(My Sportsbook) - The winningest team in the NFL will try to make it eight wins in a row when the NFC North-leading Packers take on the struggling Minnesota Vikings at the Metrodome this Sunday. QB Brett Favre is on pace for his fourth MVP award for the way he has engineered Green Bay's dominant first- place position, and the Vikings have been victimized for their overall lack of consistency.

The Pack can clinch the division just 10 games into the season with a win this week combined with a Detroit loss to the NY Jets. So much for realignment.

The Lions were the latest victim of Green Bay's winning streak, as the Packers posted a 40-14 triumph over Detroit at Lambeau Field last Sunday. Favre had his third 300-yard passing game of the season, tossing for 351 yards and two touchdowns. He spread the ball to seven targets, led by Donald Driver's 11 catches for 130 yards.

RB Ahman Green suffered a mild concussion, but he is expected to play this weekend in Minnesota. He ran the ball only 12 times against Detroit, but managed to pick up 50 yards. Najeh Davenport took over for Green and gained 73 yards on 10 carries before spraining his right ankle. He is also expected to return this week.

"The guys have made a commitment," coach Mike Sherman said. "And we talked about raising our level of commitment -- and I think they did that -- to what we want to accomplish this season.

"And we still have a lot of football to go. We've got to go to Minnesota and play them. We've got a lot of games ahead of us that we have to take care of."

The misery continued for the Vikings in Week 10, when they registered a 27-20 loss to the New York Giants in the midst of some unfortunate quarterback problems. The latest of countless distractions in Minneapolis these days came in the form of QB Todd Bouman, who took over for benched starter Daunte Culpepper in the third quarter of last week's loss. Culpepper has been named the starter again this week, but he will continue to be on a short leash by coach Mike Tice.

The Vikings have lost two in a row to fall an insurmountable six games behind division-leading Green Bay, and there doesn't seem to be much hope in the once-raucous Metrodome these days.

"The best thing that we have going for us right now is the fact that this is Packer week and traditionally this is a game where you can throw out the records and we are very much willing to throw our record out at this point and move on with practice and preparation for the Packer game," said Tice.

"I told the guys in the team meeting, if you've never been through Packer week and the excitement in this region that it brings to the region and to both fans -- Packer fans and Viking fans -- there is nothing else like it."

SERIES HISTORY: The Packers have won three of the past four meetings to even the all-time series, 40-40-1. These teams last met on December 30, 2001, when Green ran for the go-ahead touchdown in Green Bay's 24-13 win at Lambeau Field.

Sherman is 3-1 against Minnesota, while Tice meets Green Bay for the first time this Sunday.

A win this week will give Green Bay its first eight-game win streak since 1963. If the Packers clinch the NFC North this weekend, it would be the earliest a team has clinched a division since the 16-game schedule was instituted in 1978.

PACKERS OFFENSE

Favre hasn't lost a bit of his magic over the years despite the many different teammates he has had alongside him. This year, it has been the emergence of Driver that has helped Favre maintain his high level of play. Driver, who has appeared out of nowhere to post amazing numbers, leads the Packers in receptions (46), receiving yards (716) and receiving TDs (five). His 15.6 yard per catch average is tops among NFC receivers with 40 catches or more.

Last week, Driver led the way once again and posted his second career 100-yard game. He caught 11 passes and didn't drop a single ball thrown his way. In spite of the success, Driver has not scored a touchdown in four straight games. He is beginning to get a lot of attention from defenses, and TE Bubba Franks gets a lot of calls near the goal line. Don't be surprised if Driver finds his way into the end zone this week against Minnesota's poor-tackling secondary.

The Vikings allowed New York WR Ron Dixon to gain 107 yards on just four catches last week, so imagine how eager Driver will be this Sunday. Dixon's previous season high was just 46 yards.

"[Defenders] say 'Donald is a guy we've got to stop now', but I know that I've got Terry Glenn and the rest of these young guys beside me helping me out," said Driver. "[The Vikings] have a good defense, but we've got to go out there and not make any mistakes and go out there and play consistent."

Minnesota owns the worst pass defense in the NFC, yielding 283.1 yards per game through the air. Not surprisingly, the Vikings also allow the most points per game in the conference (25.6). Considering the fact that Green Bay is scoring 25.2 points per game (second in NFC), Minnesota is in for a tough one come Sunday.

Many folks will say Favre is out of his natural element when he has to play in a dome, but the Vikings simply have not faced a quarterback of his caliber since meeting Buffalo's Drew Bledsoe in Week 2. In that game, the Bills outlasted the Vikings in overtime, 45-39. Also, Favre is seeking his third win in four indoor games. In his past three games indoors, he has a 101.8 passer rating. In spite of the recent success, Favre is wary of Minnesota.

"It doesn't matter [what the records are] when we go and play those guys," said Favre. "They have played well every time we've played them. Last year, they played by far their best game against us.

"We're 8-1 and on top of the league and all that stuff, but believe me we're not that much better than every other team out there."

As long as Green is able to keep Minnesota's defense honest enough to allow Favre some open space for his receivers in the defensive backfield, Favre could be well on his way to his fourth 300-yard passing game of the year.

VIKINGS DEFENSE

Even after repeated problems week after week, the Vikings remain one of the worst tackling teams in the entire NFL. For whatever reason, opposing teams often seem to break too many big plays. Against Favre, that could be a real problem. Favre loves to gamble, and that could result in huge plays for the Packers unless Minnesota can improve in a hurry.

"It's hard to stop them because number 4 is arguably right now the best player in the league," said Tice. "He's making a lot of plays and it's hard to get to him because he'll throw off his back foot, he'll throw back pedaling, he'll throw on his head, he'll throw on his back and he's got that great arm and that great confidence. Stopping him is a challenge for everyone, not just the Vikings."

The worst passing defense, Minnesota may get overwhelmed by Favre. Last week, New York QB Kerry Collins threw for 300 yards and completed 71.4 percent of his throws. Since he was sacked only once, Collins had time to find his open receivers. Unless the Vikings can find a way to get Favre out of a rhythm and get some pressure, he will pick apart Minnesota's inexperienced secondary.

Tice has decided to start a rookie at left corner and second-year Eric Kelly will start at right corner.

"We're going to start [Corey] Chavous at strong [safety] and Brian Williams at left corner and we'll start Eric Kelly at right corner and we'll start Ronnie Bradford, who has been our most consistent performer, at free safety. Tyrone [Carter] will be our nickel," said the coach.

DE Lance Johnstone leads the Vikings with five sacks, and LB Greg Biekert has been the unit's top tackler. Shutting down Green will be extremely important, since the Packers are 13-0 when he rushes for 100 yards or more. Green has been responsible for much of Green Bay's scoring, posting seven TDs in the past four games (five rushing, two receiving).

But simply concentrating on Green would play into Favre's hands, and Green Bay's balance is the main reason for its amazing record. Last week, the Packers gained 503 total yards against the Lions.

VIKINGS OFFENSE

What a sorry state of affairs it has been for Minnesota's offense this season. The Vikings have not been the same since the retirement of RB Robert Smith, and the departure of veteran WR Cris Carter has left a leadership void. Culpepper is not the type of player to put the team on his back, and we all know how much WR Randy Moss likes to contribute.

And just when things couldn't get much worse, coach Tice decided to pull Culpepper last week for ineffectiveness. In reality, no matter how bad things get, Bouman is not going to be the savior. Tice needs to stick with Culpepper for better or worse, since this season isn't going to be a successful one anyway.

Minnesota drafted Culpepper to be its future, so it needs to make the commitment. We have all seen the debacle in Cincinnati, where the Bengals bailed out on QB Akili Smith. Culpepper has tried not to let the circumstances get to him as he prepares for this week's challenge.

"As long as I have the confidence of my teammates and I definitely have the confidence in myself, I think we're going to prevail," said Culpepper. "Me personally I'm going to go out and prepare myself this week to get a big division win.

"I love this game. I grew up hearing about this game before I even became a member of the Vikings. After being a part of it for my first three years, there is nothing like it. There is a lot of enthusiasm in the air. Guys are going to be fired up. Records don't really matter. Look at history records don't matter."

Tice will start Culpepper this week, which is the right move.

In the middle of all this mess, young RB Michael Bennett has quietly had himself a solid season. Last week, the University of Wisconsin product carried the ball 15 times for 167 yards (11.1 avg). He showed his breakaway skills with a 78-yard run.

Moss caught three passes for 85 yards against the Giants, including a 48-yard reception. As long as he is on the field, he has the chance to score. But without the threat of a number-two receiver (Chris Walsh) and Culpepper's overall struggles, Moss is not in an environment well-suited for his style of play.

In the past eight games against Green Bay, Moss has averaged 104.5 yards.

Green Bay will get a heavy dosage of Bennett this week, since Minnesota must keep Favre off the field as much as possible. If the Packers can force three- and-outs, the Vikings will quickly crumble. Bennett needs to have a big game this week for the Vikings to have a chance.

Green Bay is not the greatest run defense around, allowing 127.0 rushing yards per game (13th in NFC). Bennett will have some chances, and the arrival of hulking rookie OT Bryant McKinnie can only help the cause. McKinnie will make his first career start this week.

PACKERS DEFENSE

Green Bay had a tough time against Detroit RB James Stewart last week, allowing the veteran to gain 122 yards on just 15 carries (8.1 avg). But the Packers were able to limit the Lions to two touchdowns and a paltry 1-for-12 mark on third down despite Detroit's 7.4 yards per rush average as a team. Green Bay can't afford to be so soft against the run this week, since Bennett has had three straight 100-yard games and has the speed to out run Green Bay's many aging defenders.

Against Detroit rookie QB Joey Harrington, the Packers recorded two interceptions but failed to get a single sack. First-year safety Marques Anderson, who is having a Rookie of the Year season, grabbed one of the INTs.

It's clear that the Packers need to get out to an early lead to put added pressure on Culpepper. If Favre can handle his part, the Packers will try to use their two safeties to give Culpepper many looks and confuse the struggling signal-caller. S Darren Sharper has the experience to make it a long day for Culpepper.

Sunday's game could all come down to the play of Green Bay's defensive line. Since Minnesota is trying to develop Bennett as its number one offensive weapon, run-stuffing DT Gilbert Brown must impose his will. Brown has been playing well this season despite his massive size and history of nagging injuries.

Another rising star for the Packers has been pass rushing specialist Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, who has seven sacks in the past five games. If he gets pressure on Culpepper, turnovers could go the Packers' way. Green Bay leads the NFL with 29 takeaways.

"With a guy like [Culpepper, you want to contain him and keep him in the pocket because he would like to have the ability to run around," said Gbaja- Biamila. "You just have to contain him and force him to pass the ball and let the DBs do the work and kind of press the pocket."