Vikings-Packers Rivalry

Minnesota and Green Bay formally began hostilities on October 22, 1961, in a Week 6 tryst. A 21-year-old rookie named Fran Tarkenton tossed three interceptions and no touchdowns as the Packers flogged the Vikings 33-7 in their maiden match-up.

In that contest, the two teams squared off at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota; one week later, the teams played again, this time at Milwaukee County Stadium. Green Bay was victorious in this game, too, downing Minnesota 28-10.

Head coach Norm Van Brocklin’s purple team got off to a wobbly start versus their cross-state rivals but this is to be expected, to an extent, for an expansion team. The Packers had been around since 1919, a full 42 years before the Vikings inception.

This analysis will examine the rivalry in 20-year segments. Since the Vikings came on the scene eight months after John F. Kennedy’s inauguration to the presidency, they own the seventh-best win percentage in the NFL, 509-433-11 (.540).

The Packers top this by four notches as the league’s fourth-best franchise with a win percentage since 1961 of 532-40-15 (.566). Of course, Green Bay has won four Super Bowls whereas Minnesota is winless in this regard.

Interestingly, the Packers and Seahawks are the only NFC franchises in which the Vikings do not hold a winning record. Down the line, Minnesota has a win percentage north of .500 or better against each NFC team.

What’s more, the Seahawks inclusion to this metric is slightly jaded by its previous residence in the AFC. Minnesota has played Seattle 16 times in 59 years. The Vikings and Packers have locked horns-into-cheese 119 times. Quite a discrepancy.

1961-1979

Vikings Win-Loss vs. Packers: 22-15-1 (.592)

For those Vikings loyalists around during this era, this was the golden era of Vikings versus Packers football. Aside from a tumultuous, early start to the teams’ famous rivalry, Minnesota largely handled the Packers in the first two decades of the Vikings existence — about 60 percent of the time.

This outlier-of-sorts prosperity is attributable to three main factors: head coach Bud Grant, the renowned Purple People Eating defense, and the quarterback play of Fran Tarkenton of Joe Kapp. And more so Kapp than Tarkenton, believe it or not.

Green Bay was led by quarterback Bart Starr, offensive linemen Forrest Gregg and Jerry Kramer, and wideout Boyd Dowler, among others.

The Packers were so dominant early on that they won all six games of series versus the Vikings. Minnesota returned the favor, however, between 1973 and 1978 winning seven straight.

Fran Tarkenton was average, to put it euphemistically, against Green Bay. As a whole for his Hall of Fame career, Tarkenton boasts an 80.4 passer rating, which is excellent for his era of football.

Against the Packers, though, his passer rating sank to 74.6. So, nothing grotesque, but he certainly did not play better against Green Bay. On the other hand, signal-caller Joe Kapp finished his career with a 5-1 record against the Packers.

To speak of only quarterbacks during this era is downright unjust. The Vikings took care of business versus the Packers in their first twenty years due to transcendental defense and the leadership of Bud Grant.

Assuredly, offensive players like Mick Tingelhoff, Chuck Foreman, Ron Yary, and Gary Alderman were vital, but the entire two decades were marked by devilishly-good defense. That is why they are, to this day, likened to cannibals.


The 1970s were the magnum opus of the Vikings performance against their green and gold foes — holding a 15-4-1 (.775) claim to the series during the decade.

The teams meet for the 120th time in history at U.S. Bank Stadium in Week 1 of the 2020 NFL season. The Packers own the win-loss rights to the series with a 54-62-3 (.534) record.