Favre, Rodgers should produce plenty of points

The dramatic saga surrounding Brett Favre might finally get some closure. His two-year wait to take a division rival into Green Bay and show the organization it made the wrong choice comes to fruition on Sunday.

Favre has fit in well as quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings, and we've already seen what he can do against the Packers. He passed for 271 yards and three touchdowns in the Vikings' 30-23 victory over Green Bay in Week 4. But what will his mindset be this week when he rolls into Lambeau Field, and what kind of effect will he have for all players on each side of the field?

Will Favre take on the selfish role of wanting to pass for big plays and make a resounding statement, or will he sacrifice his own stat line and settle for a grind-it-out game featuring running back Adrian Peterson to get the win?

How about the opposing quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, and the Packers' coaching staff? Whether or not it was out of necessity, Rodgers was turned loose in the previous game and threw for 384 yards and two touchdowns. It was his best game of the season despite the loss, in which he was sacked eight times.

Green Bay running back Ryan Grant rushed for 148 yards in a balanced attack last week against Cleveland. In Week 4 at Minnesota, Grant had 101 total yards to give him four straight great starts against the Vikings' tough defensive line.

This game will be about the Packers showcasing Rodgers, whom they chose over the indecisive Favre, and that should be good news for all fantasy owners of Rodgers and wideouts Greg Jennings, Donald Driver and James Jones, especially considering Minnesota star cornerback Antoine Winfield is out.

Favre will try to keep up with the pace and should have some good fantasy points as well, along with emerging stars Sidney Rice and Percy Harvin. But as Favre goes, Peterson suffers. In Favre's worst three weeks (1, 5 and 7), Peterson has had his best fantasy weeks.

Look for a shootout that produces all kinds of fantasy points.

• ON THE RUN -- There seemed to be more zip in the step of San Diego running back LaDainian Tomlinson the past two weeks. He has been getting the bulk of the carries, but still hasn't scored since Week 1 at Oakland, the team he faces this week.

The Raiders are fresh off allowing two New York Jets backs to rush for more than 100 yards each. Everything should be aligned for Tomlinson to have his best game of the season, making him a great Week 8 start.

Three rookie running backs deserve to be picked up as possible starters based on recent performances or injuries to the No. 1 backs.

Shonn Greene will get plenty of carries taking over the Jets' No. 2 role vacated by Leon Washington, who's out for the season. Thomas Jones is still the feature back, but there is plenty to go around from a team that has rushed for more than 300 yards in each of the past two games, highlighted by Greene's 144-yard, two-touchdown outing against the Raiders.

Philadelphia's LeSean McCoy could be the feature back this week if Brian Westbrook's concussion keeps him out. Even if Westbrook does get the start, McCoy is likely to see significant action against the New York Giants. In McCoy's last start in Week 3, he rushed for 84 yards and a touchdown.

Chris "Beanie" Wells had his top effort of his rookie year with 67 yards and his first career touchdown in Arizona's win over the Giants. Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt said Tim Hightower is still the starter, but it's undeniable how much better Wells is between the tackles, giving Arizona a new dimension.

Kansas City has a bye week, but a good pickup as an investment for down the road is running back Jamaal Charles, who will be starting at least one game for the suspended Larry Johnson.

It's surprising that Johnson, with a 2.7 yards per carry and no touchdowns, has started this long. In three of the next four games, the Chiefs play the poor run defenses of Jacksonville, Oakland and San Diego.

• WIDELY AVAILABLE -- If Giants wide receiver Hakeem Nicks is still available in your league as a free agent, pick him up. Nicks makes big plays and has scored a touchdown four consecutive weeks.

St. Louis' Donnie Avery and Pittsburgh's Mike Wallace are other wideouts to target as potential quality additions.

Micah Roberts is a Las Vegas-based writer who will contribute weekly fantasy football outlooks for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He can be reached at MM.Roberts7@gmail.com.