Green Bay at St. Louis

The Packers have now clinched their division, and have all but locked up the #2 seed in the playoffs with little hope of overtaking the Cowboys. St. Louis has had a dreadful season, as they got off to an 0-8 start. Bad luck, bad play and untimely multiple injuries left this team in shambles. Stephen Jackson has returned, and the Rams are suddenly 3-2 in their last five games. This week Marc Bulger returns at QB as well. This is far from a team that has quit, and is far from the team that started 0-8. The Rams were out-scored 219-99 in those first eight games (27.4 to 12.4 on average per game). They have since out-scored opponents 107-97. The offensive production has increased nine points per game, allowing the defense to stay off the field, and lower the points allowed by eight points per game. Overall that makes this team 17 points per game better than they were earlier. Despite the problems this team had early, the last four home losses has seen them out-scored by just 1, 3, 7 and 5 points. So even if you chalk a win up here for the Pack, St. Louis isn't likely to get blown out. The Packers have had an amazing season, but injuries have begun to take their toll, including Brett Farve with a bad left shoulder. We can't imagine he plays four quarters here, and we could see them utilizing more personnel to get through this one. St. Louis has been tough at home, and tough overall of late, and we see them staying within this number.