Ryan Pickett News

The Green Bay Packers have been here before, and not all that long ago. Mid-November. Five wins.

Swarmed: The Faust defense stops a Harrisburg runner in a 26-14 ninth-grade win this season.

It'll be bulk on bulk Sunday at Lambeau Field when the Green Bay Packers' defensive line tries to muscle up and make amends against the offensive line of the Dallas Cowboys.

The Green Bay Packers live to fight another day. With their season on the line at this unusually early point in the season Sunday, the Packers shut down a Dallas Cowboys team that leads the NFC East Division and has one of the most talented and balanced offenses in the NFL.

Mike McCarthy or Ted Thompson? Whose head should go on the guillotine first? Through eight games this season the Green Bay Packers are a disappointing 4-4 and everybody in Packers Nation is frustrated.

Most of the time, you have to wait until late in the year to identify an NFL team's season-defining game.

The Wake-Up Call greets you each weekday with news, views and a few Tampa Bay area sports offerings to anticipate for the day and night.

And games don't get much worse than the Packers ' emotionally charged Nov. 1 loss to and the Minnesota Vikings .

TAMPA, Fla. - Bad losses don't come much worse than this. Favored by 10 points against a winless team that had a rookie quarterback making his first NFL start, the Green Bay Packers looked assured of heading into the second half of the 2009 season with a winning record.

Everyone seemed to think that the 0-7 Tampa Bay Bucs were just what the doctor ordered after the Packers fell at home in a tough setback to the Vikings at home.

If you're the Green Bay Packers, you probably can kiss the NFC North Division away, right? Well, the Packers weren't quite ready to admit they'd be playing for a wild-card playoff berth the rest of the way after the 38-26 loss Sunday to the Minnesota Vikings at Lambeau Field.

When the Green Bay Packers host the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, the energy flowing through the seats and over the playing surface at Lambeau Field may be strong enough to travel clear into living rooms across the entire country.

Brett Favre did what he set out to do. He has hurt the Green Bay Packers, grievously, twice within a month.

Posted by ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Here's an interesting turn of events: Green Bay defensive lineman Michael Montgomery's neutral zone infraction probably just saved the Packers three points.

The lightning striking directly over Lambeau Field was nothing compared to the storm rolling in behind it.

The Vikings faced the Packers less than a month ago -- 28 days to be exact -- meaning it would seem logical that some of the same shortcomings Brett Favre was able to find in his former team's defense in a 30-23 victory should still be present.

It's not often an NFL defense allows only three total points in back-to-back games.

Ari Fleischera s hiring by the Green Bay Packers last summer coincided with the Brett Favre controversy.

These same teams play other defenses and score, so it's not like they're getting shut out all year.

CLEVELAND - Armageddon II figures to have even more going for it than Armageddon I. On Sunday, Brett Favre again will be facing his old team after his play was the difference when the Green Bay Packers visited the Minnesota Vikings three weeks ago.