It would be very easy to sit back on this bye-week Sunday and bask in the joy of the Packers' 5-1 record.
It would be even easier to think that the Packers are a shoo-in for the playoffs thanks to the watered-down abyss that is the National Football Conference.
But when all is said and done, the fact remains: the Packers -- despite the superhuman-like efforts of quarterback Brett Favre -- are nothing more than a feel-good story in the National Football League with little hope of mounting any sort of legitimate championship charge.
You haven't misread, this column is calling the Packers pretenders in the NFC. And it's doing so because Green Bay has absolutely no running attack of any kind.
Yes, it's worked thus far. It's worked to the point where the Packers -- if the season ended this morning -- would have a first-round bye in the playoffs. But if you were watching the Washington game last week, you realized that the situation is a lot gloomier than their gaudy record indicates.
In a cold, rainy and downright disgusting October game at Lambeau Field, the Packers escaped with a 17-14 victory despite picking up just 56 yards on the ground. Anybody who has ever watched the team -- especially since the onset of the "Brett Favre Era" knows that Green Bay's offense is most successful when the running game is operating on all cylinders.
Dorsey Levens and even Edgar Bennett helped the Packers get over the hump and brought the Lombardi Trophy back to Green Bay by taking pressure of Brett Favre. Favre has been lauded this season for taking a bigger role as "game manager" but his gunslinger ways will still be the downfall of this team until it can run the football.
Look at the aforementioned Redskins game; Favre completed just 19 of 38 attempts for 188 yards. None of his passes found the end zone and he twice threw to a Washington defender. The weather probably had something to do with Favre's performance, but its days like last Sunday that were made for the Packers' running game.
The Packers are averaging an NFL-worst 65.7 yards per game on the ground this season; nearly 105 yards a game less than the Minnesota Vikings, who - thanks to rookie Adrian Peterson -- lead the league. There is little to suggest that the situation will improve anytime soon.
General Manager Ted Thompson did little before the trade deadline to shore up the situation, basically leaving it up to rookie DeShawn Wynn to carry the offensive load. The seventh-round draft pick out of Florida has carried the ball 49 times for 202 yards (an average of just more than 33 yards per game). And sadly, he's been the bright spot.
Favre has done his part this season. After yet another summer of the "will-he-won't-he" game, the veteran has come back and reasserted himself as one of the single best quarterbacks in the history of the NFL.
But as was the case early in his career, Favre cannot carry the offense on his own. He needs help in the backfield if the Packers have any hope of playing meaningful football at Lambeau Field in December.
