The Packers' fading playoff hopes, the Jags' thrill ride and more Snaps

CHICAGO -- Musings, observations and the occasional Week 14 insight as we take in the wild winter carnival between the cold-weather Patriots and the cold-weather Bears at the big snow globe known as Solider Field ...

• I guess we all got a vivid lesson on how valuable Aaron Rodgers is to the Packers. True, Rodgers didn't make much happen when he was in the game Sunday in Detroit. But with him sidelined from the second quarter on with his second concussion of the season, the Packers offense was mostly anemic in the hands of backup quarterback Matt Flynn, who was at the wheel for the rest of Green Bay's damaging 7-3 loss.

If this season doesn't turn out to be the year they were hoping for in Green Bay, Sunday's outcome will be remembered as the day when it all became painfully apparent that disappointment was in store. Things are suddenly starting to look bleak for the Packers, the team I picked (for the second consecutive year) to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. After its 7-3 start, Green Bay (8-5) has lost two of three games, both on the road, in dome environments (Atlanta and Detroit).

This loss really puts the Packers' playoff hopes in some jeopardy, because with games at New England, and home against the Giants and Bears in the final three weeks, there will be no more soft touches on Green Bay's schedule. The Lions' upset was a boon for NFC playoff hopefuls like the Giants (8-4), Eagles (9-4), Bucs (8-5) and the NFC North-leading Bears (9-4), who despite their blowout loss at home to New England remain one game ahead of the Packers, plus own the head-to-head tiebreaker.

The Packers like backup quarterback Flynn's potential, but until Sunday, they never had to ask him to win a game. Now they have, and the former LSU standout couldn't come through, finishing 15 of 26 for 177 yards and one interception in leading Green Bay to only one field goal in six possessions. Flynn ended his best drive with a hugely costly interception to Lions middle linebacker DeAndre Levy in the end zone, when the game was 3-0 Green Bay and there for the taking.

Green Bay is now just 3-2 in the season's second half, and isn't looking anything like the potent club that ripped off a 7-1 close to the 2009 season and then proved to be a tough out for Arizona in that 51-45 overtime classic in the first round of the NFC playoffs. Unless the Bears collapse, the Packers might have to win out to ensure themselves a second straight playoff berth, and that doesn't look too promising with next week's trip to Foxboro looming.

The Packers offense just hasn't clicked on all cylinders yet, and Sunday's effort represented the nadir on that front. Green Bay ran for just 66 yards on 20 carries against the Lions, and it's never a good sign when two of your top three rushers are quarterbacks: Rodgers led the way with two runs for 25 yards, and Flynn was third with 10 yards on three scrambles. (Green Bay totaled 258 yards.) The Lions registered four sacks, and their intimidating defensive front at times overwhelmed a Packers offensive line that has been either mediocre or outmatched this season.

Make no mistake, Green Bay's season is still alive. But unless Rodgers returns to the lineup quickly, and the Packers offense starts to play up to its potential starting next week, there once again will be no title in Titletown.

• For a guy who hadn't thrown a pick in his past five games, that was criminal to see Rodgers' interception streak end when the ball bounced out of Greg Jennings' hands into the waiting arms of Lions strong safety Amari Spievey. Jennings doesn't have oven mitts for hands too often, but he'll never drop a better pass in his entire NFL career.

• Does anyone in the NFL put on more exciting finishes than the Jaguars? A 59-yard field goal to win. A Hail Mary pass that actually works, to win again. And on Sunday at home against the Raiders, Jacksonville scored 31 of its 38 points in the second half, overcoming a 10-point halftime deficit.

The Jaguars (8-5) now get their shot to put away the Colts (7-6) next Sunday in Indianapolis, in the process all but locking up the AFC South and becoming the league's most surprising division winner (yeah, even more surprising, potentially, than the Chiefs).

Jacksonville has become one of the NFL's most explosive, big-play teams, and it churned out three touchdowns of 30-plus yards against the Raiders: running back Rashad Jennings' 74-yard run, receiver Jason Hill's 48-yard catch and Maurice Jones-Drew's game-winning 30-yard run with just 1:34 remaining.

I kept waiting for Jacksonville to fade, but at this point, how can you not take these Jaguars as a serious threat to make some playoff noise? If they reach January, I don't think there are too many AFC teams that will be eager to face Jack Del Rio's guys.

• Redskins kicker Graham Gano started his day at home against Tampa Bay by missing field goal attempts of 34 yards (hit the upright) and 24 yards (wide left) in the rain. Starting Monday, Washington's kicker should be known as Graham Gone-o. Right, Redskins?

At least the game-tying extra point failure wasn't Gano's fault. Holder Hunter Smith had the high snap sail through his hands, and yes, that was the only way that Redskins' demoralizing 17-16 loss could have ended.

Like I said last week, Mike Shanahan now understands what he's dealing with in D.C. This is no ordinary rebuilding program he has undertaken in Washington. There's at least a decade of bad karma at play here that he's got to try to reverse.

• Two outstanding individual performances were completely wasted in defeat to two different Florida-based teams: Redskins running back Ryan Torain churns for a career-best 172 yards on 24 carries against the Bucs, including 158 in the first half. And in Jacksonville, Darren McFadden produces 123 yards rushing (86 receiving) and three touchdowns, but the Raiders defense gives up 38 points to Jacksonville.

• It's getting somewhat overlooked thanks to the team's success, but Gerald McCoy or no Gerald McCoy, Tampa Bay's rushing defense still has a ways to go, huh? The Bucs were absolutely gouged by Torain early on, giving up more than 121 yards rushing in the first quarter alone. That was the most first-quarter yards by any running back this season.

• Now that it's over, it's simply mind-boggling to think that Detroit went more than three years without a division win, losing a post-merger NFL-record 19 in a row to the Packers, Bears and Vikings. The Lions hadn't won in the NFC North since beating Chicago on the road in Week 8 of 2007 -- roughly 162 weeks ago.

The Lions finally broke their almost season-long streak of near-misses and got their third victory in 13 games, but I really don't know how. Quarterback Drew Stanton was picked off twice, and threw for just 117 yards, connecting just once to Calvin Johnson for 44 yards. The Lions also punted eight times. But when your defense pitches a near-shutout, you can make seven points stand up quite nicely.