FanHouse Green Bay Packers

TAMPA -- A very amusing story died on Sunday. A better one might have been born.

We came not to bury the Bucs, but laugh at them with their rookie quarterback and creamsicle uniforms. Instead, the joke is on the Packers.

"I don't think it's embarrassing," Packers guard Daryn Colledge said after the 38-28 loss. "The fact is they are a professional football team."

Just barely. The Bucs were so inept in their first seven games they gave us real hope we'd see another 0-16 season.

It's not that I enjoy watching Raheem Morris suffer. It's just that if you're going to stink, you might as well really stink to keep things interesting. These Bucs will never be the novelty act their forefathers were.

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Though most had the Minnesota Vikings as the favorites to win the NFC North heading into the season, nearly everyone agreed that either the Chicago Bears or Green Bay Packers -- or both -- would at least pose a challenge to the Vikes' second straight division crown. Instead, we're taking this division race off life support and putting it to rest after Week 9. The 2009 NFC North champions will be the Vikings. They can now focus on securing home-field advantage in the playoffs.

The reason for the above sentiment is that both the Bears and Packers were abysmal, in different circumstances, Sunday afternoon. The Pack went into Tampa Bay and lost to the formerly winless Buccaneers, while the Bears were absolutely manhandled for the majority of the afternoon by a fickle Arizona squad.

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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.

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."

Since there's no Sunday night game on the schedule this week, we're bumping our weekly live chat up to the afternoon to discuss THE GREATEST GAME EVER.

Yes, that's right, it's Favre Bowl II as Brett Favre makes his first appearance in Green Bay as a visiting starting quarterback. We'll be there for all of the action, so please, join us at 4:00 PM ET for all of the fun.

Tom Cable appears to have a history of physically abusing people he has power over, whether a woman he's in a relationship with or a coach who works for him.

I think about 80% of Green Bay fans will boo Brett Favre today. What do you think? Higher? Lower?

Those are among the observations I've made on Twitter today, and I'll be making plenty more as I follow the early games, highlighted by Giants vs. Eagles, and the late games, highlighted by Vikings vs. Packers. To stay updated on everything happening in the NFL Sunday, follow along below or follow me on Twitter @MichaelDavSmith.

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.

Everyone forgets that Brett Favre wanted to play football. He wanted to play football in Green Bay. They did not want him. In life, you go on. I don't think you get mad at the man for still wanting to play football. He was told no on numerous occasions -- 'You are not playing here.'
-- Bus Cook, Brett Favre's agent

The truth on how and why Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers split their 16-year union remains strictly in the eye of the storyteller. Favre and his agent Bus Cook say they were simply kicked aside. The Packers insist that Favre waffled too much about his return that they simply decided to move forward with quarterback Aaron Rodgers and create clarity.

I find this much crystal clear -- from the moment Favre realized he was not going be a Packer, he began angling his way for a return to Lambeau Field.

He's back, and it's stealing all of the headlines. It's going to be a highly emotional Sunday for many NFL fans, as former Detroit Lions defensive lineman James Hall makes his return to the Motor City as a member of the St. Louis Rams.

Oh, and Brett Favre is back in Green Bay. Not sure if you've heard about that one.