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Brett Favre hopes that this weekend is not his swan song in a Packer uniform. Not only does he want to play again next week, but it appears he may also want to come back next year because this one has been so much fun. But the fun may come to a screeching halt against a Seahawks team that closely resembles his own.

Green Bay spent much of the year letting Favre carry them but have recently found a bit of a running game. The Seahawks similarly have ridden the arm of their quarterback, despite having former All-Pro Shaun Alexander in the backfield.  The two explosive offenses taking the field Saturday will grab most of the headlines, but the defense that can stop the other's attack will be the determining factor on who moves on to the NFC Championship.

Both the Packers and the Hawks will set up most of the time with three wide receivers and appear to be indifferent about whether their running games are working or not, so you can expect close to 100 passing attempts in this game.

With such an obvious reliance on the passing game going in, this game will probably come down to which team can put the most pressure on the other quarterback to slow down the passing attack and which of the two teams can actually have some success on the ground.

Although the Packers have had only decent success, compared to the anemic Seahawks running attack, which totaled only 77 yards against the Redskins, the Packers are a veritable ground game juggernaut.

Seattle will have to only hope for some semblance of a ground attack to keep the Packers defense at bay and give Matt Hasselbeck time to throw, and against a Green Bay team that gave up more than 100 yards a game on the ground, that seems like it could be an achievable goal.

Whatever Alexander and Mauric Morris can provide out of the backfield will be gravy to go on top of the meat of the passing-oriented offense. Seattle will need its line to be effective against the Packers front seven if they want to give Hasselbeck time to utilize his receiving corps, which will include Deion Branch, who will return to the field Saturday.

The Packers rushing attack will rely on the sudden emergence of Ryan Grant, who, despite limited carries, rushed for almost 1,000 yards this season. If Grant can get to the outside against Seattle, something the Redskins rarely tried, it will free up space for Favre to work the field. 

With two teams who do so many similar things equally well, games like this come down to turnovers, the slightest of differences and home field. With Green Bay having proven that they can run the ball with slightly more effectiveness that Seattle, and the Lambeau faithful cheering on their aging hero, the smart money seems to be on the Packers to pull out a close one, giving Favre at least one more week in a Packer uniform.