Green Bay and Jacksonville have had somewhat similar experiences in 2008. Both teams were among the best last year, though Green Bay excelled with a dynamite passing game whereas Jacksonville had a dominant running game. Both teams had offseason issues (the Favre Saga here, the Richard Collier shooting there), and both teams have been killed by injuries (Jacksonville's offensive line was destroyed in the preseason and early weeks of 2008).
As I wrote of the Jaguars way back in week 8 in the first week of my premature playoff preview:
This team is quite the enigma. They look good against good teams, but they look bad against bad teams. They could easily go 11-5 or 5-11.
It turns out that the latter was the route Jacksonville ended up taking. At 4-9 and last in the AFC South (where Tennessee has dominated, Indianapolis has vastly improved, and the Texans aretrying to make people respect them), Jacksonville has fallen way short of expectations; just like the 5-8 Packers have.
So what's to play for this week? It seems for both Jacksonville and Green Bay, not much. Yes, it might still be possible for the Packers to go on a run, get a whole ton of help, and win the NFC North, but there's only about a 5% chance of happening, so let's get the obligatory "they could still make it!" talk out of the way and focus on what this week is really about: offseason momentum.
Remember in 2006, when Green Bay was 4-8 and managed to go on a 4-game streak to end the year at .500? That momentum carried over into 2007, where the Packers went on a tear. And that's exactly what I want the next three weeks to be.
I don't want to rest any starters. If they're healthy, I want them out there. Sorry Matt Flynn, I don't want you taking snaps from Aaron Rodgers. Tramon Williams, you're still the nickel back unless McCarthy continues the Charles Woodson at safety experiment. Brandon Jackson, you don't get to take carries away from Ryan Grant. (On the other hand, might deserve a shot because he's been more productive in his limited action.) Justin Harrell, as long as you didn't pull a muscle in the shower, I want you out there in the rotation.
Yes, this season is pretty much done. But that's no reason to just give up and hope for better in the future. If there's any hope of fixing next year's problems now, I'm all for it. What does the rest of Packer Nation think?