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News | Minnesota Vikings – vikings.com

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Early Look: Packers at Vikings

Look back at photos through the years featuring games between the Vikings and Packers.

EAGAN, Minn. — The 2019 finale of Monday Night Football will include one of the best rivalries in the NFL.

The Vikings and Packers will play in Border Battle No. 119 in Week 16, as the teams square off in prime time on Monday night. Kickoff is at 7:15 p.m. (CT).

Minnesota is 10-4 following a convincing 39-10 win over the Los Angeles Chargers in which the Vikings defense forced a season-high seven takeaways. The Vikings would be a Wild Card team if the season ended today.

Green Bay leads the NFC North at 11-3 and can clinch the division with a win. The Packers have already clinched a playoff berth.

The Vikings need to win their final two games and have the Packers lose out in order to claim the NFC North.

Minnesota can clinch a playoff spot with a win Monday but would also be in with a 49ers win over the Rams on Saturday night.

Here's a look at the Vikings Week 16 matchup against the Packers:

Passing: Kirk Cousins and Aaron Rodgers put up similar numbers in Week 15 as both quarterbacks led their team to a win.

Cousins completed 19 of 25 passes (76 percent) for 207 yards with a touchdown and an interception for a passer rating of 96.6.

Cousins has now completed 291 of 413 passes (70.5 percent) for 3,481 yards with 25 touchdowns and five interceptions. His passer rating of 111.1 ranks third in the NFL.

Rodgers, meanwhile, completed 16 of 33 passes (48.5 percent) for 203 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions. His passer rating was 78.2.

Rodgers has now completed 300 of 474 passes (63.3 percent) for 3,463 yards with 24 touchdowns and two interceptions. His passer rating of 100.4 is tied for ninth in the NFL.

Rodgers is 12-8-1 in 21 career regular-season starts against the Vikings.

Rushing: The Vikings ran for 137 yards against the Chargers but lost running back Dalvin Cook in the third quarter with a shoulder injury.

Cook, who ran for 27 yards on nine carries, was replaced by Mike Boone, who excelled in that role with 56 yards and his first two career scores on 13 carries.

Ameer Abdullah had 25 yards on five carries. The Vikings were also without rookie Alexander Mattison, who missed the game with an ankle injury.

Cook leads the Vikings with 1,135 rushing yards and 13 scores. Minnesota ranks fourth in the NFL with 135.9 rushing yards per game.

Green Bay ranks 17th in the NFL with 106.6 rushing yards per game.

Aaron Jones had 51 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. Jamaal Williams added 26 yards on eight attempts.

Jones has a team-high 830 rushing yards and is tied for the league lead with 14 rushing touchdowns.

Receiving: Stefon Diggs set a new career-high Sunday, as he had four receptions for 76 yards to surpass the 1,000-yard mark.

Diggs now has a personal-best 1,073 receiving yards on 60 catches. He also has five scores.

Kyle Rudolph (48 yards), Adam Thielen (27 yards), Cook (16 yards) and C.J. Ham (13 yards) each had three catches on Sunday. Rookie Irv Smith, Jr., had two catches for eight yards, including a 1-yard touchdown.

Cook has 53 catches for 519 yards, while Rudolph has 38 receptions for 360 yards and is tied with Thielen with six touchdowns. Thielen, who made his return from a hamstring injury, has 30 catches for 418 yards in nine games in 2019.

Davante Adams had seven catches for 103 yards and a score to lead the Packers with more than half of their receiving total.

Jake Kumerow had a 49-yard catch, while Geronimo Allison (19 yards) and Allen Lazard (14 yards) each had two catches.

Adams leads Green Bay with 63 catches for 788 yards, and he has four scores. Williams has a team-high five touchdown catches, while Jones and tight end Jimmy Graham have three scores apiece.

Defense: The Vikings defense was dominant Sunday, forcing a whopping seven turnovers, the most in a game since 1994.

Danielle Hunter had two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery, while Harrison Smith had an interception and a fumble recovery. Shamar Stephen and Eric Kendricks forced fumbles, and Ifeadi Odenigbo and Trae Waynes had fumble recoveries.

Odenigbo picked up his fumble and raced 56 yards for his first-career score.

Mike Hughes' first pick of the season was turnover No. 6, and Anthony Harris capped off the wild day with another interception.

Minnesota is now plus-11 in turnovers, tied for the fourth-best in the league. The Vikings allowed 345 total yards and recorded three sacks by Hunter, Odenigbo and Jaleel Johnson.

Hunter leads the Vikings with 13.5 sacks in 2019, while Harris leads the Vikings with five interceptions.

The Vikings are now 14th with 338.9 yards allowed per game and are tied for sixth in points allowed at 18.5.

Green Bay has allowed 371.3 yards per game, which ranks 23rd. The unit's 20.2 points allowed per game ranks ninth.

The Packers allowed 415 yards but just 13 points to Chicago at home. Dean Lowry and Jaire Alexander had interceptions for Green Bay, which sacked Mitchell Trubisky three times.

Preston Smith has a team-high 11.5 sacks for the Packers, while Za'Darius Smith has 10 sacks.

View photos of the Vikings 53-man roster for the 2019 season.

Special teams: The Vikings had a mostly solid day on special teams in getting their 10th win.

Dan Bailey missed his first extra-point attempt but made the next two. He was also true on four field goals of 26, 44, 38 and 27 yards. Bailey is now 22 of 24 on field goals (91.2 percent) and 38 of 42 on extra points in 2019.

Vikings punter Britton Colquitt averaged 51.5 yards on two punts and did not record a touchback. He has averaged 44.2 yards per punt this season.

Vikings linebacker Eric Wilson also came up with a big special teams play in the second half when he tipped a punt a play after the grounding penalty. Wilson doesn't get credit for a block on the play because the ball traveled 26 yards before landing at the L.A. 41.

Mason Crosby made all three extra points Sunday. He is now 16 of 17 on field goals (94.1 percent) and 38 of 38 on extra points in 2019.

Packers punter J.K. Scott averaged 35.7 yards on seven punts, with two of them landing inside the 20-yard line. Scott averages 43.7 yards per punt.

Neither team has a kickoff or punt return for a touchdown in 2019.

A quick glance

Here is the NFC playoff picture as of Monday morning:

1. Seattle (11-3)

2. Green Bay (11-3)

3. New Orleans (10-3)

4. Dallas (7-7)

5. San Francisco (11-3)

6. Minnesota (10-4)

The Saints play on Monday Night Football against the Colts to wrap up Week 15.

The Rams are still in the Wild Card hunt at 8-6. Los Angeles would get in if the Rams win out and the Vikings lose out.

Key games in the NFC playoff field in Week 16 include the following:

-Rams at 49ers (Saturday)

-Cowboys at Eagles

-Saints at Titans

-Cardinals at Seahawks

-Packers at Vikings (Monday)

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