{image1}If the Green Bay Packers are going to have any chance left of making the NFL playoffs, they had better not take that word "idle" seriously next to their name on the schedule.

Coach Mike Sherman and his team have a lot of work to do during the bye week if they are to rebound from back-to-back losses to Kansas City and St. Louis and get ready for at least four more successive difficult games on their schedule.

"Win or lose, you do what you have to do to fix your football team during the bye week," said Sherman, whose team slipped to 3-4 with the 34-24 loss at St. Louis. "We plan on doing just that."

In an ideal world, Mike Sherman, the GM, would trade for a pass rusher or two and maybe a strong safety who could really smack guys. But, that's not likely to happen, because if there were anybody out there like that they wouldn't be on the trade market.

So, coach Mike Sherman, his assistants and players have to figure out a few things. It was quite evident once again against the Rams that the Packers' Front Four just can't put much pressure on a quarterback.

St. Louis' Marc Bulger had as much as seven or eight seconds on some throws. Anybody in the NFL can complete passes with that amount of time. Bulger completed 22 of 34, including nine to Isaac Bruce.

Cornerbacks Al Harris and Mike McKenzie just are not fast enough to keep up with the receivers like Bruce and Torry Holt. If there is some pressure on the quarterback, that discrepancy is not as severe, but when the QB has all day he can pick apart the Green Bay secondary.

Antuane Edwards and Marques Anderson also need to intimidate in the defensive backfield like LeRoy Butler once did. Darren Sharper is more of a finesse player and needs a safety next to him who is a hitter.

With the return of Torrance Marshall, maybe the Packers would be better throwing some 3-4 defenses at teams and let Marshall, Nick Barnett and their other quick linebackers blitz more. They can't do any worse than the Front Four.

The lack of defensive pressure also is one reason the Packers are way down this season in turnover to takeaway ratio. Another is that they are coughing up the ball too often themselves. Ahman Green had another big fumble. The Packers muffed a punt. Brett Favre also had an interception late in the game.

"We just played stupid football today," Sherman said. "You're on the road, and you turn the ball over four times, it's going to be very difficult to win."

Favre agreed. "Our turnovers and their ability to get something out of them was the ofference. It just kills you."

Players of the Game

Bulger and Bruce deserve honors. Bruce went over the 10,000 mark in career receiving yards in the game.

Holt also deserved some mention for his two touchdown receptions. He has caught 27 passes for 358 yards and five TDs in his last three games.

Give Favre a mention for the Packers. Despite his interception late in the game, he competed 23 of 34 passes for 268 yards and two touchdowns.

Plays of the Game

Turnovers dominate this category. Green's fumble might have been the most costly. The Packers were trailing only 14-10 and were driving at the time.

The muffed punt also was a big play. Antonio Chatman moved up to catch the short punt, but the ball hit Harris, who was trying to block. The Rams recovered and drove for their first touchdown.

St. Louis receiver Dane Looker had a beautiful touchdown reception in the third quarter, as he danced along the sidelines for the last few yards to avoid going out-of-bounds. That TD put the Rams up, 28-17.

Leonard Little's interception of a Favre pass came with the score already 31-17, but who knows if the Packers might have staged a comeback without the turnover.

For the Packers, give a mention to Najah Davenport's 76-yard touchdown run. It came at the end of the game, but at least it indicated the Packers had not quit.

Goats of the Game

Ahman Green gets a set of horns for the second straight week for his costly fumble and a sub-par 35 yards rushing. Of course, the latter was not exclusively his fault as the Rams repeatedly beat the Packers' offensive linemen off the ball.

Harris and Chatman also get a set of horns for their lack of communication on the muffed punt, although both said it was hard to hear in the St. Louis dome.

Give horns to all of the Green Bay defensive linemen too, for their failure to put the heat on Bulger.

Next week

The Packers are idle, but as emphasized in the first section of this column they cannot take time off. They face the Vikings in Minnesota, Philadelphia at Green Bay, the Bucs in Tampa Bay and the 49ers at Lambeau in the next four games.

If they don't improve on defense, and stop turning the ball over, they could lose all four games and be 3-8. At least two of the games - in Minnesota and Tampa Bay - will be tough even if the Pack does get its act together.

Gregg Hoffmann writes On The Pack after every Packers' game. His next OTP will appear Nov. 3, after the Vikings' game.