are not going to steam roll these guys. I think there are 3 factors that will prove to have us win or lose this game.

1. Our passing game has to be clicking. Ryan Grant has not instilled a ton of confidence in Packerbackers since his late season heroics of 07'. He is an average runningback, and against this run D, he is less than that. If we want to put points on the board, we need to get significant gains from Grant to represent some kind of ground threat. From there, we need to get the ball in our playmakers' hands. A-Rod, Jennings, and Driver. It will take a team effort on Offense to get points on the board, but these guys need to show up. Dropped passes need to be reduced and big plays need to be made with their legs, not with Aaron's arm. He needs to be given time, but on the same note, needs to either get the ball out quick, or continue to make plays with his legs. This D-Line will be the best we have played yet. The Offensive line has to be ready.

2. Get the Vikings's offense one dimensional. Peterson is an elite back in the league. He is by far their most concerning weapon on Offense. Gameplan to stop him first and foremost. He will break a couple runs. I am not expecting us to shut him down completely, he is a fantastic player and is bound to make some plays. That being said, he cannot make consistent 7-10 yard runs or else we will be in serious trouble. Of all players in this league, we know Brent best. MM and DC need to play that into our advantage. Put the ball in Favre's hand, and put their offense on his shoulders.

3. Special Teams needs to be our best players out there. We need to win the battle of field position, we need to be successful on field goal attempts to keep momentum flowing, and we need to punt the ball effectively. Our ST needs to give us the best opportunity to win.

There is going to be a lot of added emotion from both teams but especially on our end. This is not A-Rod vs Favre. We need to go into this game pissed off and wanting to beat the hell out of our rivals. It's not just for a W, it's for respect. Our mental lapses will be duly paid for this week. No more hiding boys. Nut up, or shut up!

All of this said, I have every bit of confidence in our men. They have not played to their full potential, but I think a challenge like this is exactly what is going to motivate them to fix their mistakes and give it every thing they've got. Packer pride!

Will McCarthy GET Finley involved..... That's the question.

And which Kapinos will show up? The 50 yard average or the 35 yard average. We need solid special teams considering Harvin took one to the house this week.

It's easy to say let's get Finley involved, but when the playcalling and play itself isn't very good at times, it's hard to get the TE's involved. Finley was a mismatch vs the Rams LB's as well, so I don't see him doing any better vs Min.

Well you know McCarthy will watch the tape on how Wells beat Chillar twice. I would think that little reminder of how that mismatch can be exploited might rekindle some TE passes.

Our defense needs to be the difference. If Minny runs well it will be a long day. MM is going to use max protect a lot in this game which doesn't bode well for our offense. Wells has never fared well against the Vikes and it will be worse without decent tackles this year. I don't like the matchups except Cullen Jenkins against McKinnie and Woodson against anyone. I would like to say we had a huge advantage in coaching because they have childress but I don't see MM as a major upgrade anymore. I just hope AR survives. Unfortunately, I see Vikes winning this one 27-20.

Just to add my two cents.... for what its worth....

I dont believe any of us thought that we would be almost seemingly stuck in neutral in the offense. I for one thought coming back this year that the O was our strength.... JMO...

However with this in mind... Lets look at the the 3 Games we played... Chicago..the team came out and played..The O was staginant at best, but got the job done when it counted. The D looked impressive at times and made Cutler look real bad in the first half...

Against the Bengals once again the O looks lost.. The D played pretty good ball with the exception of the Run. Call it overlooking the bengals and D line rotation...

The Rams ..the O left 12 points on the field those first 3 field goals should have been 7 each...But in this game the second half did look better... albeit not by a whole lot , but looked more in sync.. Say what you will on the runs by Grant in the 4'th, but usually the D trys to stop this ball control to give themselves a shot...about time Grant ran with some purpose...

With all this in mind. I did read the other day or heard , can't recall that in each of the 3 game the D played pretty much close to the vest on all 3 games with a one Scheme lined up for most part of the Game... 3 different schemes for 3 games... mmmmm ..Makes me Think a little...Get to that in a minute..<BR><BR>With the O in 3 games... Barely any slants, really nothing to do much with the TE. and Some basic Playcalling and really going deep a lot... not Typical playcalling by MM..I mean wheres the quick hits..Makes me think a little more...

What if the Coaches did not feel like really opening up , knowing this game this coming Monday night is something that will really count more in the division.. Knowing that Lord Favre is there and basically knows MM playbook inside and out....Thankful the D has changed....

So if they have that mindset ( I Hope ) call it gut feeling.. As I would not want to give our Rivals too much to see on film and anything else.. Now Capers can call out any package now that the D has had 3 games and Pre-Season and OTA to now be able to dial up any of those packages at any given time during this game..Not staying in One scheme....

And If Correct...Maybe now we see the O Playbook open up somewhat to what they may have been holding onto as to not reveal to much in these first 3 games...Just a thought..and Hoping I am correct.....

Dont mean to be long winded...But I have yet to see the whole A game played by the TEAM in the first 3 games....

On the other side..The Vikings....Had Issues with Detroit , Celeveland.. and SF took them to the wire with the starting RB out for the Whole Game... ( Just a Thought , Grant going down on the first play of anygame does not give me warm and fuzzies...) even though I think Grant needs to turn it on and cut back some more as I did see yesterday and other games that a lane was there but he was to slow to get to it...on the cutback..or take it outside...

GB advantage of 16 years of knowing who we are facing.. What they have over there and how he thinks and what he adjusts to dependent on the D. A little inside knowledge we have...So Stop AD ,,, Let Lord Favre get it in the air and rely on our knowledge of his tendancies to help us...and watching some of those games there has been defeinetly some shots at some picks, we have all seen them, and so has our D in all the years of practice...

Why do I think this way..Well as my gut tells me, we have to Play the Queens in the Metrodome.. where we know it will be wild and crazy... We will not have HFA ...So maybe we need to have that extra advantage.. just my opinion, and I know I may be stretching some here...But this could be the thought process from the start, with the exception of the O coming out flat for the most part and the whole team coming out flat against the Bengals...

With the understanding of this thought process why would you open everything up in your arsenal to allow your rivalry to have it all on tape.. If I am correct , this is where we will see it. then yes they will have it on tape... for this game...But then we have a bye , Detroit and Cleveland.. so not another game before we meet again that we should not have to open up everything for those weeks, and Maybe by then add a few suprises...as Well as HFA for this game on Nov 1'st....

JMO....

Remember last year when Grant ran for good yardage on the Vikings? They'll use the same plan. To stretch the field and run where the Williams brothers have to chase all day.And I expect Rodgers to roll out often, away from them and Allen, so do the Vikings I'm sure.Make them chase and chase. You may not be able to run much up the middle but I still think Grant will get plenty of work trying to wear these guys down.

Trust me I have asked myself that question but..... Seems like we were pretty wide open in preseason so there is tape out there. And if your a def player and steamrolling through the preseason then the coaches put the brakes on these first three games I would think some player would have "tweeted" about it.

An interesting comment made yesterday and attributed to Capers was that with the bye week coming we'll have some time to get the def adjusted to a few new wrinkles on def and open it up a little. I am paraphrasing but you get the idea...... If your correct then that may have been a calculated comment intended for Minny to hear. Seems like a longshot to me.

I dont expect much more than what we have seen the first three games except that we better execute it better.... Wrap up on AP or it will be AD - All Day.

I watched the Vikings/Niners game on my iPhone while I was watching the Packers game (welcome to the 21st century) and frankly apart from that one terrific vintage Favre play at the end of the game, I didn't think the Vikings played very well. They were playing a Niners team without its #1 RB and a rather pedestrian QB and still almost dropped the game.

Living where I do, I've seen a lot of both teams, and the Packers are quite a bit better than the Niners.

Also: Is the officiating generally worse this year or is it just me?

The Vikings game was the most poorly-officiated game I've seen in years. There were two extremely poor calls that kept the Vikings drive alive for a field goal -- one was for a late hit where the rusher was already in contact with Favre when he had the ball (!) and the other a personal foul for taunting that really wasn't taunting. Game-changers suck.

Lambeau, yes but there will be very little on tape... I am just stating that I think by Gut feeling , that why let them have everything you can do on tape.. I do feel in my gut that there has been some intentionally holding back....On the O and the D... I think playing 3 different schemes in 3 games , was maybe done so the D can get the Scheme down pat...then they can mix it up somehwat...not come into a game with 1 scheme...but rather be able to play mutiple schemes based upon what they game plan for... Just a thought...But it could make sense...and on the O ,,,why open up everything you have in the first 3 weeks... It is all about strategy against your opponent... and I do believe everyon in that Locker Room and Management want this game.. how it turns out ..well that ball bounces funny... we shall see , But I am hoping I am right...

I cannot see in todays NFL with all of the parity that coaches would hold anything back and wait till week 4. This is not like college football that you can hold some packages back when you are playing Wofford or some 1-AA team and getting ready for conference play. In the NFL it begins on week 1. I can see holding back in preseason but not reg season. Why not open up the offensive playbook in week 1?

Yeah, a couple years ago they pitched the ball out to Grant while he was already running sideways. That kept him away from the teeth of that D and let him get some yards to the outside.

Problem now is that Jared Allen is much better than what they had then and Greenway adds a lot at LB. In theory our tackles right now are way more athletic than Clifton and Tauscher and it should work to their advantage to get out in space and throw some cut blocks. We've yet to really see them do this but again, Tauscher was never a really good run blocker and Clifton was always a lazy run blocker.

Facing a superior DL likes the Vikings they're going to need to use a lot of movement. Move the pocket left and right, use pitch outs and get our guys in space. Use the shotgun and get the ball out quick. Rodgers can go deep while he's on the run but I don't want to see him taking 7 step drops and trying to sit in a pocket that's going to implode in 2.5 seconds.

Well Pack, Time will tell, I understand your premise, but Division Games are more important, mine is nothing more then a premise as yours is... I for one would not open everything up in my playbook in Week-1 ....I would continue on what works for that Game and move on, if I can keep a few Aces up my sleave or a few wrinkles to my D or O ..I do it...

People have said that Capers has like 100 different plays in his playbook. I think you can see how creative he is, ranging from the 1-5-5 to the "big okie" or whatever they called it yesterday. I'm sure he will have new twists for Monday in order to stop Peterson. I don't think he's been holding back, I think he adjusts each week to counter the strengths of the opponent.

I can only hope that McCarthy has been holding back on offense. Unfortunately, I think its been more just bad play. But our offense, and their defense are very much the same from last year, so McCarthy should be able to scheme for them. The Viking defense is good, but it hasn't been great this year, and McCarthy has had some success agianst it in the past. Hopefully he will quit using finley in the backfield and put him out as a reciever, as well as bring back the two tight end set that was so effective in the preseason.

No coach in the NFL holds back any play calling for three games (unless they are heavy favorites and can afford to). Injuries can derail a defense in one play and then everything you've been holding back would be for nothing. Could you imagine Charles Woodson being told "we're not going to run these plays against the Bengals so we can save them for the Vikiings?" and then the Packers lose? Division games may be more important than non-division games, BUT ONLY IF THE TEAMS ARE TIED. Being 9-7 and having the better division record doesn't mean a thing if the other team is 10-6 and their only wins in the division were against the Lions. I could see the Giants holding some things back against the Bucs, they'd win that game with their kicker playing QB, but the Packers are not so far above their opponents to afford them that luxury. And in answer to those hoping MM opens up the offense, the Rams managed to triple their sack total for the year against the Packers. The Vikings have a VERY strong pass rush. As much as we might want to see a lot of exotic packages, such moves will only get Rodgers killed (is anyobody crazy enough to envision Jared Allen verse Colledge and think the Packers win?). The Packers will be keeping help in to make sure Flynn isn't finishin the Favre v. Rodgers match.

Did I State that they were holding Back....No I did not... I stated what Pelasrio stated and also what I heard from other reports ..CAPERS kept the same package -scheme against the Bears and then a different scheme-package against the bengals and against the rams.. So we played, get this 3 Games with 3 different packages-schemes.... so What I am Saying is maybe this game the D is not game planned around 1 package or scheme, but maybe mutiple schemes and mutiple packages..as we all saw in the pre-season , that is why we saw so many different looks in the pre-season.....

Does this approach make sense.. You now gave the D a 4 full quarters in each scheme-package...and now they can play each scheme throughout a game not the same for the whole game..... This may be Capers way to get the team to transition to his defense....as I am unsure with the different schemes...and packages why we would have played only one of those packages for each game....( or please someone explain logically, why we played one D Scheme against the Bears, a different one for the Bengals and a different one against the Rams, as stated we did not play mutiple schemes in each game we stayed in the same scheme-package, and ran the d from that package-scheme... And not that the teams were different...I understand that.....) Now hopefully that makes sense....

Do we not think on the O , that after all the years that Favre does not the O approach to the Vikings game plan... I am sure he does and that info is all over the Minnesota Locker Room.. So why would McCarthy show everything he has before this game... Ricky Stated on the Game post this game is about revenge... and Everyone knows it.... I am sure that McCarthy has not opened up everything so he can have some other game planning for this and other games as well.... we have all asked where are the slants ..the quick hitches.. the screens... just asking.... we have not seen hardly any of those types of plays in three games....

and as I Stated this is my premise.... It is based on strategy and also a gut feel....

I agree. Subterfuge is a good way to stall an opponents game planning, and we've already seen it from The Packer coaching staff just this week. Press reports all over stated that Derrick Martin was to be our starting safety. I'm sure The Rams' staff noticed and planned for it. Obviously the big wrinkle was running a 3-5 hybrid with Chillar in the mix in the base defense. Though we struggled against the run, keeping Jackson out of the endzone can be ruled as a win.
So, we have a GB offense that mostly runs inside and throws the deep ball? Doesn't sound right to me. I think they have been doing and showing only what they have to in these games, with the Bengals being the one that got away. I cannot believe GB can't develop screen and slant calls with the current weapons available. The only reason you don't show it is to save it, especially when it would be a remedy to slow the pass rush. McCarthy might be trickier than some suspect.
Has anyone noticed that the GB locker room has been very quiet the last two days? Usually I watch nearly a dozen player locker interviews early in the week. As of today, only the McCarthy press conference, and Darren Colledge locker interview are posted. Colledge also has a weekly online show, kind of making him the defacto player spokeman for the team. I think they are trying to get some homework done, and stay away from the press.

What, no one wants to debate with the site rookie?lol

OK, I digress. Driver was just on ESPN talking about Rodgers, Favre, etc. He refused to get into comparisons and predictions in spite of the ESPN staff goading him into it. He's a class act!

I just watched the Colledge and Spitz show Tuesday Touchback or something like that. They both were dancing around the Favre topic and admitted that the team had been instructed too watch what they say. Then Spitz said "okay i'll say it. I wanna see him get hit in the mouth!". Classic.

I don't think it would be a stretch to think that the packers defenser would like to hit Favre a few times, and they probably will. The Vikings OL is NOT that good in pass protection and he has been on his back more often then I can remember.

But some of these guys and Favre are still friends. They have been in "battle" together for years and just because he is gone and playing for the Vikings doesn't mean they wish ill will on him. Players are their own corperations and they know that, so many look at what he did as a "business deal". It's no different then Jerry Rice to Oakland, Unitas to San Diego, Naimeth to Los Angeles, Montana to K.C., Marcus Allen to K.C. or OJ Simpson to San Francisco.

Maybe he (Favre) did rub some people the wrong way in Green Bay and the organization kept it under wraps, which they would have. I know he didn't warm up to Greg Jennings right away and others too. But I also think they (the defense) will also try to hit him and often. I don't think they wil try to hurt him.

Look, he gave Packers fans 16 years of enjoyment, MVPs', a Super Bowl and memories that we have until the day we die. I dont want him to get hurt, BUT I also don't want to see him to well vs the Packers. I think at some point this season, he will go down, and that will be that for his career.

Hell, the Vikings have to use a DECLINING Favre to try and win while the Packers have one of the NFL's best young QB's (AGAIN) and had Favre during the best years of his career.

OK, a day later and today's 1:20pm press conference and all locker interviews either didn't happen or weren't posted. I say coaches are selectively blocking media opportunity this week. I'll also say that in spite of my own desire to know everything going on, good for them!

Or every thing got pushed back another day with the next game being monday.

Yeah, the extra day creates some room, but a McCarthy press conference that was scheduled online for 1:20pm yesterday never happened, nor did the locker interviews we usually see on the home page no later than Tues. They are saying some interviews and a P.C. will post today. I'm just stating there is less access than usual, and maybe rightly so. Of course, if you turn on ESPN you'll hear rumors and theories every fifteen minutes as the hype machine gets warmed up.