(Sports Network) - Will there be one more happy return for Brett Favre in Green Bay?
Vikings Vs. Packers: Brett Favre And The Vikings Look To Continue Winning Ways In Green Bay
That will be the main question answered when Favre and the Minnesota Vikings meet the Packers at Lambeau Field on Sunday night, but by no means the only one.
To be sure, it's always a story when Favre - the NFL's all-time leading passer - returns to the place he called home for 16 seasons before parting ways with the organization prior to the 2008 campaign. Favre's return to Lambeau last Nov. 1st, in a game the Vikings won by a 38-26 count, was among the biggest stories of 2009, though enough has changed for both teams since that time to obscure the homecoming angle just a tad for this year's matchup.
The Packers, who went 7-2 after losing to Favre for a second time last year and found themselves in the 2009 playoff bracket along with the Vikings, are no longer in Minnesota's shadow. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers rebounded from his two head-to-head losses to Favre, ending the '09 season with 30 touchdown passes, seven interceptions and a Pro Bowl appearance.
Rodgers is not the same quarterback the Vikings saw in the first half of last season, and unfortunately for Minnesota, neither is Favre. The future Hall of Famer enters Week 7 with a middling 72.1 passer rating in 2010 - down more than 35 points from last year - having thrown for just six touchdown passes and seven interceptions as the 41-year-old battles a myriad of injuries as well as an off-the-field scandal concerning his text-messaging activities as a member of the Jets in 2008.
In a related development, the Vikings have struggled too. A team that went 12-4 a year ago stands at just 2-3 as they head to Lambeau, though their 24-21 home win over the also-dysfunctional Dallas Cowboys last Sunday offered at least a temporary sigh of relief.
The Vikings attack managed just 188 yards of total offense in that win, though the team was bailed out by some big plays including a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Percy Harvin to start the second half.
Wideout Randy Moss, playing in his second game with the Favre-era Vikings following his trade from New England, caught five passes for 55 yards in the win.
The struggles of the Vikes have been handy for a Packers team that has also suffered through a disappointing 2010 to date.
Green Bay dropped to 3-3 with last week's 23-20 overtime loss to the Dolphins, the Pack's second straight OT defeat and the third time in the last four games they were on the business end of a three-point defeat.
Though Rodgers played reasonably well after suffering a concussion the week before (18-of-33, 313 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT), a battered Green Bay defense surrendered 137 ground yards on 32 carries for Dolphins running backs Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams, and Green Bay didn't have enough of an answer for Dolphins wideout Brandon Marshall (10 receptions, 127 yards) either.
The loss prevented the Packers from pulling into a tie with the first-place Chicago Bears (4-2) atop the NFC North.
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