vikings/nfl

Antoine Winfield is tired of being avoided by offenses that would much rather challenge the Vikings' more inexperienced cornerbacks. The veteran's solution for the problem? Put him on the opposing team's top receiver.

Winfield said Monday that he plans to ask the Vikings coaching staff to match him up against Green Bay receiver Donald Driver on Sunday. Driver, in his ninth season, was tied for eighth in the NFL with 20 receptions for 265 yards and two touchdowns through Sunday and is Brett Favre's favorite target. The Packers quarterback, of course, is one touchdown pass from breaking Dan Marino's NFL record of 420 TD passes.

While that mark likely will fall Sunday, Winfield wants an opportunity to prevent history from being made in the Metrodome and figures being assigned to Driver might help. It also could help the Vikings from falling to 1-3 and seeing their NFC North rival improve to 4-0.

"I know that's where the ball is going to go," Winfield said, alluding to Driver. "So, of course, the only way I'll be able to make a play is to guard him."

Winfield has one of the Vikings' five interceptions this season, returning it 14 yards for a touchdown in a season-opening victory over Atlanta, but for the most part teams have spent much of their time staying away from the left cornerback. Instead, they have targeted second-year corner Cedric Griffin on the right side and rookie Marcus McCauley, who plays left corner in the nickel defense; in those situations Winfield slides into the slot.

Kansas City scored the winning touchdown in its 13-10 victory over the Vikings on Sunday when rookie receiver Dwayne Bowe outjumped Griffin to catch a 16-yard pass from Damon Huard. Winfield credited Bowe with making a "good play" and said Griffin "played a pretty good game."

But it's clear Winfield wants to be more in the mix, and getting the assignment against top receivers on a weekly basis would be a good start. Asked if he was frustrated that teams are avoiding him, Winfield said: "You can expect that. I have two young guys playing with me. Ced in his second year and Marcus is a rookie. Of course, all the coordinators and head coaches look for matchups. So they're going there right now."

Coach Brad Childress said Monday that "we haven't even gone there yet" when asked about the possibility of having Winfield in his desired role, but the Vikings likely will at least give it consideration.

The team's pass defense tied for last in the NFL in 2006 and was 18th in the league through Sunday. That was an improvement from its No. 25 ranking a week earlier. The progress was made in large part because the Chiefs' passing attack is limited, and Kansas City insisted on trying to run the ball against a Vikings run defense that improved to No. 2 in the NFL.

A week earlier, however, the Lions' Jon Kitna and J.T. O'Sullivan completed 35 of 56 passes for 393 yards and two touchdowns against the Vikings. The pass-happy Packers are sure to provide a repeat.

Lacking any type of a running game -- Green Bay is last in the NFL in rushing and sixth in passing -- Favre and Co. go to the air often. They are sure to attack the Vikings' weakness by spreading them out with a package that features no running back, three receivers (Driver, James Jones and Greg Jennings) and two tight ends (Bubba Franks and Donald Lee).

The Vikings want to avoid what Driver did to them last November at the Metrodome. In the Packers' 23-17 victory, he caught six passes for 191 yards and a touchdown. That was the best single-game yardage total by an NFC receiver in 2006.

The idea of having a cornerback match up against a specific receiver is nothing new. The Packers have done it the past two weeks with Al Harris going against the Giants' Plaxico Burress in Week 2 and against San Diego's Vincent Jackson on Sunday. Because Winfield already plays inside in the nickel defense, lining up in different spots wouldn't pose any issues.

Winfield initially brought up the topic of shadowing Driver on Monday morning near the end of his appearance on KFAN Radio. His message was short but crystal-clear. "If I'm not matched up on Donald Driver one-on-one something is wrong," he said.

Judd Zulgad • jzulgad@startribune.com