Minnesota Vikings vs. Green Bay Packers NFL Picks Week 8: This is the game everyone has been waiting for! For the first time in almost 20 years, Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre returns as a visitor to the place that watched him go from a promising young man with a rocket-arm, to a three NFL Most Valuable Player awards, to a Super Bowl championship.
But most of all, this is the place and these are the people who watched Favre grow from a brass kid to a legendary man. This is the (6-1) Minnesota Vikings [+3] taking on longtime, hated rival (4-2) Green Bay Packers 
[-3], live from Lambeau Field beginning at 4:15 PM ET (1:15 PM PT) on FOX. "I never expected it to come to this," Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy said.
As No.4 returns to Lambeau dressed in the enemy’s colors, no one truly knows how this Green Bay crowed will greet this once beloved figure. According to NFL Picks Week 8 experts at SportsBook.com, the OVER/UNDER for this Minnesota Vikings vs. Green Bay Packers game has been set at a combined total of 47 points scored.
"I don't think it'll be as bad," Favre said, "but I don't know that. If you're a true fan, you're a true fan. The people that have jumped ship or whatever completely, what can I do? There was always Brett Favre haters out there, and that will never change."
The first time these clubs met this season in the NFL Picks Week 4, the Vikings defeated the cheese-heads on the strength of Favre’s 24-of-31 passing for 271 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. "I've always thought his strength was his aggressiveness, but sometimes it caught up to him," McCarthy stated. "I don't want to say he plays conservative now, but he does a lot better job of managing the game and taking what the game gives you. That's reflected in his completion percentage."
However since that loss, Green Bay has stringed together consecutive victories. They hope that momentum can carry over to Sunday, when everyone will be anticipating a very emotional ballgame. "It's good to have two big wins," linebacker Aaron Kampman said. "We haven't done that back to back. Dominant performances on the defensive side of the ball. Obviously it's going to help us going into a very large game, large stage again at Lambeau Field."
For the Packers, it’s all about quarterback Aaron Rodgers now. The city even changed the name of a street in order to honor the new face of Green Bay for this game. "He deserves everything that he accomplishes," Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy said. "He's just doing a really good job of running the offense and I can't say enough about that."
Rodgers, who has lived in the shadow of Brett Favre so far in his career, understands the magnitude of what will happen today. Nevertheless, Rodgers feels the team and the organization stand behind him 100 percent.
"I know that I'm here because Ted picked me (in the 2005 draft) and Ted, Mike and (Packers president) Mark Murphy stood behind me in making their decision," Rodgers said. "I know my legacy, whatever it might or might not be, will be tied to Mike and Ted. I know I'm tied to theirs as well. We're all in this together."
But many of the players involved aren’t necessarily buying into all the hoopla going on this week. "What's happened has happened," Green Bay cornerback Charles Woodson said. "When it comes down to playing football, we are all here for one reason. It isn't about Brett or the Vikings. It's about trying to get to the ultimate goal… If you focus on a championship, all the other stuff is secondary."
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