FanHouse Aaron Rodgers

It's been a tough stretch of games for owners of elite quarterbacks, starting with a Week 5 that saw Drew Brees, Philip Rivers, Aaron Rodgers and Jay Cutler on the sideline and going through last week's off-week for Tom Brady, Carson Palmer and Ben Roethlisberger. Rest easy, because the rigorous fantasy games featuring backup QBs are over.

This week, only Brett Favre gets a seat on the bench in terms of QBs you'd want to use in normal-sized leagues. Next week, you just have to make it without Matt Schaub. For owners of the seven QBs in the previous paragraph, it's smooth sailing unless an injury strikes.

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Whether it's torn, sprained, broken or just needs to be taped, Injuries to Watch will keep you up to date on injuries around the NFL and how they'll affect your fantasy football team.

Quarterback

• Aaron Rodgers, Packers - Rodgers sat out of practice on Wednesday with sprained right foot and sore toe on his left foot. He's not expected to participate in practice until Friday, but he is expected to play on Sunday.

• Matthew Stafford, Lions - Stafford practiced on Wednesday, but only as a limited participant. His right knee is banged up.

Did the injury bug hit your fantasy football team like it was a car windshield moving at 100 MPH? If so, it may be time to do some Damage Control.

Quarterback

• Aaron Rodgers, Packers - Rodgers has been sacked 31 times this season to lead the NFL. On Sunday he sprained his toe. His opposite foot was already injured, so watch to see how well he's moving around this week. I would expect him to play through these foot injuries.

• Jake Delhomme, Panthers - Delhomme sustained a chest injury against Arizona on Sunday but said on Monday that he feels fine. There's no reason to think that he won't be ready for Week 9.

Editor's Note: Bruce Ciskie, a lifelong Packers fan, opines about the state of his beloved team.

High expectations greeted the Green Bay Packers in August, as the team arrived at training camp. Practices -- held across the street from Lambeau Field -- were very physical, as the Packers tried to show they wouldn't be bullied around like they were far too often in 2008.

That 6-10 season, we all were told, was a memory. It was a fluke. It wasn't how things would be conducted in Green Bay. Bad tackling, soft defense, poor special teams play, and stupid penalties were going to be a thing of the past.

Or not.

Each Monday of the fantasy football season, we'll cut through the fantasy numbers put up by individuals and tell you what they really mean.

Matt Forte and LaDainian Tomlinson have been albatrosses for most of the season, but both came through to help their fantasy football owners in Week 8. Forte ran for 90 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Tomlinson also scored twice and amassed 56 yards on the ground. If we look deeper, though, neither back did anything to make you think they're all of a sudden going to turn it on and start producing on a consistent basis.

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GREEN BAY, Wis. -- It was mesmerizing, tantalizing for the fans, the 71,213 of them who filled Lambeau Field -- the most ever in this 52-year-old building. Maybe that was why, late in the fourth quarter, camera bulbs were flashing high and low as if it were the kickoff. Or why Packers fans were still on edge at that point, even though their team was cooked.

Yes, Brett Favre rolled them twice -- once in his new dome in Minnesota, and now here on Sunday on hallowed football ground. The Packers half expected him to show up and play the game in flip-flops to match his mental trickery. You know, this Packers legend, this turncoat in purple -- he had punched them in the gut before.

And after Minnesota's 38-26 win, after Favre had thrown four touchdown passes to Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers' three, and after the Vikings swept the season series between these long-time rivals, Favre had earned the bragging rights.

Most of the Packers fans tried their hardest to make Brett Favre feel unwelcome in his return to Lambeau Field on Sunday -- booing him from the moment he emerged from the tunnel in pregame warmups until the final snap. All Favre did in response was play exactly like he always has at Lambeau.

The 40-year-old was spectacular in his first game back in Green Bay, leading the Vikings to a 38-26 win that puts Minnesota in complete control of the NFC North.

"It was emotional," a slightly choked-up Favre said to Fox's Pam Oliver once the game ended. "I had a lot of years here, a lot of great years. It was pretty special."

Outside of Sunday being a day many Packer fans have dreaded for months, it's just another football Sunday in Green Bay.

The hype surrounding this regular-season battle of NFC North rivals surpasses anything most fans will see in their lifetimes. The reality is that football fans in Wisconsin are stuck in the middle of the tension that developed between Brett Favre and the Packers. It was this way in August of 2008, when the whole thing blew up, and it isn't going to change for some time.

The Early Games

New York Giants (5-2) at Philadelphia (4-2): The Giants are supposed to have one of the best pass rushes in the league, but they just haven't shown up in the past two games, with zero sacks over that time. They must get pressure on Donovan McNabb to have a chance on Sunday. Eli Manning also must figure out how to rebound from his four interceptions over the past two games.