PACKERS FACE UPHILL CLIMB

By losing -- and looking not so good in so doing -- on Monday night in New Orleans, the Green Bay Packers have dug for themselves a hole from which they might not be able to emerge. Apart from the fact that, at 5-6, they have now lost twice as many games as they did in all of 2007 or that they currently trail Brett and the Jets by three games in the standings, the Packers are a full game behind both Chicago and Minnesota. Since the Bears visit the Vikings on Sunday night, one of them will move to 7-5 (absent a “McNabb”). So if the Packers can’t overcome the Panthers at Lambeau Field on Sunday, they’ll trail the first-place team by two full games, with four to play. The good news is that the schedule becomes favorable thereafter. They host the Texans and then travel to Jacksonsville. Both teams are, for all practical purposes, out of the race for a playoff spot in the AFC. Then comes what likely will be an early playoff game -- Packers at Bears, on Monday night, December 22 -- before the Packers wrap things up by hosting the Lions. With five wins in 11 games, it’s hard to envision the Packers running the table with five straight wins, especially based on Monday night’s performance. Realistically, the best expected finish would be 4-1, which would give them a 9-7 record, which might not be enough to win the division, and which most likely would not be good enough to capture a wild-card berth.