How cold will it be? Possibly the coldest…

Beyond the weather – which Packers running back AJ Dillon said turns these into “physical, gritty” games – Green Bay had its worst game of the season defending the run last week against the Browns, allowing 218 rushing yards. Bad fits, not setting the edge and missed tackles all contributed to the struggles.

So there already was an expectation Minnesota running backs Dalvin Cook (1,067 yards) and Alexander Mattison (473) would be focal points, and then Vikings QB Kirk Cousins went on the reserve/COVID-19 list on Friday, sharpening the focus even more on their ground game as being the key to the contest.

“When you give up as many yards as we did last week and how we fit some of those runs, you know they’re going to test us,” Head Coach Matt LaFleur said. “We’re going to have to prove that we’ve got things corrected, and it’s going to be a great challenge for our defense.”

The Packers did a decent job against Cook in the teams’ first meeting this year, but he still posted 115 yards from scrimmage (86 rushing, 29 receiving, with a TD).

It was Cook who almost singlehandedly won the game for the Vikings at Lambeau last season, as he racked up 226 total yards (163 rushing, 63 receiving) and scored all four of Minnesota’s TDs.

Which brings this column to another rarity, one the Packers would rather avoid.

Minnesota has a chance to beat Green Bay for a third straight time, dating back to last year’s second meeting on Nov. 1, 2020, when Cook had that monster game.

The Vikings are the only NFC North team to beat the Packers under LaFleur, who is 14-2 in the division. But more broadly, LaFleur’s overall dominance of division games has carried over a pillar of the team’s success from Mike McCarthy’s tenure.

Not including times Rodgers has been injured, no NFC North foe has beaten Green Bay three straight times since the Vikings did it in 2008-09, the last two wins when quarterbacked by former Packers franchise great Brett Favre.

For the Bears, their last three-game winning streak over the Packers goes back to 2005-06, concluding with McCarthy’s first game as head coach. The Lions? Not counting Detroit’s four straight wins over Green Bay through the 2017-18 seasons when Rodgers missed all but one of the meetings, a three-game win streak dates back to pre-Holmgren times, in the 1990-91 seasons.