I talked about the trade with my fellow colleagues, Justin Garcia and Armen Saryan about J.J. Hardy being shipped to Minnesota. Take a listen, if for anything, you can hear why Armen thinks Hardy being traded is going to help his love life.

Picks are in bold...

Washington at Atlanta
-This one is over the moment Matt Ryan shows up at the stadium.
 
Arizona at Chicago
-Larry Fitzgerald may set a NFL record against the Bears struggling secondary.
 
Baltimore at Cincinnati
-This one could go either way so I'm going with the Ravens' defense on this one.
 
Houston at Indianapolis
-The Colts got a scare last week and they may get another one in this game. When this game is over, expect the Colts to stay undefeated.
 
Miami at New England
-I do not see the Pats getting burned by the wildcat for the second straight season.
 
Green Bay at Tampa Bay
-The scheduling gods smile down upon the Packers.
 
Kansas City at Jacksonville
-Yard work will be more entertaining than this game.
 
Carolina at New Orleans
-I say this every week and I will say it again, can anybody stop Drew Brees?
 
Detroit at Seattle
-Kansas City at Jacksonville will be more entertaining than this game which is not saying much.
 
Tennessee at San Francisco
-The Titans may have finally got that first win but they will not get that first win streak.
 
San Diego at NY Giants
-Something tells me the Giants will bounce back and beat the Chargers. Why? Every time I take the Chargers they usually lose.
 
Dallas at Philadelphia
-And so begins the Cowboys slow and painful fall from the playoff picture.
 
MON, NOV 9
 
Pittsburgh at Denver
-Still not sold that the Broncos are better than the defending champs

Fire them, run them out of town, treat their dogs like Dan Devine's was treated. Okay, so maybe the response has not been that harsh where fans want to wish harm upon the family pets. The masses are starting to grumble that the two men responsible for running Brett Favre out of town should start packing their bags as well.

 The angst is growing and I wonder is it because the two men who had enough gall to move forward without Brett got beat twice by the very same man that was left at the train station? Is it because you are just sick of watching this team year in and year out get younger and younger and get worse in the standings? It can be tiring year after year  wondering whether you are watching a football team or The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Maybe you are just tired of watching the defense not be able to find the quarterback. Maybe it is frustrating watching Aaron Rodgers run for his life every snap. You begin to wonder whether you are hearing him call out an audible or a Hail Mary. It has got to be tiring watching revolving doors block better than the Packers offensive line. Watching the field littered with flags that are bound to go against the Packers has got to make any true green and gold loyalist check into cheap fares out of town for McCarthy and Thompson.

Maybe the calls for their heads is coming from watching teams like the Vikings get built the way Super Bowl teams are supposed to be built--mostly through the draft with a nice blend of key VETERAN free agent additions and some bold trades that put a team over the top. Instead, you are stuck watching a team built on nothing but hopes, dreams and fifth round draft picks.

The last time the masses groaned for a firing like this was around 2004. That was the last glory run of Mike Sherman. The team rallied and won the division. The next year, the Packers collapsed like a house of cards. So is that maybe why those that want McCarthy and Thompson gone are feeling the need to bang the drum so loud again? Does it feel like history repeating itself?

I'm wondering if some have come to the realization that the partnership of Thompson & McCarthy (that sounds more like a law firm by the way and less like a GM/coaching combo) built up a 13-3 team and really did nothing to make that team any better. Maybe it is time to realize that the furthest Thompson can take this team is one game from the Super Bowl and that he does not have a clue on how to get the team over the hump.

Then again, all this anger could be because the Packers just got swept by the Vikings and a few wins will make everyone feel better.

As the clock ticked down on the Vikings win over the Packers, Fox broadcaster Thom Brennaman kept mentioning that it is time to move on. He was right. Brennaman also caught himself by saying it still may take a long time for the whole Packer nation to truly move on. Heck, closure may not come until that day Mark Murphy steps up to the podium, fires Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy along with announcing that he too is stepping down and Bob Harlan, Ron Wolf and Mike Holmgren are returning to run the show.

That scenario probably has about as good a chance of happening as a Packer offensive lineman keeping Jared Allen away from Aaron Rodgers. What scenario can happen right now is that we should take Mr. Brennaman's advice and move on. Two games and two Brett Favre wins. The old gunslinger got one half of his revenge. He showed that he still has it. I'll admit I thought Brett would throw nine picks in these two games. Instead, he threw seven touchdowns and played it safe by trusting his teammates. He was vintage Brett, the man that an entire legion of fans came to know and love. So the Brett Favre zealots are justified. Great, now move on and focus on the bigger picture like the problems the Packers have (which are many).

-JS Photo | Benny Sieu

Now, it is over. It is bed time. We have let this saga stay up way too late. It has given us every excuse to avoid turning out the lights but now it is time to tuck this saga in. Some of you may hold out hope that this saga may wake up in the middle of the night looking for a midnight snack, i.e. a playoff matchup. Well, that is just not going to happen.

Sorry Packers fans but with the problems in the trenches, the penalty issue and the defense's knack for giving up one too many big plays, there is not going to be a round three in the playoffs. That is not to say the Packers still do not have the talent to grab a wild card spot. It is just that the Packers do not have the talent to go deep enough into the playoffs to meet the Vikings. The Vikings are going to be either a one or a two seed. The Packers, well, they will be lucky to win a playoff game just to get another crack at Brett.

So it is time to put this Favre thing to bed once and for all. Time to stop debating on whether it was right to move on without Brett. Time to stop cursing his name for signing with the dreaded Vikings. Brett won the battles and it looks like with the talent around him, he will win the war when the Vikings capture the division. There is nothing we can do about it unless the Vikings have a collapse of Chicago Cubs proportions. So can we please say good night to the Favre drama and focus on the real problem? Like when will Murphy step up to the podium to make that Ted Thompson announcement?

The guy claimed he was doing it as a joke. Favre zealot or pratical jokester? You make the call after reading this part of the story, The driver told police that he took the sign as a joke after telling co-workers he was going to heist the placard, Hellmann said. The driver also said he knew the sign was to be donated to charity and suggested that he was going to take it to a charity himself after he was done with the sign. He was unable to name a specific charity, Hellmann said. 

Although, I would side with just a guy hopped-up on liquid courage. Accordin to the article, The suspect smelled of alcohol but passed roadside tests, Hellmann said.

Only missed three games last week.  I am 69-33 overall on the season. Here are my picks for this Sunday (picks in bold)...

Houston at Buffalo
-I still got this feeling that this is the Texans' year to actually sniff the playoffs. Didn't say make, just sniff.

Cleveland at Chicago
-If Jay Cutler throws three picks, then the Bears are in real trouble.

Seattle at Dallas
-Dallas wins another game towards giving everyone false hope that they will make the playoffs.

St. Louis at Detroit
-Want to punish your children for not picking up their toys? Threaten to make them watch this game.

Denver at Baltimore
-No way Denver stays undefeated. If they do, I will buy a Kyle Orton jersey.

San Francisco at Indianapolis
-The Colts down another team on their way to the Super Bowl.

Miami at NY Jets
-You never know what you are going to get with the Dolphins. Then again, you never know what you are going to get with Mark Sanchez. So I will go with the wildcat in this one.

NY Giants at Philadelphia
-Really just flipped a coin and it came up Giants. Yes, I do have coin with an Eagles logo on one side and a Giants logo on the other.

Jacksonville at Tennessee
-About time the Titans start Vince Young. He will make Jeff Fisher feel like a winner after the game.

Oakland at San Diego
-This game should be over by the second quarter.

Carolina at Arizona
-Cardinals are showing they are not going to be a one year wonder.

Minnesota at Green Bay
-I see the game playing out like this. The Packers lead 24-20 late in the fourth. Brett Favre leads a touchdown drive as the Vikings go ahead 27-24. With a minute left on the clock, Aaron Rodgers leads a mad scramble down the field and completes a last second touchdown pass to Donald Driver and the Packers win 31-27.

MON, NOV 2
Atlanta at New Orleans
-I am convinced no one can stop Drew Brees.

Add Gilbert Brown to the list of former teammates that disagree with Brett Favre's comments about his current Vikings team being the best team he has ever played on.

The former Packers defensive lineman joined his former 1996 teammates in expressing his disagreement in Favre's assessment.

"I guess they going to the Super Bowl [then] huh," Brown said in an interview with Newsradio 620WTMJ's Big Unit, Bill Michaels.

"They got guys on their team that are good players. When you look at that defensive line, they got two big hogs in the middle and Jared Allen out there. When you compare our defensive line, which I played on, and their defensive line play, there is no comparison. This is why I get crazy about this guy saying this because Jared Allan can not hold Reggie White's jock strap." 

Many have come to believe that Brett Favre was the sole reason the 1996 team won it all but Brown had a differing opinion.

"This is the thing fans forget and I point the finger at the media. Everything around the team was Brett Favre. They forget about the No. 1 defense. To get him the ball, to get the sacks, to get the fumbles, when he throws the interceptions, we had to go out there and stop them so they don't score. They forget about that No. 1 defense led by Reggie White."

Brown explained it was Reggie who was the leader of that very talented team not Brett.

"If we didn't have Reggie White in this equation, the Green Bay Packers would never have made it up to the Super Bowl. Reggie was the leader everybody could go to, everybody trusted, everybody just rallied around. When he said we had team meetings, everybody hated to have 50 team meetings in one week, but when Reggie called it, we'd go and Brett was following just like us."

That is not say to Brown did not feel Brett is a capable field general.

"Brett Favre is a great leader. He gets guys going. He gets guys in certain position where other guys can't get them to go to but on our team, the number one guy was Reggie White."

How did it make the Gravedigger feel to see his former teammate wear enemy colors?

"I was sitting there watching the game, it looked like somebody digitally put in that purple on that uniform. [Made me] sick to my stomach, grown man should never wear purple." 

Seems like everyone is trying to figure out how to give Brett Favre a proper welcome back this Sunday. You got some people thinking he deserves a four minute standing ovation from the Lambeau faithful. Then you got others that feel beer bottles and cheeseheads should be rained down from the sky when he runs out of the visitor's tunnel. We've got heated debates over when to boo him and when to boo Ted Thompson. Even the mayor of Green Bay is figuring out how to welcome in the man that helped put the title back in Titletown.

Well, here are some suggestions...
-Rename the street that crosses Brett Favre Pass to Interception Way.
-Provide Brett the keys to the city...the city of Cleveland.
-Plaster pictures around Lambeau Field of Brett holding the Vince Lombardi trophy and have a headline over it saying "You will never win one of these wearing purple."
-Pass out t-shirts that say decision making begins at 40.
-When Brett runs out of the tunnel, stand up and give him a standing ovation...with your back turned to the field.
-Hand him over the keys to a broken down, rusted out purple and white tractor.
-Repaint the fence by Lambeau Field to say "We will never forget you Brent."
-Shower him with Sears coupons.
-Offer him a part in There's Something About Mary 2.
-Provide Brett with a hand written apology from Ted. Former defensive tackle Ted Washington that is.
-Play Sinatra's New York every time he completes a pass. Blast Jay Z's newest hit about New York every time he throws an INT.
-Everybody wear #12 Packers jerseys with a name on the back that says Doingjustfinewithoutyou.
-Blitz the living daylights out of him.
-The best way to welcome back Brett...Pick him off and return it for six.

Read about all the stuff we will be overlooking this week as the anticipation grows for Brett Favre's return to Lambeau Field. Check it out at my weekly column on Sportsbubbler.com.

Looked at the schedule this week and it looks the road team is poised to pull off a lot of wins. Here are my picks for Week 7 (Picks in bold)....

Green Bay at Cleveland
-Let's see, half of the Browns are on the injury report with swine flu and Cleveland stinks in general. If the Packers do not blow the Browns, this team is in trouble.

San Diego at Kansas City
-San Diego is bound to come through one of these times I pick them.

Indianapolis at St. Louis
-St. Louis maintains its pace in the race for the number one overall pick in the draft.

Minnesota at Pittsburgh
-The Vikings have been living on borrowed time. Well, time is up when they face the defending NFL champs.

New England at Tampa Bay
-The only way the Pats lose this one is if Tom Brady gets too much sun.

San Francisco at Houston
-This is a critical game for both teams as each try to figure out if they are contenders or pretenders for a playoff spot.

Buffalo at Carolina
-So much for T.O. bringing a big play presence to Buffalo's offense.

NY Jets at Oakland
-Well, the only other quarterback playing worse than Mark Sanchez is Jamarcus Russell. This game should have at least 10 INT's.

Atlanta at Dallas
-I know I should go with Atlanta but I think Tony Romo will have a good game and the Cowboys win on a field goal thus giving false hope that this team can make the playoffs.

Chicago at Cincinnati
-Cedric Benson will not get his revenge.

New Orleans at Miami
-Can anybody stop Drew Brees?

Arizona at NY Giants
-Kurt Warner returns to his house of horrors and it will be just like any sequel to the Saw movies.

MON, OCT 26
Philadelphia at Washington
-The Eagles are coming off an embarrassing loss to Oakland. Washington is just embarrassing in general. The sad thing about this game, it is on national television. Hopefully there is a good rerun of Family Guy on.