Sid Hartman: Vikings have had big road wins over Pack

Well, the big buildup continues on the Vikings' visit to Green Bay this weekend, with the return of Brett Favre to Lambeau Field.

At 6-1, the Vikings can put themselves in a great position to win the NFC North Division if they win this game.

The Vikings are 0-3 at Green Bay under Brad Childress; their last victory there was in November 2005 with Mike Tice as coach and Brad Johnson as quarterback. They also won at Lambeau Field in January 2005, when they beat Favre and the Packers in the teams' only playoff meeting ever.

Looking back, there have been some other big road victories over the Packers that helped put the Vikings on the map early in their existence.

There was the 1967 game played at County Stadium in Milwaukee. It was Bud Grant's first year as Vikings coach, and his team was 0-4 going into that game against the great Vince Lombardi.

The Vikings scored one of the biggest upsets of the year when they beat the Packers 10-7. They beat a Packers team that went on to win the NFL and then beat the AFL champion Oakland Raiders in what is now known as Super Bowl II.

Grant recalled that game Thursday, saying nobody gave his team a chance to win.

"Joe Kapp was our quarterback," Grant said. "I told Kapp that the only way we could win this game was by not passing the ball and running it. I didn't allow Kapp to throw a pass until late in the fourth quarter."

The Vikings rushed 45 times for 158 yards compared with 26 carries for 42 yards by the Packers. Dave Osborn rushed 19 times for 79 yards and Bill Brown 24 for 72, including a fourth-quarter touchdown that tied the score before Fred Cox won it on a 12-yard field goal with 8 seconds left, a victory the Associated Press at the time called "the biggest upset of the young National Football League season."

The Vikings finished 3-8-3 that year, but Grant wouldn't have another losing season until 1979. He also won his first three road games against the Packers -- but all three were in Milwaukee. Grant didn't visit Lambeau Field until 1971, his fifth year as Vikings coach.

Jerry Burns was a member of the Packers coaching staff for two years under Lombardi -- 1966 and '67, when Green Bay won the first two Super Bowls. When Lombardi retired, Burns joined the Vikings staff as offensive coordinator and later head coach.

Burns said he believes that from the Packers' standpoint, the Bears are a bigger rival than the Vikings. But from a Vikings standpoint, the Packers are their biggest rival.

Burns still attends most Vikings home games and also visits practice at times. He said Sunday's game will be a tough one for the Vikings to win.

"It's an outdoor game. I don't know what the weather conditions will be, and they are a little more familiar with playing on [grass] than the Vikings are," Burns said. "They're a little more used to it than a domed team is. It will be a very tough game."

The Packers had their bye week after losing at the Metrodome on Oct. 5, and they since have beaten Detroit and Cleveland, two horrible teams the Vikings already have beaten. Meanwhile, after beating Green Bay at home, the Vikings followed with another comfortable victory at St. Louis before surviving a tough game against Baltimore and then losing Sunday at Pittsburgh.

Burns said he believes the Vikings will be in good shape if they can win at Green Bay, putting them at 2-1 in their stretch against tough competition and a 7-1 record going into the bye week.

If the Vikings are to win Sunday, they certainly can't allow Aaron Rodgers to pass for 384 yards and two touchdowns like he did in the first meeting, when the Vikings won 30-23. One thing in their favor is that Green Bay tight end Jermichael Finley, who caught six passes for 128 yards at the Metrodome, is not expected to play because of a knee injury.

There are 28 seniors on the Gophers football team, including nine of the 11 starters on defense.

This group probably worked harder during the offseason than any recent team, with the seniors providing great leadership in the hope that this would be the year they would go to one of the Big Ten's top bowl games.

The Gophers are 4-4 after being outscored 58-7 in their past two games, 20-0 at Penn State and 38-7 at Ohio State.

But defensive tackle Eric Small, one of the senior leaders, said the team's attitude is good despite their recent stretch of three losses in four games, as well as the loss of star receiver Eric Decker for the rest of the season.

"Why wouldn't it be positive?" Small said. "We always expect to win. ... We're not going to be down on ourselves. We have a three-game home stretch, starting with Michigan State. We always can play better."

Asked if he was disappointed with the team's record, Small said: "We would like to win every game and that's what we expect," he said. "Did we think we were going to be 4-4, probably not. We still have four more games."

Yes, the Gophers have three home games in a row. If they can beat Michigan State, they have a good chance to be 7-5 and get invited to a decent bowl. But beating the Spartans without Decker will be tough.

Vikings special teams coach Brian Murphy was asked if rookie Percy Harvin was fearless that way he attacks his kick returns. "No question," Murphy said. "That goes a little beyond coaching that a guy is going to pound that thing up in there. This is Percy's makeup. He is going to get that ball and go downhill and deliver a blow."

Fred Zamberletti, the former Vikings trainer and now a consultant and historian who was around for his 1,000th game Sunday, said he has seen every Packers game that Favre started against the Vikings, and that Favre is playing as well as ever has.

Cretin-Derham Hall football star Seantrel Henderson has visited Notre Dame and Ohio State, and the 6-8 offensive lineman is slated to look at Southern California on Nov. 27. USC coach Pete Carroll is coming to the Twin Cities in the near future to visit both Henderson and Eden Prairie tight end Taylor Grant in their homes.

Timberwolves rookie guard Jonny Flynn, a big star in Wednesday's 95-93 victory over New Jersey to open the season and the David Kahn regime, said: "One thing [coach] Kurt Rambis told us was to remember who we are. What he means by that is that we are not the biggest team or the strongest team, but we are a scrappy team. I think in the fourth quarter, we got after it, being hectic, and got into a frantic style of play, which favored us."

Sid Hartman can be heard weekdays on WCCO AM-830 at 6:40, 7:40 and 8:40 a.m. • shartman@startribune.com