This would have been a great game to watch if only the Broncos had something to play for - they do not since they have the wildcard and can do no better. The Packers must win here to stay in the race and even then must hope to win some yet undecided tie breaker if Seattle beats San Francisco.

Denver Notes

The Broncos come off an impressive win over the Colts and rise to 10-5 on the season. They have clinched a wildcard.

Jake Plummer was almost flawless last week when he threw 14 of 17 for 238 yards and one passing score with two more touchdowns rushed in as well. He was joined by a dominating rushing game that did not include Clinton Portis. Mike Anderson (19-56, 1 TD) and Quentin Griffin (28-136) provided Portis-like stats with Griffin displaying tremendous speed on the carpet at Indy. In a season that seemed devoid of rookie running backs, suddenly they are popping up everywhere.

Rod Smith had the touchdown catch last week but the story of the game was that Ashley Lelie turned in his best game of the season, gaining 115 yards on five catches. He had 71 yards the previous week against the Browns but only had nine total yards in the three previous games.

Clinton Portis continues to receive treatment for his high ankle sprain and coaches couldn't say whether he will play this week. Denver has the last wildcard locked up and there is little to gain by risking players so there is a good chance that some players will not play a full game or even could be rested all together. I am assuming that Portis sits out one more week and realize that any of the players may not play a full game regardless of the score.

Match against the Defense: This is entirely a guess since the Broncos are in a relatively meaningless game with more to lose to injury than to gain by winning. Green Bay has only an average defense in most measures, so any player could shine but the safest assumption here is that the Broncos put up a moderate effort to keep players sharp without risking them to injury.

Green Bay Notes

The Packers rise to 9-6 on the season and must win this game to qualify for the playoffs. If they win and Minnesota loses, then Green Bay takes the NFC North. If Minnesota wins, and let's be serious they are playing the Cardinals, then the Packers must win here and hope to take the final wildcard away from Seattle on possible tie breakers. They could win and still be out.

Brett Favre comes off one of the most inspired games played when he threw for over 300 yards in the first half against the Raiders. He ended with 399 yards and four scores, just a few points below a perfect quarterback rating. Favre now has 32 touchdowns on the season and the questions about his retirement are much less frequent.

Ahman Green scored last week to bring his season total up to 18 total touchdowns and has gained 1665 yards rushing this season. Though he had a fumbling problem earlier in the season, Green has not fumbled since week ten.

Javon Walker comes off his second two touchdown game of the year and now has nine on the season. He has gained 359 yards in the last five games with five touchdowns.

Match against the Defense: Since the Broncos will possibly be resting some players in this game that they do not need to win, the Packers may enjoy a better than suggested game here since they will be trying all sixty minutes. Denver has been very tough against the run this season while it mattered and will still likely hold Green to only moderate gains.

This game favors Favre more as the big play guy and but who that favors is hard to determine since which players that will be rested is not known, if in fact they will not play partial games.

* Fantasy point rankings calculated using standard Huddle fantasy points