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Five nuggets of knowledge about Week 11:

Put 'em away: I can't help but think the Green Bay Packers are viewing Sunday's game at the Metrodome as a symbolic opportunity to vanquish the team, player and perhaps the coach that has cast a shadow over them during the past two years. The Minnesota Vikings have won the NFC North in both seasons since quarterback Brett Favre's 2008 departure. Favre single-handedly knocked the Packers out of contention last season with two signature performances against them. But the rivalry between these two franchises goes beyond Favre. The Packers would love to bury the Vikings in their home stadium, and if a by-product is getting their second opposing coach fired in as many games, then so be it. As we discussed earlier this week, Vikings owner Zygi Wilf isn't eager to fire coach Brad Childress. But the Packers can dream, right?

Packer time: Yes, this is traditionally the time when coach Mike McCarthy's teams start churning out victories. In 2006, the Packers went 7-4 after their bye. In 2007, they were 8-2, and last season they were 9-3 after it. (The 2008 season is the exception, when the Packers slumped to 2-7 after their bye.) Whether or not they are motivated to bury the Vikings, the Packers need to win in order to keep pace with the 7-3 Chicago Bears. Through the purple haze, I can only assume they saw this quote from Bears coach Lovie Smith after Thursday night's victory against the Miami Dolphins: "We wanted to put the pressure on that second-place team behind us."

Getting after it: The Packers blitzed Favre on 43.3 percent of his dropbacks in the teams' Week 7 meeting, causing two of his three interceptions and resulting in a 37.8 passer rating. I'll be curious to see whether the Packers feel obligated to pressure him at the same rate, or if they sit back and allow Favre's less reliable arm to create its own mistakes. ESPN Stats & Information has tracked each of Favre's 16 interceptions this season, grading eight of them as underthrown. I realize an underthrown pass can be in the eye of the observer, especially when a quarterback might intentionally be throwing a back-shoulder pass. But anecdotally, I think we can agree that Favre's accuracy hasn't been as good this season. Elbow tendinitis and soreness in his right shoulder have assuredly played a part. Pass rush is still the best way to force Favre into making mistakes, but the point is that he has made plenty on his own this season.

Two forces: The Packers have caused 19 turnovers this season, tying for the fifth-best mark in the NFL. The Vikings have committed 23, the league's fourth-worst mark. Moreover, the Packers lead the league with 80 points scored off of turnovers. Those numbers and rankings have built up over 11 weeks, so it would be reasonable to expect more of the same Sunday at the Metrodome. If that's the case, it's hard to imagine a Vikings win. Their three victories this season have all come at home, but they were against the Detroit Lions (2-7), Dallas Cowboys (2-7) and Arizona Cardinals (3-6).

Something's gotta give: The Detroit Lions have lost 25 consecutive road games. The Dallas Cowboys haven't won at home all season. Per their typical luck, the Lions might be catching the Cowboys about two weeks too late. Interim coach Jason Garrett appears to have breathed some life into this talented but underachieving outfit, and if he wants to earn the permanent job, he'll need to start winning some home games at owner Jerry Jones' debt-ridden palace. The Lions won in Dallas the last time they played there -- a 39-31 victory in Week 17 of the 2006 season. But tellingly, they've only won twice away from Ford Field since then.

It's been 12 years. It could be 100. Randy Moss will never forget the shock the Dallas Cowboys delivered during the 1998 draft.

Moss began the day convinced the Cowboys would draft him if he were still available with their No. 8 overall pick. Their decision to pass, instead selecting defensive end Greg Ellis, threw Moss into a rage that has cooled only slightly over time. His teams have won all seven games they've played against the Cowboys, fueled largely by the numbers you see in the chart to your right.

Moss has scored at least one touchdown in six of those games and has produced five 100-yard performances. Coincidence? As he prepared this week for Sunday's game between the Cowboys and his Minnesota Vikings, Moss shook his head.

"You can go back to the '98 draft," Moss said. "That would be your answer."

Speaking later on a conference call with Dallas-area reporters, Moss outlined in new detail why he was so sure he would land in Dallas and why it hit him so hard when the Cowboys passed. During a pre-draft meeting, owner Jerry Jones ripped up his official itinerary and instead sent him to Deion Sanders' house for a private meeting.

"So I thought that was just a way of them telling me we really want you, we're thinking about drafting you," Moss said. "So when I was able to talk to Deion Sanders at his house ... he just told me how bad the organization wanted me and he thought that me coming there would benefit everybody and things like that. The love that I received and the conversations that I had for those 48 hours had me believing that I was going to be a Dallas Cowboy up 'till draft day."

When the Cowboys drafted Ellis, Moss said his mother was devastated, taking it as a personal indictment of her troubled but talented son.

"Just seeing her facial expression and how she looked," Moss said, "I really took that to heart, man, and I told myself any time I play the Dallas Cowboys I'm never going to forget that look."

Jones jokingly apologized last week for the draft blunder. Moss took minor interest in the gesture.

"I always forgive, man, that's in the Bible," he said. "I always forgive but I never forget."

Kickoff is 4:15 ET at the Metrodome.

Here on the ESPN Blog Network, we’re bracing ourselves for quite possibly the biggest divisional playoff game in the history of the 2010 postseason. Come Sunday afternoon at the Metrodome, Dallas and Minnesota will reprise a storied postseason rivalry -- sans (hopefully) whiskey bottles, push-offs and Hail Marys. (Well, at least the push-offs.)

ESPN.com's Matt Mosley and Kevin Seifert have spent most of the week buried in the film room -- er, basement -- refining the blogging plan for the rest of the week. As now they’re ready to start breaking down this most critical game.

Kevin Seifert: Greetings from the North Pole, Matt. Actually, you’re going to get lucky this weekend. We’re expecting unseasonably warm temperatures here this weekend, with highs in the 30s. Normally we call that “May” in Minnesota. Usually at this time of year, you can get frostbite on half your hand while walking from the parking lot to the media entrance at the Dome.

Matt Mosley: I will look for any excuse to visit Minneapolis in mid-January and this game is as good as anything else I might come up with. Sid Hartman and I have been waiting on this postseason matchup for years. Jerry Jones tried to capture the "charm" of the Metrodome in his new Cowboys Stadium, but I'm not sure things worked out. And by the way, Drew Pearson told me to pass along his best wishes to Vikings fans.

KS: OK, Matt. Let’s get down to it. Everyone in the world thinks the Cowboys are going to win this game. Even ESPN’s Trent Dilfer is convinced of it. You’ve been close to the Cowboys this season. Are they as hot as everyone says they are?

MM: Kevin, in my eight years of covering the team, I've never been around a more confident bunch of players. I think they're the hottest team in the NFC right now because of something that took place last month in New Orleans. The players got sick and tired of all the talk of their December failures and went out and overwhelmed a Saints team in the Superdome. That game did wonders for the Cowboys' confidence. No quarterback in the playoffs has performed as well as Tony Romo over the past six games and he benefits from having a dominant defense. So yes, I think the Cowboys are as hot as everyone at the Mall of America is indicating.

KS: Actually, Matt, you need to be more specific. We now have Mall of America Field here in addition to the Mall of America. At Mall of America Field, the conversation is revolving around two things: Are the Vikings willing to accept that they are a pass-first offense? And can their tackles, Bryant McKinnie and Phil Loadholt, keep DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer at bay long enough for Brett Favre to get the ball downfield?

If they come out of the gates aggressively and use their full array of offensive weapons, I think they can put up some serious points against the Cowboys' defense. The Vikings are one of two teams in NFL history to have six players catch at least 40 passes. That’s too many receivers for any defense to keep track of if the pass protection is there.

What’s your take, Matt? Do you think Ware & Co. can be slowed down?

MM: I agree with the aforementioned Dilfer that Loadholt and McKinnie are outmatched by the Cowboys' outside linebackers. Since the last time you saw this team, Spencer has become a force. Cowboys defensive coordinator/head coach Wade Phillips even lines them up next to each other at times. Donovan McNabb didn't have a chance against the Cowboys' pass rush and you can argue that Jason Peters and Winston Justice are superior offensive tackles to what the Vikings have to offer. The Cowboys' plan is to make sure Favre has to test those 40-year-old legs. The last time he saw this defense, he completed 5 of 14 passes and was intercepted twice before being knocked out of the game at Texas Stadium. He was of course with a 10-1 Packers team at the time in '07. Keith Brooking told me Tuesday that the Eagles and Vikings have similar offenses, but he alluded to the fact that Brad Childress is much more likely to use the running game than his mentor, Andy Reid. Of course, that's a lot easier to do when you have the pride of Palestine, Texas, Adrian Peterson, in your backfield. It's been quite a while since a team has put up points on this defense -- and that includes a Chargers team that was held to a season-low in points. I don't think we'll have a shootout on our hands, but Sid might have other ideas.

KS: I'll check with Sid when I see him. In the meantime, Matt, we have two elephants crowding the room for this game: The head coaches. In Minnesota, there is an unspoken fear that Brad Childress will get in the way and try to force his power running game on the Cowboys. Prior to Favre’s arrival, and at times this year, that has been Childress’ preference. Childress also made a couple of questionable game-management decisions in last year’s playoff loss to Philadelphia.

On the other side, however, is Phillips. Do Minnesota fans have anything to fear in this matchup?

MM: Calling Phillips an elephant is a low blow, Kevin. The man might fill out a pair of Russell coaching shorts, but he deserves better from you. And yes, there's reason for Vikings fans to fear The Wade. No matter what you say about his head-coaching credentials, he's always been an excellent defensive coordinator. He puts players in position to succeed and he does a superb job of exploiting weaknesses. From reading your fine work on a regular basis, I'm aware that Vikings center John Sullivan isn't a large man. He'll be facing one of the best nose tackles in the game in Jay Ratliff. From time to time, the behemoth-type centers give Ratliff a little trouble. But he's been known to destroy the guys who are close to his size. Everyone's focused on the offensive tackles, but I could see the "Ratt" having a big game in the middle. It all starts with him in this defense.

KS: Interesting. OK, Matt. This was great but is only a step in our coverage plan for this week. Keep checking back on the NFC East and NFC North blogs through Sunday.

MM: Just to be honest, my coverage plan for Saturday is a little weak because of travel. But I've thoroughly enjoyed this tremendous show of synergy within the NFL Blog Network. Kevin, I arrive at 8:10 local time on American, so please pass that along to my driver. Peace and courage from the Beast.

Posted by ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert

So you think Chicago coach Lovie Smith might be overextending himself by taking over the Bears' defensive playing? You might want to check out what happened Tuesday in Dallas, where owner Jerry Jones confirmed that coach Wade Phillips would serve as his own defensive coordinator in 2009.

I've been told that things always get done bigger in Texas, and true to form, the Cowboys' move is a step beyond what Smith plans. Because Jones isn't replacing the fired Brian Stewart, Phillips will call the defensive signals and presumably be responsible for conceiving and implementing the defensive gameplan.

That's more than what Smith has laid out for himself. Smith has said he will call most of the defensive signals on game day and has assigned defensive coordinator Bob Babich to coach linebackers. But Babich also retained his title and will have some say in day-to-day management of the defense. Assistant head coach/defensive line coach Rod Marinelli will also have a level of authority.

(There have also been indications in Seattle that coach Jim Mora will handle a large portion of the defensive play-calling.) 

I suspect that people who follow and write about the Cowboys will see this move as a subtle shift toward offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, and the politics of the situation make it almost apples and oranges in comparison to the Bears. But, as the season approaches, it'll be interesting to note that Smith is not the only head coach to have taken on additional defensive duties.