Did Brett Favre ever really leave Green Bay?
Following the Packers' upset loss to the Colts in Week 8, the legendary quarterback, now retired and pushing multiple products via late-night infomercials in his spare time, chose to air a few suggestions for Packers coach Mike McCarthy and quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
"Mike, Aaron being the leader, rather than talk about it afterwards, we've got to figure out a way to be excited about playing," Favre told SiriusXM NFL Radio. "Because bottom line, even after this loss, they're no different than they were before. They've got just as good a chance and probably will win ... their division. It's a tossup. No one gained any ground on anyone. So they're still the best team, in my opinion, and they need to play like it."
Though Green Bay's offense has been relatively revitalized following its early-season lull, the 4-4 Packers have dropped three of their last four games and two of their last three contests at Lambeau. As Favre intimated, the NFC North is still within reach -- the Vikings have lost three in a row -- but if the Pack keep losing home games, fans, like Favre, will start to question the leadership at the top.
On the other hand, Rodgers is as "cool" as ever during Green Bay's skid. When asked if Sunday's game in Tennessee is a must-win, he responded in a manner akin to his famous R-E-L-A-X comments, "I've never liked that term. World War II was a must-win. Football's football. It's an important one but it's just the next one."
The Packers now embark on a three-game road stretch against playoff contenders and then return home to Lambeau for matchups against two playoff teams from last year, Houston and Seattle. Rodgers is naturally nonchalant about midseason skids, but he might want to heed his predecessor's words so as to avoid a sub-.500 finish. That is unless he wants the Green Bay faithful to ignite a World War III.
