The Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikingswill play each other for the second time this month Sunday. A playoff spot will be on the line for the Vikings.
The NFL schedules division games across the league in Week 17 in hopes of producing more meaningful games. The Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins are playing for the NFC East title, for example.
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers likes the arrangement, even if means playing the same team twice within a few weeks.
"The NFL is doing a good thing," Rodgers said during his weekly ESPN Milwaukee radio show with Jason Wilde. "In other years, there could be two or three of these games that might decide who's going to win a division.
"It makes the games more interesting for the fans. It's always tough playing a division opponent. When you look at the schedule, three of the toughest games on it every year for us is at Detroit, at Minnesota and at Chicago because those are teams that know us, we know them. They're tough environments to play, they have very good crowds that know when to cheer."
The setup is great for the fans but can present a challenge for players and coaches. The Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texanswill play for the second time in three weeks.
"There are always going to be things in a game that are different I'm sure for us and for them," Texans coach Gary Kubiak said. "That's just part of preparation. To play each other two out of three times in such a short period of time, that is different, and we could very well play again before this thing's over.
"There's a little different dynamic there, but the key for us is obviously playing better, limiting mistakes and obviously having to come do it at a tough place to play."
Follow Kareem Copeland on Twitter @kareemcopeland.
