Proving for certain that they simply cannot coexist with prosperity, the Packers were overrun, outplayed and soundly beaten Sunday in Nashville to radically alter their January travel plans.

In a comfortably cliché state of self-destiny control following last week's win over the Bears, Mike Sherman's team forgot half the reason they were in that position and still almost used the other half to win anyways. In the end, though, they were six points short.

Ahman Green toted the ball nine times for nine yards, and just one and four of those came in the second half. Considering the Pack was only down 15-13 as the third quarter dawned, this wholesale abandonment of the team's second most lethal weapon is troubling if not downright foolish.

Favre reflects on a long afternoon in Nashville

Of course, the only end zone Green had found until that point was his own, a fact that certainly deterred the coaching staff from handing it to him as often as normal. Jason Fisk, one-fourth of a hyper-aggressive Titans' defensive line that dominated the afternoon, enveloped Green in the north end zone for a 2-0 Tennessee lead less than four minutes into the first quarter.

And still Brett Favre almost rallied Green Bay to victory from 13 points down in the fourth quarter.

But he didn't. And the Packers now find themselves in precisely the same spot they were in the weeks preceding and following the first Chicago win - a game behind the Bears. And now there are just three left to play.

In postseason terms, the loss was extremely inopportune. Instead of a probable bye and its accompanying home playoff game on Jan. 19 or 20, the Packers are now slotted into the second wild-card position, which means a road game (likely at 10-3 San Francisco) to open things on Jan. 12 or 13 and then a possible second road game at Chicago.

Wait a minute. Didn't the Packers beat the Bears twice? Isn't that unfair? Well, based on repeated lackluster performances, including wins against Tampa Bay, Detroit and Jacksonville, it is evident the Packers are a good, not great, team. In a strange, parity-filled NFL, that translates to a 9-4 record. In other words, the Packers have gotten what they deserved.

Unfortunately for Green Bay and its fans, Chicago hasn't. They're certainly not a great team either, but they are 10-3 via a combination of unlikely wins, a fifth-place schedule and an amazing resiliency that has witnessed its best performances after its toughest losses to its bitterest rival.

On the contrary, the Packers have used those victories as rest stops instead of springboards. Now, without some help from Washington, Detroit or Jacksonville (Chicago's final three opponents), the losses to Atlanta and Tennessee will probably get significant time in the Packers' NFL Films season-in-review video.

We're still talking about the NFL, here, though, where things change more often than Osama bin Laden's mailing address. If the Packers can beat Cleveland in Lambeau Field next Sunday, they could find themselves back in the NFC Central's director's chair. But then the Vikings and the Giants still remain, and in case you had forgotten, those teams met in last year's NFC title game (and a playoff-less Packer team swept the Vikes last year). So three Green Bay wins are far from assured.

Even so, that has to be Sherman and the Packers' focus. Similar to the aforementioned cliché about the Bears controlling their destiny, the Pack should resort to that most basic of sporting credos: take 'em one game at a time. Beat Cleveland; beat Minnesota; beat New York. Hopefully, someone else will beat Chicago along the way.