But it is no ordinary nectar they seek to partake of this Sunday afternoon in Green Bay.  It is, instead, the sweetest of all delights:  victory over the Packers.

To be slightly less flowery about it:  beating the shit out of the Packers always feels better than beating the shit out of anyone else.

And not just because they’re the #1 rival.  There are practical reasons, too, why a victory today would ring louder than most.

First and foremost, a win over the Packers gives you a season sweep and, therefore, a massive tiebreaker advantage against a divisional opponent.  You can have a crappy second half and still know, if you somehow end up tied with the Pack, you own them.

Victory today would also make the Vikings 5-0 against the NFC.  Not to get too far ahead of ourselves, but, conference record is everything when it comes to playoff seeding.

Also, being 7-1 going into the bye would just be damn cool.

Of course, there are a few things standing between us and that seventh victory, and they are all named “the Green Bay Packers.”

I don’t need to remind you that, after kicking the Packers in the teeth for most of their first meeting, the Vikings sort of wilted late, and nearly let Green Bay back in.  If nothing else, that game proved that the Packers have plenty of fight in them.  If you get them down early you better finish them off.

I also don’t need to remind you – do I? – that Aaron Rodgers was the NFC’s Offensive Player of the Month for October.  He is currently second only to Peyton Manning in passer rating in the NFL, is completing nearly 66% of his passes and has only 2 picks against 11 touchdowns despite enjoying arguably the worst pass protection in the history of the cosmos.

In the first Vikes/Packers showdown, you will recall, Rodgers threw for 384 yards and two scores while completing over 70%.  And that was with Antoine Winfield shutting down Greg Jennings.  Today, we will have someone other than Antoine covering Greg Jennings.

The lack of Winfield didn’t matter last week against the Steelers, but I guarantee you, the Packers will go after whoever is playing left corner, be it Karl Paymah, Benny Sapp or Asher Allen.

Assuming Aaron Rodgers can stay upright long enough to complete the passes.

Yes, pass protection is still a problem for Green Bay.  They gave up 5 sacks two weeks ago against a Lions team that was missing three of four starting defensive linemen.  True, they gave up no sacks against the Browns, but that was the Browns.

The Packers are fortunate in that, this week, Chad Clifton will play instead of whoever that was they had trying to block Jared Allen last time.  Clifton, we remember, completely shut down the Vikings’ main pass rusher in the teams’ early-season meeting in Lambeau in 2008, prompting Allen to declare himself a total suckball.

I expect the Packers’ pass blocking to be better today than it was last time, but I still think the Vikings will get their shots at Rodgers.  If they don’t, Rodgers could have a good day.

Speaking of pass rush:  the Packers got none on Brett Favre during the big Monday night meeting, the result being a 3 TD, 135.3 passer rating performance for Brett.  I’m assuming the Packers will make a more concerted effort to put pressure on the passer today.  Of course, the Packers know better than anyone else the sort of carnage that can ensue when you blitz Favre and don’t get him down.

Actually, I’m not that worried about Brett.  Yes it’s possible he could get carried away by the moment and have one of those awful Favre performances, but I think he will be fine in spite of the emotionally-charged atmosphere.  The guy I’m looking squarely at is Adrian Peterson, who I’m sure wants redemption after a 25 carry/55 yard/1 fumble-for-touchdown effort in game 1.

Sometimes, when Adrian gets angry, he runs people over (just ask William Gay).  But sometimes when he gets angry he starts coughing it up.

My hope is that Brad Childress and Darrell Bevell will try to use AD like they did last week, mixing in some throws out of the backfield.  Despite his reputation as a powerful, hard-running back, Peterson is really at his best when he’s got room to work.

The other big issue for the Vikings is the health of the receiver corps.  Bernard Berrian and Percy Harvin are both expected to play after battling physical problems all week, Berrian a pulled hammy and Harvin an illness of undisclosed nature.  These are two explosive players who have a bad habit of not finishing games.

Of course, The Favre’s #1 weapon these days is Sidney Rice.  At last, the Vikings have found a receiver the other team must at least consider slapping a double-team on.

The Packers have a lot to deal with defensively.  They didn’t do a great job overall during the first meeting, but it is a tough defense, one that has allowed just 3 points the last two weeks, and is high up in the rankings against the pass.

Weather will not aid the Packers in their efforts this week at least.  It’s expected to be around 50 in Green Bay with no precipitation and a light wind.

And then of course there’s the little matter of fan reaction to Favre.  I expect boos.  Lots of boos. But I don’t expect the boos to affect Favre adversely; in fact, knowing this guy, they may only fuel him.  He was on top of his game in the first meeting at the Dome, largely because it was the Packers and he wanted to show them he could still get it done.

Now, Favre will want to show his old fans he can still get it done.  If emotion once again guides Brett to a great performance, the Vikings will win.  But it will not be easy.  The Packers are a worthy opponent with a quarterback who can also get it done.

It’s rare that a Packer/Viking game doesn’t turn into a nerve-wracking experience.  I expect this one will also have us biting our nails to the quick.

Join me and the rest of Purple Nation for more commentary and wackiness all day on Twitter.

1. Never underestimate a motivated Brett Favre.  He’s like Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods – great on any given day, but a beast when he has extra reason to want to beat you.  He may have tried downplaying his desire for revenge on the Packers, but they way he played is proof of how much he wanted to show his former team what a mistake they made.  When Brett finally does retire – hopefully not any time soon – and wends his way to the Hall-of-Fame, don’t be shocked if his speech, like Jordan’s, turns into a bitter litany of people who had to pay for slighting him.

2. The pass blocking could not have been better last night.  The highlight was that long pass to Jeff Dugan where Favre had enough time in the pocket to pick out a new TV and iron a pair of Wranglers.  The run blocking, conversely, did not appear as dominating.  Second week in a row we had trouble generating a ground game against a 3-4.  I don’t need to mention that we’re facing the 3-4 again 3 out of the next 4 weeks.

3. Adrian Peterson had a bad game.  Yes he scored one touchdown – about the only running play all day that looked well-blocked – but his 2.2 yards-per-carry average was pitiful.  And he had one of the worst fumbles you’re ever going to see in a professional football game, getting stood up and stripped along the sideline (it looked like a mugging more than a tackle).  Peter King said it best on Twitter: “If you’re even a marginal NFL running back, you don’t give up a ball like Peterson just did.”

Maybe AD is the best player in the NFL, but he didn’t play like it Monday night.

4. The chemistry between Favre and the receivers seems to be coming along.  He found Bernard Berrian 6 times for 75 yards, including that sweet touchdown where they burned Al Harris.  He hit Sidney Rice 5 times for 70 yards.  He only found Percy Harvin twice but it was for 39 yards.  Favre had more yards passing against the 49ers but the passing game looked far crisper against the Packers, who are alleged to have a good secondary.

5. Charles Woodson got screwed on two penalties.  That should not have been defensive holding when he was fighting with Visanthe Shiancoe down the sideline, and it should not have been interference when he appeared to pick off the pass intended for Sidney Rice in the endzone (the INT would’ve been wiped out by an offsides anyway).

6. Everyone sort of expected Jared Allen to go off, what with Chad Clifton being out of the line-up, but I don’t know if anyone anticipated him going quite as crazy as he did.  One thing has become apparent about Mr. Allen:  he shows up in big games.  He made huge plays against Philly in the playoffs last year, and last night, he helped Brett get his revenge.

7. Brad Childress came very, very close to having a bad night.  First, he failed to get the red flag out in time after that goofy 1st down catch by Greg Jennings off Donald Driver‘s tip, missing a chance to reverse the successful 4th down play and give his team the ball back.  Antoine Winfield rendered that moot by intercepting Aaron Rodgers two plays later.  Then, that miserable 3rd down pass play call when the Vikings just needed to keep it on the ground and run clock.  Some are suggesting that Favre freelanced there but I don’t buy it.  I think Chilly was trying to stick the knife in and…it was idiotic.  Again, Chilly was bailed out, by Sidney Rice who made two good leaping plays on off-side kick attempts, keeping the Packers from completing an improbable comeback.

8. Jared Allen and Antoine Winfield put up superstar defensive performances, but the defense overall did not perform in superstar fashion.  It got way too easy for Aaron Rodgers in those tense final minutes when it seemed the Packers might pull out a miracle.  After the Jordie Nelson 33-yard touchdown catch, you could see Winfield mouthing, “What the hell was that?”  Our safeties are okay in run support but they are not good in coverage.  Thankfully, the Packers didn’t figure out how easy it might be to pass against us until it was too late.

9.  Is it just me or do Chester Taylor and Brett Favre look like they’re pretty good buddies?  Favre is always putting his arm around Chester and they did that butt-bump that ended up knocking Chester to the ground.  Does Chester also enjoy hunting and light lawn work?

10.  I have never been so appalled by a TV announcer’s performance as I was by Jon Gruden‘s last night.  The fawning over Brett Favre passed well beyond unprofessionalism and into the realm of the surreal.  The sad thing is that the alleged old-pro announcers, Ron Jaworski and Mike Tirico, seemed to find Gruden’s slupring hilarious.  I hope someone at ESPN sits down and has a chat with Gruden, and tells him to at least feign objectivity.  Nothing during John Madden‘s long tenure as a Favre-lover came close to the display Gruden put on.

It isn’t because Daryn Colledge is playing left tackle instead of Chad Clifton.

No, there is no need to rehash all of that.  If you’ve been watching ESPN today, you’ve gotten your fill of Favre.

So, instead of concentrating on the extra drama and the reasons for it, I will now endeavor to look through the blinding glare of hype and consider the actual game.

It is, first and foremost, an NFC North division match-up.  We know why such games are important.  We know that, if the Vikings win, they will put the Packers down two games in the race.  We know how vital division wins are to tiebreakers and such at the end of the season.

This has nothing to do with bragging rights or who is up in the rivalry – it’s all about standings and positioning.  The Packers win, they pull even with the Vikings and Bears atop the division.  They lose, they slide.

The game also has significance in terms of our perception of the two teams.  We thought the Packers might be pretty good after the defensive effort they mustered in Week 1 against Jay Cutler and the Bears.  Then they laid an egg against the Bengals, at home, and we wondered if maybe we didn’t over-estimate them.

Coming off pounding the Rams – not a great accomplishment – the Packers want to show that they can go into a hostile environment and win a tough game.  They want to show what their new 3-4 defense can do against Adrian Peterson.  They want a signature victory, something that will put them on the map.

What better statement could the Packers make than to defeat Brett Favre and the Vikings with all the sporting world watching?  What better statement could Aaron Rodgers make than to outplay the man he replaced?

Yes, it’s impossible to separate the game from the hype.

And the Vikings, too, would like to make a statement.  They may have beaten the 49ers last week, but they know they didn’t play well.  They know AD was getting stuffed.  They know they had that game lost before Favre bailed them out.

They need to come back, at home, and play better on both sides of the ball.  They need to run it better.  They need to pass block a lot better.  They need to cover better.

They had problems handling Shaun Hill and Vernon Davis.  Aaron Rodgers is better than Shaun Hill, and the Packers’ receiving corps is vastly better than the Niners’.  They’re hoping the loss of Clifton will lead to a big pass rush from Jared Allen.  If Allen can harass Rodgers, then they should be able to control the Packers’ passing game.

If not…Rodgers has a lot of weapons.

Of course Brett Favre has weapons too.  The problem is that, so far, he hasn’t been able to consistently use them.  He still hasn’t found any chemistry with Bernard Berrian, who didn’t help matters by developing Kleinsasser-like hands last week.  And Visanthe Shiancoe hasn’t been as big a part of the offense as we hoped.

Mostly we are hoping for a bounce-back game from Adrian Peterson, but we are also hoping for crisper, more efficient offensive execution overall.  The machine has been sputtery.  The Vikings need to put together two good halves.  As exciting as last-second game-winning touchdowns are, they are not something we want to become overly familiar with.

This is a home game for the Vikings, and they are favored, and they should be favored.  Now they have to come out and play like a favorite, take control of the game from the start and hold on.  Unfortunately, this being a Viking-Packer game, I expect that there will be numerous gut-wrenching turns.  Some more #4 heroics may be needed.

Aspirins may be required.  Or perhaps something stronger.