GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — The familiarity factor could be a wash in Monday night’s highly anticipated showdown between Green Bay and Minnesota. Brett Favre knows the Packers, and the Packers know Favre.

But while Favre will see some familiar faces when he lines against his former team, many of them will be in new roles. The Packers brought in defensive coordinator Dom Capers in the offseason and switched to a 3-4 scheme, and hope to throw a few new wrinkles at their old quarterback.

Aaron Kampman hopes the change provides an advantage to the Packers. But he also knows there isn’t much Favre hasn’t seen on a football field.

“A 19-year veteran doesn’t go, ‘Oh, wow, this is something I haven’t seen before,'” Kampman said.

Indeed, the Vikings already have beaten a pair of teams, Cleveland and San Francisco, that use 3-4 schemes.

“The 3-4 in general is a challenging defense,” Favre said. “(The Packers) maybe don’t have the exact personnel so much for the 3-4 like they would like yet, but they have, just like San Francisco has, a lot of talented players in the right positions.”

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Tight end Jim Kleinsasser says the Vikings are getting more comfortable facing the 3-4, but the thought of Kampman as an outside linebacker instead of a defensive end is still somewhat odd to them.

“We’ve seen it a few weeks in a row here, so we’re a little familiar with it,” Kleinsasser said. “It’s going to be different seeing Kampman standing up there instead of with his hand in the ground.”

Capers believes in the 3-4, but isn’t sure the switch itself will neutralize Favre’s knowledge of his former teammates.

“They’re probably asking him if it’s an advantage for him because he knows all the players here,” Capers said. “It can work both ways. He has a familiarity with all the players and what their abilities are. To me, that’s as big a factor as going against a new scheme.”

The Packers’ defensive failures played a critical role in last year’s disappointing 6-10 finish. They had some key injuries, but they also fell into predictable patterns and couldn’t muster much of a pass rush.

So Packers coach Mike McCarthy fired most of his defensive staff in the offseason and brought in Capers to install his version of the 3-4 alignment.

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An unpredictable pass rush is a key component of the 3-4; on any play, a defensive lineman can drop into coverage while an inside linebacker or defensive back rushes the passer. It’s still a work in progress for the Packers, who have five sacks in their first three games.

Favre and the Vikings are vulnerable, having given up nine sacks already.

But ask Capers a question about potential opportunities for the Packers’ pass rush this week, and you’ll get an answer about stopping the run first.

For all the Favre hype, the key to beating the Minnesota Vikings is stopping Adrian Peterson.

“One of the things he does the best in my opinion of any back in the league is he really finishes runs,” Capers said. “When he feels contact nearing, he’s going to lower his shoulder and seek the contact. He’ll attack tacklers just like they’re attacking him.”

And the Packers’ new-look defense has struggled to stop the run early on, giving up 141 yards on 29 carries to Cincinnati’s Cedric Benson in a surprising Week 2 home loss.

“You’d better stop the run or it’s going to be a long day,” Capers said. “In terms of being able to be aggressive and attack and all those things, if people can run the ball effectively against you, then they neutralize a lot of that.”


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