Vikings Insider: Packers' familiar personnel in unfamiliar alignment

The 16 seasons Brett Favre spent playing for the Packers left him with an intimate knowledge of the team's defensive personnel. Of the 11 Green Bay defensive players expected to start Monday, 10 were once teammates of Favre's.

But exactly how much of an advantage this will be for the Vikings quarterback is open to debate. While much of the Packers' personnel remains the same, the scheme has been overhauled; veteran coordinator Dom Capers was hired last offseason and brought the 3-4 defense (three down linemen, four linebackers) with him.

"I think the 3-4 in general is challenging just because of the combination of blitzes and how you can play the run as well as the pass equally effective," Favre said. "It can offer you a lot of different looks. ... It offers you some problems in protection."

Monday will mark the third time in four games the Vikings have gone against a 3-4, including last week against San Francisco. What Capers has introduced in Green Bay is an attacking defense that has helped force nine turnovers (seven interceptions), a figure that is tied with New Orleans for the NFL lead.

Veteran cornerback Charles Woodson is tied for the league lead with three interceptions. Cullen Jenkins, who played both inside and outside in the Packers' old 4-3 scheme, has 12 tackles, two forced fumbles and a team-leading two sacks playing the end.

The biggest change has been the move of Aaron Kampman from defensive end to linebacker. Kampman had 37 sacks over the past two seasons -- the third most in the league over that span behind Dallas' DeMarcus Ware (45 1/2) and the Vikings' Jared Allen (37 1/2) -- but he is now the left outside linebacker. Kampman has one sack this season and will still rush the quarterback, but he also drops into coverage.

All of these changes don't mean Favre won't have success against Capers. Favre is 6-0 against teams for which Capers was either head coach or defensive coordinator, including a victory in the 1996 NFC Championship Game before Favre's Super Bowl XXXI victory. In those six games, Favre completed 130 of 212 passes (61.3 percent) for 1,735 yards with 15 touchdowns, seven interceptions and 10 sacks for an overall passer rating of 97.1.

"It's a big challenge. The guy can improvise and make a lot of plays," said Capers, who was the secondary coach for New England last season as the Patriots split the season series against Favre and the New York Jets. "He's always been very good in the pocket, and he certainly has all the arm strength to make all the throws."

Favre, of course, isn't going to be Capers' only concern, and he certainly shouldn't be his primary one. That distinction belongs to Adrian Peterson, who leads the NFL with 357 rushing yards and has run for 452 yards on 72 carries (a 6.3-yard average) in four games against Green Bay. Capers certainly took notes from what San Francisco's 3-4 defense did last week against Peterson by bringing the cornerbacks up and bringing a safety down into the box. Peterson rushed for 85 yards on 19 carries, but 35 yards came on one run.

Capers, who is in his 24th season in the NFL, also has plenty of his own ideas.

In the Packers' 36-17 victory over St. Louis last Sunday, he employed a formation known as the "Big Oakie" about 35 times in an effort to slow Rams running back Stephen Jackson. Brandon Chillar was used as a fifth linebacker and safety Derrick Martin exited. Jackson, a physical back, still rushed for 117 yards on 27 carries. Nonetheless, Vikings coach Brad Childress said he would not be surprised to see the "Big Oakie" look Monday.

"It's something that Dom has done over the course of his career, if you go back and look, he's played with an extra linebacker in there," Childress said. "I don't think there's any doubt that we'll see something like that because Chillar's smart enough and a good enough athlete to be able to play that way."

Will that be enough to stop Peterson?

Jenkins, for one, knows that if the Packers fail to contain the Pro Bowl running back, it really won't matter what they do against Favre. "If we don't stop Peterson, they don't even need Brett," he said. "The type of impact back he is, you really have to make sure -- especially with us in the D-line up front -- he's our No. 1 concern and priority. We've really got to try to take him out of the game, and it's going to start up front."

Judd Zulgad • jzulgad@startribune.com