Maybe the Green Bay Packers are back. Perhaps their overtime win over the Dallas Cowboys sparks a second-half surge that lands them in the playoffs. We've seen teams get hot like that before.
But that fourth quarter and overtime last week was about the only stretch in which we've seen the Packers play well since the end of September. From the start of October, they had a dubious overtime win over the New England Patriots — we should have known then the Packers were in trouble — five straight losses, then a 28-14 deficit to the Dallas Cowboys through three quarters.