GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Don’t let the win-loss record fool you: Mike Zimmer has not made things easy on Aaron Rodgers.

Sure, the Green Bay Packers quarterback has the head-to-head advantage of late. He's 3-1 against the Zimmer-coached Minnesota Vikings the past two seasons after losing to him in 2009 and 2013, when Zimmer coordinated the Cincinnati Bengals' defense.

But few defensive minds have limited Rodgers' production like Zimmer. In those six games against Zimmer with the Bengals and Vikings, Rodgers has a combined completion percentage that is nearly 6 points lower than his overall career mark and has markedly lower numbers in passing yards per game, yards per attempt, touchdowns per game and passer rating while being sacked more frequently (see accompanying chart).

As innovative as Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers was in developing the 3-4 zone blitz scheme (along with Dick LeBeau) back in their Pittsburgh Steelers days, Zimmer's version of a 4-3 in which seven or eight players might line up at the line of scrimmage to try to disguise which ones will pressure and which will drop into coverage is equally inventive.

"He's a trendsetter," Rodgers said as he turned his attention from this past Sunday's win over the Jaguars to this Sunday's game at Minnesota. "There’s been multiple [trendsetters] over the years in the NFL, and he's one of them. What he's done with the 'seven-up' package has changed the game. A lot of teams have tried to replicate that, but not to the same success or intricacies as Coach Zimmer has. You've got to give him credit for that."

Perhaps the best measure of Zimmer's impact on the Packers-Vikings rivalry is this: From 2008 to 2013, Rodgers' passer rating against Minnesota was 116.8. Since Zimmer took over in 2014, Rodgers' rating in four games against the Vikings is 99.8.

"Mike Zimmer's defense, he always does a very good job of taking away [and] challenging you at the things you do best," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "They're playing well, just in the early report coming out of the Tennessee game and obviously had a fine season last year. This will be an excellent matchup for us Sunday night."

Rodgers has 43 career 300-yard passing games in 119 regular-season starts, but none came in any of the six games against Zimmer.

Part of Zimmer's charge when the Vikings hired him was to control Rodgers.

"It's a challenge, that's for sure," Zimmer said Monday when asked if he likes coming up with ways to stop the Packers quarterback. "Whether or not I like it doesn't matter. We have to do it."

The Vikings ranked 31in the NFL in total defense the year before Zimmer arrived in Minnesota. They jumped to 14th in his first season to 13th last year.

The talent on defense assembled by general manager Rick Spielman no doubt has played a part too. Spielman drafted safety Harrison Smith and linebacker Anthony Barr, both Pro Bowlers last season, and Zimmer has built his defense around them and a solid front.

If anyone can appreciate what Zimmer has done against Rodgers, it's Capers. For eight years now, he has put his defense up against Rodgers in practice on a daily basis.

"He's going to study offenses and try to take away what they do," Capers said of Zimmer. "They have a certain style and they’ve done a nice job of accumulating good talent and they play good defense."