Are the Packers really all that much better than the Vikings?

One quick way to assess the Packers' and Vikings' seasons is just to look at their records: Green Bay at 8-2 is labeled as very good, and the Vikings at 4-5 are labeled as mediocre-to-bad.

I don't blame you if you want to stop there. The NFL increasingly is a league of which team can make 3-5 big plays, particularly in the fourth quarter or overtime, to win close ones. The Packers have done that; the Vikings haven't, at least not as frequently.

But if you want to dive a little deeper into the numbers, you'll find two teams that are actually a lot more similar than a 3.5-game standings gap might indicate.

Green Bay has had its share of issues, including a recent lack of practice time for QB Aaron Rodgers — something I talked about on Friday's Daily Delivery podcast.

For instance, in Football Outsiders' DVOA rankings, a measure of a team's strength overall and on offense, defense and special teams individually, the Vikings are actually ahead of the Packers this season — checking in at No. 9 in the NFL while Green Bay is No. 12.

The site also does estimated wins, and it says the Vikings and Packers are dead even at 6.4 in that category.

The Vikings of course have only won four, while Green Bay has won eight. Two key opponents tell a big part of that story.

Against Arizona, the Vikings lost on the last play when Greg Joseph missed a 37-yard field goal. Against the Cardinals, Green Bay escaped with a three-point win when Kyler Murray was intercepted in the end zone at the end of the game.

Flip both results and both teams have six wins. Rodgers himself earlier this week noted how many close games the Vikings have played and said they could easily have six or seven wins.

Then again, that gets back to the nature of the NFL.

Maybe the final analysis is this: For the first 56 minutes of every game, the Vikings and Packers have been about equal. The time after that has been the difference.