The Vikings' first of two Monday night games is fast approaching. No matter which two teams are facing off, these Monday night games are a different animal altogether. It's the only game on, and every NFL player will tune in to see how the competition performs.

Key players like Adrian Peterson, Brett Favre, Percy Harvin, Donald Driver, Aaron Rogers, Ryan Grant, etc., will be on the field and be under the Monday night microscope. It's a display of one's playing ability to the rest of the league, not to mention the fans. The majority of Monday night games are either tough-fought battles or a complete blowouts.

Until now, the Vikings have only played early Sunday games this season. Players' minds and bodies will need to adapt to the fact that kickoff is more than 30 hours later this week. From experience, I can say that a growing intensity begins to build on Sunday as you wait for the late kickoff. Let's hope the additional excitement and anticipation leads to some great plays and another number in our win column!

This is a division game and it's critical! The Vikings have faced Detroit and now have Green Bay on Monday. With both teams having won a division game, it's imperative the Vikings come out on top. In my opinion, and I may be proven wrong, whoever wins on Monday night will have the edge to win the division, with two division victories under their belt.

Facing off against Green Bay is a Battle of the Border. It's always been a tradition and bragging rights between Viking fans and Cheeseheads. When we played at the old Met Stadium, there wasn't as much green and yellow in the stands as there is today. It will be interesting to see how many Packer fans occupy the seats of the Metrodome. That could be a huge factor; there will be a lot of energy on Monday night for sure. If it's not completely one-sided, it will surely be a great demonstration of what football is all about.

Packer QB Aaron Rogers is seventh in the NFL in passing and Brett Favre is eighth. The offenses are about equal.

However, Rogers hasn't thrown a single interception this season. The Packer defense has seven interceptions to our four. They also have more sacks than we do. Simply from a statistical standpoint, the Packers have an edge. And they have one more blatantly obvious edge: They know Favre and his game, having had him at the helm for 16 seasons.
Our defense needs to be flawless, with the entire team performing at its best. The world will be watching, and we need to come out smoking on defense, getting sacks and interceptions and helping to turn the ball over to the offense.

Statistically, the Vikings defense has the edge. However, it won't take much for the Packers to be fired up but Vikings fans will be ruthless. The Packers are coming to prove to Favre he should have stayed retired. It will definitely be a hard-fought battle.

Here's a funny story from my rookie season.

My first Monday night game as a rookie was against the St. Louis Cardinals. To me, the game felt like a mini Super Bowl. That's the best way to describe my feelings going into the game. Just prior to the half, I made some mistakes. One of my mistakes was that I let Jackie Smith, the Hall of Famer, catch a few inside passes, and I made a few mistakes inside the red zone as well. I was taken out with less than a minute to go and replaced by Roy Winston. I thought I had lost my starting job. Going into halftime we were losing 17-14.

During halftime, we came together and went over what we needed to do to control and stop their passing game. Bud Grant said to us just before heading out for the second half, "Those that started the game go back out and start the same way." I was one excited rookie, knowing I was able to get another chance at rectifying my first-half mistakes. We ended up winning the game 28-24. At the end of the game a reporter asked Bud, "What did Matt Blair bring to the game?" Bud said, "Lack of experience."