[TomWilkinson]

The Green Bay Packers are in an unusual role, that of spoiler. "In our situation right now, we're not going to be in the playoffs. That's out of the picture," head coach Mike Sherman said Wednesday. "We certainly can revel in being the spoiler."

"It really turns in my gut to be up here and talk like that, but that's where we are today," Sherman said. "There's always a challenge out there, but this challenge is a little bit different than what we've had in the past."

The Packers have dominated the Chicago Bears in recent history winning 19 of the last 22 against the Bears, including 11 straight on the road. This year the records are reversed as the Bears are 8-3 and looking toward the playoffs, while the Packers are 2-9 and looking to next year. The Bears still have to deal with Green Bay twice at Soldier Field on Sunday and at Lambeau Field on Christmas Day.

Brett Favre, who has an 11-1 career record at Soldier Field, is not used to having to play spoiler. "I'm sure Bears fans across the country don't feel sorry for the Packers," Favre said. "We've been on top for a long time."

The play by Chicago is a surprise to some, but not to Sherman. "I kind of thought they would have a good season if they could stay healthy," Sherman said. "There have been other years that I thought they would and they just haven't been able to stay healthy because they've had a good defense and they've added to that recently with high draft picks and now they're even better. But yeah, I thought they'd be a pretty good team this year."

"They're winning the games that they have to win, something we haven't done," Favre said. "They're going to be going to the postseason, we're not."