The Minnesota Vikings visit Lambeau Field tonight to play the Green Bay Packers tonight. It will the 108th meeting of the longtime division rivals. The Packers lead the series 56-49-2. The first meeting was on October 22, 1961. The soon-to-be NFL Champion Packers thumped the expansion Vikings 33-7. For some reason, the schedule makers had the two teams play again the very next week. The Vikings did a little better this time. They lost 28-10. The Vikings lost the first six games of the series. They finally defeated the Packers on October 4, 1964. Fifty years ago tomorrow. The Vince Lombardi-led Packers (1961-67) had an 11-3 record against the Vikings. All three of the Vikings wins came at Green Bay. The Vikings and Packers split their four games during the Packers Super Bowl years of 1966-67. After that the Vikings took over the rivalry.
Bud Grant coached the Vikings from 1967-83 and returned for one season in 1985. His record against the Packers was 22-12-1. From 1968-78, the Vikings were 18-3-1 against the Packers. The Vikings won seven straight from 1975-78. This is the longest win streak of the series. The Packers longest streak was the six-game streak that Lombardi rattled off to start the series. The Packers controlled the 1960s. The Vikings took the 1970s. The Packers most definitely took the 1980s with a 14-5 record. This is a bit of a surprise as neither team had especially strong teams until the Vikings gained some traction at the end of the decade. Even those teams only managed a 3-5 record against the Packers from 1986-89.
The Packers won a Super Bowl in 1996. Lost one a year later. The Vikings postseason experiences in the 1990s weren't much more than one and done. That changed in 1998 when the Vikings were a missed field goal from a Super Bowl appearance. Despite the Packers Super Bowl win and loss and contending consistently, the Vikings took the 1990s with a 12-8 record. They just seemed to find a way around Green Bay.
Since 2000, the Packers have mostly had their way with the Vikings. 19-10-1. 7-1-1 since 2010. The Vikings haven't won in Green Bay since Brett Favre ceremoniously led them to victory in 2009. That was a grand time.
The Vikings and Packers have played two postseason games. Both were played in Green Bay. The Vikings won the first one on January 9, 2005, 31-17. That was a terrific game. The Packers won the second on January 5, 2013, 24-10. That was not a terrific game. That was a game that could have been more like 54-10. It actually felt like it was.
This has been a great, back-and-forth rivalry. Before the Packers recent run of dominance since 2010, this series has been incredibly even. 49-48-1 Packers, from 1961-2009.
If just feels like the Vikings are about to start another run of their own.
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