Green Bay, WI -- Daunte Culpepper threw for 284 yards and four touchdowns, as the Minnesota Vikings held off the Green Bay Packers, 31-17, in an NFC Wild Card matchup at Lambeau Field.

Culpepper was 19-of-29 passing, while Randy Moss had four catches for 70 yards and two scores. Minnesota, which came in having lost four of their last five games in the regular season, became just the second 8-8 team in NFL history to win a playoff game, and the second in as many days. On Saturday, the St. Louis Rams became the first when they bested the Seattle Seahawks.

The Vikings will travel to Philadelphia next weekend to face the NFC's top seed, the Eagles, at Lincoln Financial Field. That game is set for Sunday, January 16, at 1 p.m. (et).

"We made enough plays to carry the day," said Vikings' head coach Mike Tice. "It was a tough battle, but winning helps (injuries) heal quickly. We're pleased we're able to take the next step. We were looking forward to another chance to play Philadelphia, and now we have that opportunity."

Green Bay, meanwhile, came into Sunday's game as one of the NFL's hottest teams, having won nine of their last 11 since a 1-4 start. But the Packers could not overcome turnovers in this one. Green Bay legendary quarterback Brett Favre finished the game 22-of-33 passing for 216 yards and a touchdown, but threw four very costly interceptions.

Minnesota's defense had just 11 interceptions all season, before collecting four in this game.

The loss was Green Bay's fifth at home this season, marking the first time since 1991 that the Packers had a losing home record.

The Vikings, who lost their two regular season meetings with the Packers by identical 34-31 scores, came out like gangbusters to quiet the Lambeau Field crowd. Minnesota scored 17 points in the first 8:54 of the game, and the Packers were never able to recover.

The Vikings took the opening kickoff and marched 76 yards on just three plays, as Culpepper capped the drive by hitting Moe Williams out of the backfield on a 68-yard scoring toss. The extra point gave Minnesota a 7-0 lead just 1:40 into the contest.

Green Bay went three-and-out on its first possession of the game, punctuated by a sack of Brett Favre on 3rd-and-6.

Minnesota took over after a punt, and the Vikings' offense picked up where it left off on the first drive. Minnesota stampeded 55 yards in just four plays, culminated by a Culpepper-to-Moss 20-yard touchdown pass, and it was a 14-0 game just over five minutes in.

Before Minnesota's offense had a chance to catch its breath, it was on the field again, thanks to a Favre pass that was picked off by Antoine Winfield. The interception gave Minnesota the ball on its own 43-yard line, and it led to a Morten Andersen 35-yard field goal that increased the advantage to 17 points with 6:06 left in the first quarter.

The Packers finally got on the scoreboard on their next possession, despite narrowly avoiding turnovers on two different plays. On the second play of the drive, an attempted Favre handoff to Ahman Green was fumbled, but Green fell on the ball to keep the drive alive.

Later on the possession, a pass attempt to Javon Walker was popped up in the air and appeared to be intercepted by Joey Thomas, who was then hit and fumbled. But the play was instead ruled incomplete, and Ryan Longwell nailed a 43-yard field goal with 2:42 left in the first quarter to make it a 17-3 game.

The Packers avoided another turnover on their next drive, in the red zone, as Najah Davenport fumbled inside the five yard line on a sweep to the left. But Green Bay tight end Bubba Franks was right there blocking and recovered the fumble in mid-air. Two plays later, Franks was the recipient on a four-yard touchdown pass that pulled the Packers within one score, at 17-10, with 10:24 left in the first half.

The Packers dodged yet another bullet on the Vikings' next drive. Minnesota drove 56 yards on its next drive, but Andersen slipped on his attempt at a 27- yard field goal.

Green Bay took over seemingly with momentum, but Favre was intercepted by Brian Russell, who returned it 14 yards to the Packers' 28-yard line. Two plays later, Culpepper took advantage as he hit Nate Burleson across the middle on a 19-yard touchdown pass. The connection gave Minnesota a 24-10 lead with 6:33 left in the first half.

The Packers failed in a last minute bid to cut into the 14-point deficit. Despite being aided by a pair of third-down penalties that kept their drive alive, Favre scrambled on a third down play and appeared close to making the first down marker inside the five-yard line. But rather than dive for the first down, he elected to underhand a throw into the end zone, despite the fact that he was far across the line of scrimmage. The ensuing penalty cost Green Bay both yardage and a loss of down, and it hurt when Longwell missed a 40-yard field goal wide left to send Minnesota into the locker room with a 24-10 advantage.

Culpepper was 11-of-15 for 191 yards and three scoring tosses in the opening 30 minutes, and added 49 yards rushing on three scampers.

"He's tried to carry us to victory a number of times this season," said Tice, "and because we didn't give him enough support, we couldn't win it. He's got that winning edge that you need."

"This win was huge," said Culpepper. "Not only is this our biggest rival, but it was a playoff game, a game that pretty much everybody said that we couldn't do it. We just pulled together."

Favre was 10-of-16 passing for 96 yards and a score in the first half, but threw two crucial interceptions that led to 10 points by the Vikings.

Favre was intercepted again on Green Bay's opening drive of the third quarter, but the Vikings could not take advantage and were forced to punt. For Favre, it marked just the second time he has thrown three interceptions in a postseason game. Favre was picked off six times against the St. Louis Rams on January 20, 2002.

Green Bay's defense stiffened in the third quarter, and got the ball back to Favre with 5:50 left in the stanza. But Favre uncorked his fourth interception of the game when Brian Williams stepped in front of a pass intended for Antonio Chatman and the Vikings took over at their own 40-yard line.

The Vikings were forced to punt, and Green Bay's offense was able to produce points for the first time in six drives. Favre was 5-for-5 on the drive, which culminated in a one-yard scoring run by Davenport. The extra point made it a 24-17 game with 13:37 left in regulation, and got the Lambeau Field masses back into the game.

But the Vikings engineered a six-play, 66-yard drive to answer the Packers' score. After they were aided by two penalties by Green Bay's Ahmad Carroll on the drive, Moss hauled in a 34-yard toss from Culpepper to up Minnesota's margin to 31-17 with 10:18 remaining.

The Vikings regained possession on their own 18-yard line with 8:21 left in the fourth quarter, and Culpepper and Co. were able to keep the ball away from Green Bay before turning it over on downs with 23 seconds left. The time- consuming drive covered 15 plays and 7:58 on the game clock, which all but ended the contest.

Game Notes:

This was the first-ever postseason meeting between these clubs...Green Bay wide receiver Robert Ferguson, who was injured when he was clotheslined by Jacksonville's Donovin Darius three weeks ago, was unable to give it a go and was inactive...This was the 16th consecutive playoff game in which Favre has thrown a touchdown pass. The last postseason game in which he didn't was back on January 28, 1995, against Dallas...In Favre's first 15 playoff games, he was 10-5. Since then, he is 1-4 with seven touchdowns and 14 interceptions...Green Bay still leads the all-time series with Minnesota, which dates back to the 1961 season, by a narrow margin of 44-42-1...Minnesota's last win in the series came at Lambeau Field in 2003, when they prevailed by a 30-25 count...Green Bay coach Mike Sherman has a 7-4 record against the Vikings all-time, while Tice improved to 3-4 versus both the Packers and Sherman as a head coach...Walker left the game with a contusion of the left shin in the first half, and did not return...Williams suffered a sprained knee...Packers' starting left tackle Chad Clifton (ankle) left the game in the third quarter...Culpepper has thrown 16 touchdowns and no interceptions in his last five games against Green Bay.