The Ford Motor Company used to have an ad campaign that said: "Quality is Job One!"
Well, the Green Bay Packers have to co-opt that slogan for their upcoming Wild Card Weekend game against the Minnesota Vikings.
"Stopping Adrian Peterson is Job One!"
It may also be jobs two through ten.
The teams square off at Lambeau Field on Saturday night, January 5. Kickoff is at 7:22 CST on NBC.
A quirk in the NFL schedule has these teams facing one another for the third time in 34 days.
It would be a surprise if these players didn't know what chewing gum their opposite number prefers and whether they wear boxers or briefs.
Peterson is more than just a handful at the running back position.
He is one of the best rushers of all time.
His skillset combines speed, power and the ability to shed tacklers like snakes shed their skin.
The Packers have not exactly been known to wrap a lot of people up on a consistent basis, but they have improved over last season and even earlier in the year.
That is with the possible exception of a couple games in December.
AP simply gashed the Green & Gold for 409 yards in the two prior meetings last month.
That's roughly 20% of his league-leading, near-record setting total.
Still and all, the teams split those games with the Pack gaining the advantage at home.
But Viking QB Christian Ponder had a hand in that first win for Green Bay.
Ponder gift-wrapped the victory with two interceptions.
He followed that defeat with four straight wins and had his career-high QB rating and three TD passes on Sunday in their 37-34 win which is the reason we're all here.
What the Packers could surely use would be a gargantuan defensive effort against Peterson.
Something along the lines of December 31, 1994, when the Green Bay 'D' held the estimable Barry Sanders to minus one-yard rushing.
Sanders was the Peterson of his day, although he was smaller and more slippery than he was powerful.
GB QB Aaron Rodgers was not happy that the team let it slip last week.
But the reigning MVP is capable of strapping this team to his back and leading them to the Super Bowl.
Just like he did in the season of adversity that was 2010.
The good news is that he will have his full complement of weapons for the first time in months.
Randall Cobb and Jordy Nelson
And Charles Woodson, the future hall-of-famer at defensive back, will be on the field for the first time in 10 games.
His leadership and savvy will be a big boost to Dom Capers' defense.
The fact that the Casey Haywards, Sam Shieldses and Morgan Burnetts have stepped up in Woodson's stead is just gravy on what was a much moister cut of roast beef on that side of the ball.
The tundra won't be frozen because of today's technological advances, but the cold temps should give Peterson, Ponder and the rest some pause.
It was quite different on December 2 weatherwise, to be sure.
The beauty of this time of year is that the sense of urgency is built in.
It's time to lace 'em up and see which team can execute, play all-out until the whistle blows and whatever cliche you care to insert here.
As far as a prediction for the game, it doesn't seem possible that A-Rod and the Packers could lose to this Viking team two weeks in a row.
Adrian Peterson or no Adrian Peterson.
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