Green Bay, Wis. ? There is little hype surrounding Mike Holmgren’s second return to Lambeau Field today.

But there are still plenty of intriguing connections between the surging Seattle Seahawks (3-0), fresh off a bye week, and the inconsistent Green Bay Packers (2-2), who are coming off a Monday night win at Chicago.

For the first time, Holmgren will face his former assistant Mike Sherman, who holds the dual role of Packers’ coach and general manager that Holmgren so coveted during his stay in Green Bay in the 1990s.

There’s Holmgren again facing Brett Favre, the quarterback he helped mold into a three-time MVP and who won him his only Super Bowl as a head coach.

Holmgren returned to Green Bay in 1999, the year after Seattle lured him with an eight-year, $32 million contract, and the Seahawks dismantled Ray Rhodes’ Packers 27-7 when Favre had one of the worst games of his career, fumbling twice and throwing four interceptions.

Now Rhodes is Holmgren’s defensive coordinator, one of six former Green Bay assistants on Seattle’s staff, and this is his first trip back since his firing after one season in Green Bay.

Matt Hasselbeck and Ahman Green are facing their former teams for the first time since they were traded. And yet it seems as though everybody is downplaying this marquee matchup.

“You can’t increase the motivation to win because of who we’re playing,” Sherman said. “Am I more motivated this week? Will I work harder this week? No.”

green bay quarterback brett favre, who tossed two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter of last week's win over Chicago, today will try to spoil Mike Holmgren's return game to Lambeau Field. Holmgren's Seahawks will meet the Packers in one of the marquee games on today's NFL slate.

Holmgren talked more about seeing the refurbished Lambeau Field than he did about facing his former team.

“For years, I wanted a window in my office and could never get it, and I understand now that Mike Sherman is in the penthouse overlooking Oneida (Street),” Holmgren said. “I wish there was a way I could sneak up in there and just look out the window one time.”

Just another game, just another opponent, nothing special for either team.

Packers center Mike Flanagan doesn’t buy it.

“Holmgren’s going to be jacked up, I don’t care what he says. Both he and Sherman will downplay it and say it doesn’t matter, but they’re lying through their teeth,” Flanagan said.

Marco Rivera, one of 11 players remaining from Holmgren’s tenure in Green Bay, said the Packers were caught up in Holmgren’s first homecoming.

“We know he’s a great coach. He’s always been a great coach. We can’t worry about that,” Rivera said. “And I think that’s what happened in ’99, we forgot there were 11 guys on the field.”

Sherman, who was Seattle’s offensive coordinator during Holmgren’s first return to Green Bay, suggested Favre was too pumped up for the 1999 game, when he had a 26.8 passer rating, the third-worst of his career.

Arizona (1-3) at Dallas (2-1)

Emmitt Smith returns for what might be his best game of the season. He’s averaging just 3.3 yards a carry, but he saves his best games for big games — he had 109 yards against Seattle last season as he broke Walter Payton’s career rushing record.

Bill Parcells has proven he can win at the Meadowlands, where he’s 2-0. But he’s 0-1 at home, an opening-week loss to Atlanta.

Detroit (1-3) at San Francisco (1-3)

Detroit coach Steve Mariucci must be chuckling privately as Terrell Owens, with whom he had regular disputes, takes on the 49ers’ coaching staff. The 49ers have scored just 43 points in three losses (19 in the last two) after opening the season with a 49-7 win over the Bears. Mariucci is using a loss in Denver as a lesson to the Lions that they can win on the road.

Miami (2-1) at N.Y. Giants (2-1)

These teams have met just four times since the merger — only the Eagles and Chiefs among non-expansion teams have as few meetings.

Both are coming off bye weeks, the Giants using it to fix a defense that uncharacteristically has allowed the most yards per game in the league.

Washington (3-1) at Philadelphia (1-2)

Every Redskins game has been decided by three points or less, and they’ve gotten a lot of breaks.

The Eagles scored just 10 points in their first two games, but scored 23 in Buffalo last week. Donovan McNabb ran for 47 yards, a stat that usually coincides with a win.

Tennessee (3-1) at New England (2-2)

Eddie George is averaging just 2.8 yards a game, but it hasn’t mattered much because the Titans keep getting heroic performances from the likes of backup linebacker Rocky Boiman. In the win last week in Pittsburgh, Boiman had a sack for safety and an interception for a TD. The Patriots had nine opening-day starters out because of injuries last week in Washington.

Minnesota (4-0) at Atlanta (1-3)

The Vikings’ backup quarterback, Gus Frerotte, threw for four TDs last week. Daunte Culpepper is probably out again because of broken bones in his back, so he can have two more weeks to recuperate.

New Orleans (1-3) at Carolina (3-0)

This could be a wake-up game for Carolina’s lackluster offense: the Saints’ defense wasn’t much good at the start, is ravaged by injuries and gave up 6 touchdown passes last week.

Cleveland (1-3) at Pittsburgh (2-2)

Kelly Holcomb won the Browns’ starting QB job in part because of a 429-yard passing performance against the Steelers in the playoffs. But he’s out for the second week.

Cincinnati (1-3) at Buffalo (2-2)

The Takeo Spikes reunion game for the underrated linebacker who left the Bengals for the Bills despite Marvin Lewis’ entreaties. Last week in Cleveland, the Bengals gave Lewis his first head-coaching win.

Oakland (2-2) at Chicago (0-3)

The Raiders’ two wins are by a total of six points over Cincinnati and San Diego, a combined 1-7.

San Diego (0-4) at Jacksonville (0-4)

Both teams almost recorded their first wins last week. Jacksonville’s Jack Del Rio will start rookie Byron Leftwich for the second straight week, instead of Mark Brunell.

Indianapolis (4-0) at Tampa Bay (2-1) (Monday night)

There’s no better prime-time show than Peyton Manning coming off six touchdown passes in New Orleans against the defense his own coach helped build.