JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Green Bay Packers and Jacksonville Jaguars expected their late-season matchup to be much more meaningful three months ago.

The Packers thought it would be relevant even three weeks ago.

But the two playoffs teams from last season have fallen out of contention in 2008, becoming two of the most disappointing — underachieving?? — teams in the league.

"It's pretty much the same kind of feeling there that we have here," Jaguars quarterback David Garrard said. "It's tough. Whenever you have all the hype and everybody's saying you're supposed to do this and supposed to do that and you don't live up to it, then it's like everybody is let down so much.

"We did go into the season with a lot of hype, but not every team that is hyped has always had those great seasons."

Neither team has enjoyed much success lately. The Packers (5-8) have lost three in a row and five of their last six games. The Jaguars (4-9) have dropped four straight and six of seven.

Both have a chance to break out of the slump Sunday in Jacksonville, a matchup that has little else at stake.

Sure, Green Bay is still barely alive in the NFC North, but the team needs to win out, have Minnesota stumble three times and have Chicago lose twice. It's such a long-shot scenario that the Packers already have started talking about playing for pride down the stretch.

"It's not even about the postseason," defensive end Aaron Kampman said. "It's about us trying to ... get ourselves back on a winning track, just for ourselves, as a team.

"Obviously, it's a frustrating situation to be where we are, but it's reality, so you deal with it. You look at it square in the face and you've got to find ways to overcome it. That means getting a win, and that's what we're trying to do."

The Packers have lost five times by four points or less, including two straight at home to Carolina and Houston on late fourth-quarter drives. The defense, which was supposed to be the team's strength coming into the season, has shouldered much of the blame for the slide.

The pass rush has been largely nonexistent outside of Kampman, and the run defense has been among the league's worst.

Injuries have played a key role. Defensive end Cullen Jenkins (chest) has missed most of the season, linebacker Nick Barnett (knee) joined him on injured reserve last week, and end Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila never regained his speed after offseason knee surgery and was waived last month.

Second-year defensive tackle Justin Harrell missed the first seven games with a back injury and now is trying to play through a sore hip.

"I feel like we are obviously a good football team that hasn't performed up to its capabilities this year," Kampman said. "We need to go out and do that Sunday."

Jacksonville's biggest problem has been on the other side of the ball. A team built to run, control the clock and wear down opponents has been pushed around, tackled often behind the line of scrimmage and forced into predictable passing situations.

It could get worse, too.

The Jaguars will be without four more starters on offense against the Packers. Leading receiver Matt Jones was suspended for the final three games for violating the league's substance-abuse policy; fellow receiver Jerry Porter (groin) is sidelined indefinitely; and fullback Greg Jones (ankle) was placed on injured reserve this week.

Running back Fred Taylor also was placed on IR after tearing ligaments in his left thumb last week at Chicago.

The Jaguars refuse to use injuries as an excuse, even though the team's woes really began with the loss of both starting guards in the season opener.

"I've been part of things like this before and we've still won," said running back Maurice Jones-Drew, who will get the bulk of the work against the Packers. "It just gets magnified when you lose. Things happen when you lose. We had injuries last year and no one talked about them because we were winning."

Jacksonville finished 11-5 last season and advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in eight years. The Jaguars returned just about every starter and expected better results this time around. Instead, they're saddled with the franchise's first losing season since 2003 and facing an offseason filled with changes.

"We don't have to wait to start fresh," coach Jack Del Rio said. "We don't have to wait for some magical date to recommit, to renew our energies and commitment toward being better and playing better. That's the way I want us to approach it. I want us to look to be better now."

The Packers are taking a similar approach. They finished 13-3 last season and reached the NFC championship game. Even though Aaron Rodgers replaced Brett Favre at quarterback, expectations hardly dropped. But the recent slide has changed the outlook drastically, making this game a mostly meaningless matchup.

"As a professional athlete, you have to have a lot of pride in what you do," Rodgers said. "And anybody who doesn't have the same kind of commitment to this team probably needs to check themselves."