OUR PREDICTIONS

TOM SILVERSTEIN

I don’t expect the Packers to lay down, but the talent gap between them and the Vikings is huge and that will mean a Minnesota victory. The Packers ought to just run, run and run and see what their three rookie backs can do. Vikings 31, Packers 17

PETE DOUGHERTY

With Aaron Rodgers shut down for the season, the Packers are a nine-point underdog against the best team in the NFC North and not having Davante Adams (concussion) only makes things worse. Coach Mike McCarthy has a better feel for how to play with Brett Hundley at quarterback, but points figure to be a little too hard to come by against one of the NFL’s better defenses. Vikings 27, Packers 20

MICHAEL COHEN

It figures to be a long, cold night for the Packers as they host a division rival with legitimate Super Bowl hopes. The Vikings have won the NFC North in two of the last three years. The balance of power might be shifting. Vikings 27, Packers 13

RYAN WOOD

For the first time since Dec. 28, 2008, the Packers will play a regular-season game with no playoff implications. The Vikings will be playing to improve their postseason seeding. With a renewed focus on the run game and home-field advantage, the Packers can prevent this from becoming a blowout. But there’s too much at stake for the Vikings to lose. Vikings 27, Packers 21

AARON NAGLER

The Packers are outgunned, outmanned, outnumbered, outplanned. While Mike McCarthy’s rag-tag group undoubtedly will fight the good fight, especially with an early swell of emotion from a home crowd bent on revenge against the team that essentially ended their season back in October, the Vikings are fighting for a No. 1 seed for a reason. They’re a really good team. The Packers are not. Vikings 34, Packers 20