Monday Night Football farewell for Favre?

Last time in primetime?

Thank God for betting and Brett Favre. Otherwise, why the hell would we watch Monday Night Football this week?

This Monday, the pitiful Green Bay Packers head into Baltimore to take on the rotten Ravens (9:00 p.m. ET, ABC). Neither team is going to the playoffs this year.

The Packers are 3-10 straight up (5-8 against the spread) and sit in last in the NFC North. The Ravens are 4-9 SU (5-8 ATS) and are in last in AFC North.

For Favre, this will be his 30^th appearance on Monday Night Football and possibly his last as speculation grows that he will retire at the end of the season.

The 36-year-old future Hall of Famer is currently 17-12 on Monday night. Two of those losses have come this season.

For fans of Favre, watching him play this year has been painful. He has tossed a league-high 22 interceptions, which is only two shy of his career high. And many of those INTs have been game-changing.

Granted, Favre has been one of the only constants in an offense that has been decimated by injuries. Among those who have missed significant playing time include: WR Javon Walker (knee), RB Ahman Green (thigh) and TE Bubba Franks (back/neck).

With a litany of injuries to the defense as well, the Packers have been forced to turn to their rookies. There are currently 13 rookies on Green Bay’s active roster.

One rookie who had been on the active roster was linebacker Brady Poppinga, a fourth round pick in the 2005 draft. Poppinga made his first start against the Detroit Lions last Sunday and suffered a torn ACL on a kickoff late in the game.

But it hasn’t all been bad for the Pack. Rookie running back Samkon Gado has shown incredible promise.

Against the Lions, the 210-pound product of Liberty University ran for 171 yards on 29 carries including a 64-yard touchdown run. It was his third 100-yard performance in seven games.

The Packers ended up winning the game 16-13 as a 7-point chalk and snapped a three-game losing skid.

On Monday, the Packers will be 3.5-point road dogs against the Ravens, who have also had a disappointing season.

Perhaps their biggest disappointment has been the play of running back Jamal Lewis, who has just 638 yards on 203 carries.

His average of 3.1 yards per carry is well below his normal production, and it appears as though he will not break through the 1,000-yard mark for the first time in his five-year career.

Lewis has been under fire all year for comments he made earlier in the season suggesting he may be reluctant to go all-out because he’s in a contract year.

He finally ran for his first 100-yard game two weeks ago against the Bengals, but then missed last week’s contest in Denver as a result of an injured thumb. He is listed as questionable for Monday’s game.

The Ravens could certainly use Lewis against a Packer defense that has been soft against the run.

The Ravens have also struggled at the quarterback position. In particular, Kyle Boller, who was Baltimore’s first-round pick in 2003, has not progressed to the degree the team had hoped for.

Boller, who has a QB rating of just 63, will face a Green Bay defense that is allowing the fewest passing yards per game in the NFL (163.3).

The total in this game has been set at a low 33. The Packers have seen just four of 13 games go OVER the posted total this season; the Ravens have seen only three of 13 top the total.

All four of the Ravens wins this season have come at home; the Packers are 1-6 on the road.