"Jermichael Finley is out for the year. Donald Driver has been hurt. The running game isn't what it once was.

If ever there were a year for Greg Jennings to distinguish himself from his peers, carry the passing offense and seize his first Pro Bowl berth, this is it.

In fact, after the Green Bay Packers drubbed the Minnesota Vikings and Jennings had a seven-catch, 152-yard, three-touchdown day, quarterback Aaron Rodgers said he has made a conscious effort to find No. 85 more often.

Rodgers is as sure a bet as anyone to make the Pro Bowl. Why wouldn't his top target have a shot as well?

Jennings sure has made his case.

He has 32 receptions and 520 receiving yards in the last five games, four of which the Packers have won - two of them on a national stage. If Jennings could somehow maintain that pace in the final six games of the year - and this is asking a lot - he would leapfrog over other receivers in the NFC and could even have his best year statistically.

His relevance, to Green Bay's offense and success, has never been more evident. But here's the catch - it is not so intentional beyond the quarterback.

"We are not designing new plays for Greg or anything like that," said Packers coach Mike McCarthy. "Greg is an outstanding football player, he is an excellent route-runner, and Aaron and Greg have really been on the same page here of late."

Maybe Jennings should just forget the Pro Bowl. Maybe he should dismiss it as any personal goal.

A player such as Jennings, coming from a shared system like Green Bay's, just isn't likely to get the kind of splashy numbers needed for a superficial contest like the Pro Bowl.

"It may be a little more little difficult," said quarterback coach Tom Clements. "Players don't really see everyone. They have the stat sheet in front of them, 'I've heard this guy did this, this guy did that.' Some of that factors in.

"But Greg's an outstanding player and certainly is qualified. No doubt."

That's what anyone in the organization will say. That, and times have changed.

Long gone are the days in Green Bay when everything flew through two men, Brett Favre to Sterling Sharpe, for 112 receptions in 1993 or 108 in 1992.

Jennings' career high is 80 catches in 2008."