Of Packers and playoffs

Suddenly it's as if a four-win improvement wouldn't be enough of a shot in the arm for Brett Favre and the otherwise-young Green Bay Packers. No, we have to start talking about the playoffs.

Ain't gonna happen people.

I'd be thrilled if it did, don't get me wrong. But the first order of business is beating the Bears in Chicago. I'll never say "never" with Favre as my quarterback, but I'm betting my Packer flag's three-week display in front of my house ends on New Year's Eve and I'll be dressed in black on New Year's Day.

Not that the Bears were very impressive in their win over Detroit, but I'd guess they'll wait until the bye week -- or at least halftime -- before anyone gets a rest, particularly against the Packers.

The Bears would love nothing more, I'm sure, than knocking the Packers out of the playoffs. But how realistic is that anyway?

Imagine, just for fun, that the Packers beat the Bears. They would be 8-8, which reminds me of people who laughed at my pre-season prediction of 9-7. They could easily have won any or all of their losses to the Saints, Rams and Bills -- and would be playoff bound.

Even with those losses, the Packers remained in the hunt for another week after the Saints beat the Giants, 30-7, Sunday at the Meadowlands. Had the Giants defeated the Saints, the Packers would have been eliminated thanks to their unfavorable position with regard to tie-breakers.

If the playoffs began today, the Eagles and Giants would be the two wild-card teams. But if the Giants and Rams both lose next weekend, and the Packers win, the Packers are in.

As unlikely as a Packer victory is, let's look at the other games that play a factor.

The freefalling Giants are at Washington. It could go either way, I suppose, but the Giants haven't exactly been a house afire lately. I'll root for the Redskins, despite their racist team name, the fact that they represent the nation's capitol, and my fantasy football ties to Eli Manning, Jeremy Shockey and Plaxico Burress.

The Rams play the Vikings in the Metrodome. I've seen the Rams in person, and enough of the Vikings on TV, to say the Rams have no business losing this game. Minnesota seems to have redefined horrible. Against the porous Packer defense, they managed three first downs. Their only points -- and damn near a win -- came from the defense.

This is a long way of saying I won't be rooting for the Vikings on Sunday, even though it would serve the Packers' interests. Such is my disdain for the purple sailors and my grip on the reality that the Vikings are simply a bad football team.

They're worse, in fact, than the Packers. Who needs the playoffs when you have that?