This is when the 2025 NFL season really starts for the Green Bay Packers. Yes, it's been an up and down season. There have been times when the Packers looked like the best team in the NFL. There were other times when they looked like one of the worst.

The results, to this point, have equaled out to a 6-3-1 record. The Pack are currently second in the NFC North and if the playoffs started today, they'd be the sixth seed in the NFC.

You take the good with the bad in the NFL, but the Packers have run out of room for error. Starting in Week 12 against the Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay is hitting the meat of its 2025 season.

If the Packers can escape the next three weeks against the Vikings, Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears with a 3-0 record, they'll have solidified their place amongst the top of the heap in the NFC and certainly in the NFC North. One or more loss could be devastating to the Packers' cause, though. Needless to say, this is a huge stretch.

This is a one-game-at-a-time league, though, and the Packers can't afford to look ahead past the 4-6 Vikings.

As we look ahead to the game, here's all the pertinent info you could ever need.

Game Time: 

12:00 PM Lambeau Time

TV Channel:

FOX

Odds:

Packers -6 per ESPN BET, O/U 41.5

Key Matchup: Keisean Nixon vs. Justin Jefferson

Justin Jefferson is one of the best wide receivers in the NFL, if not the very best. He's caught 56 passes for 747 yards and (just) two touchdowns this season. Those touchdown numbers are low because of the struggles of Minnesota quarterback J.J. McCarthy, but we all know Jefferson is capable of finding the end zone at least twice against the Pack.

Green Bay's cornerback room is undoubtedly a weakness, but let's give some credit to Keisean Nixon. He's notched 46 tackles, a fumble recovery, and 14 passes defended so far this season. That passes defended number is tied for first in the NFL with DJ Turner II of the Cincinnati Bengals. 

Nixon may never be the true CB1 that he thinks he is, but he has done a great job making plays for the Packers in 2025.

If anyone can bat down a few balls headed Jefferson's way, it would be Nixon.

Key Quote: Xavier McKinney on the importance of the next three games

"It's super important," safety Xavier McKinney said of this three-game stretch, per Rob Demovsky of ESPN. "Last year we went 1-5. That's not where we want to be as a team in this division. And so I think this year we want to provide a new outlook on what type of team that we are, and we don't want to repeat that same stuff we did last year. So I think this is an important game. I think all division games are important, so we've taken it very seriously.

"We know that we have a tough stretch. These last however many games that we have, the majority of them are division games. So we know that we've got to be focused and locked in."

Prediction:

Packers 27, Vikings 17