GREEN BAY -- The smile and the pause lasted a good 15 seconds, which in conversational time felt like forever. The answer never came.

Mike McCarthy was leaning back in a black leather chair in the coach's Lambeau Field office last week when the question was asked. He'd given the requisite non-specific response -- Ari Fleischer, no doubt, would have approved -- when asked if the already intense rivalry between his Green Bay Packers and the Minnesota Vikings would burn any hotter after the events of the last six months.

He called it "an excellent rivalry" but praised the Packers' other NFC North opponents, Chicago and Detroit, too. He pointed out how close the all-time series is -- the Packers lead 48-44-1 in regular-season play, but the Vikings won the only postseason meeting, after the 2004 season -- but said the rivalry with the  Bears has "tremendous history." He spoke of how the staff educates the young players on the significance of the long-standing rivalries.

Then came the follow-up: That's all well and good, but do you dislike the Vikings any more than you dislike any other team?

Grin ... tick-tick-tick ... still grinning ... tick-tick-tick ...

Enough (not) said.

"I haven't gotten a sense of, Hey, we really need to get these guys,' but from what happened this offseason, I could imagine there's some differences of opinion about the other squad -- which is a nice way to put it," said Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who'll be making his first NFL start tonight in place of Brett Favre, the source of much of the enmity between the two clubs. "(There's) some bad blood between the management of the two teams. No doubt about it."

Lighting the fuse

While Vikings defensive linemen Pat Williams ("That's been the focus of my whole summer the Green Bay Packers") and Jared Allen ("Hopefully, I can put my helmet square in the back of his spine") directed some trash-talking toward Rodgers and the Packers in a Yahoo! Sports article during training camp, that's penny-ante stuff compared to the two events that brought the simmering rivalry to a boil:

When it came to light last season that cornerbacks Charles Woodson and Al Harris had promised each Packers defensive lineman $500 if they held Minnesota's Adrian Peterson under 100 yards in the teams' Nov. 11 meeting -- a game Peterson left with a knee injury after a low tackle by Harris -- Vikings owner Zygi Wilf was convinced the Packers were out to get his star running back. Wilf even approached a team official at the NFL meetings about it this spring.

The Packers filed tampering charges with the league against the Vikings, alleging they tampered with Favre while he was contemplating unretiring. Although Favre himself admitted to Packers officials and NFL invesigators he'd been in contact with Vikings coach Brad Childress and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell (Favre's former position coach in Green Bay), the league ruled against the Packers and cleared Minnesota of any wrongdoing.

Asked during a conference call with Wisconsin reporters whether the accusation made him want to beat the Packers more, Childress chose his words carefully but never denied the charges provide additional motivation.

"You know what?" Childress replied after a pause that wasn't as long as McCarthy's. "The last time I checked, I won't be out there between the white lines or anything like that physically. So, it's about the players that are on the football field playing the game, and that's about it."

Asked if he thought the tampering accusation angered the Vikings, McCarthy replied, "I don't care how they feel about it. I just know what the facts are. I was involved in the investigation. It's a league matter, they've made their decision, we have to respect that because we all work for the league and they're the governing party. But I could care less how they feel about it."

One thing is clear: With Favre gone, the Vikings see an opportunity within the division. Minnesota hasn't won the division since 2000 -- the Packers have won four division titles during that time -- and has lost four straight in the series (the first time since the Vikings' back-to-back season sweeps in 1992-93 either team has been on such a streak).

After Favre retired in March, the Vikings went on one of the biggest spending sprees of the offseason, adding Allen (six years, $74.5 million, $31 million guaranteed), wide receiver Bernard Berrian (six years, $42 million, $16 million signing bonus) and safety Madieu Williams (six years, $33 million, almost $13 million guaranteed).

"I think (the rivalry) kind of floundered over the past two years," Vikings linebacker E.J. Henderson said. "I know when (Mike) Tice was here (as coach), it was ridiculous. Hopefully we can renew that. (It's) a new era with Aaron Rodgers back there. I don't think either team, either city, either state really cares for the other team. So it should be a good game."

Two sides to story

There are two popular theories about the Vikings' interest in Favre this offseason: They were legitimately interested in him being their quarterback, given the questions about starter Tarvaris Jackson and the otherwise Super Bowl-caliber talent around him; or, knowing the odds were long on Favre ever being released and crossing the border, they liked the idea the Favre saga could create the mother of all distractions for the Packers.

Speaking with people familiar with both sides of the issue, the Packers remain convinced they had a "slam-dunk" case against the Vikings for tampering -- the fact Favre formally asked for his release before applying for reinstatement still bothers the Packers -- while some in the Vikings organization believe the Packers filed the tampering charges to deflect the intense scrutiny they were under.

"It's like (your brother) saying that you put your hand in the cookie jar, and you're almost about to get a whooping from your mother and then she finds out that you really didn't do it," said Vikings safety Darren Sharper, who spent his first eight NFL seasons with the Packers. "You'd be a little (ticked) off at your brother for making up a lie. You'd be a little bit upset.

"It's pretty intense now. There are so many factors. The things in the offseason. It goes from top to bottom. For the owners, they have a little bit of a beef going on, (as well as the) organizational (front office) guys.

Truth be told, though, all the offseason hullabaloo probably won't impact the way the players approach the game.

"I think what happened in the offseason was pretty much blown out of proportion with us wanting Brett Favre and him coming here and stuff like that," cornerback Antoine Winfield said. "As a player I know I have a job to do. Go out there Monday night, play to the best of my abilities and try to come away with a win."

Said McCarthy: "If we need a tampering charge to motivate us to play them, then we've got the wrong people wearing a G on their helmet. That will not be a source of motivation for our football team."