This season has been anything but predictable for the Packers.

Green Bay started out hot with a shiny 6-0 record, then lost four of five and needed a Hail Mary to eek out a win at Detroit.

Now this team reaches its final quarter of the season, and offensively they’re still trying to figure out who they are.

“This year as opposed to other years, we’re continuing to work through our identity throughout the year,” said Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. A lot of that unfortunately is due to a key player in the preseason.”

Through 12 games last year, Rodgers had 32 touchdown passes and amassed six 300-yard passing games. During this roller-coaster year, Rodgers has thrown 26 touchdowns and has three 300-yard games and five games with fewer than 225 yards.

At Detroit over a week ago, the most consistent pass play was a screen pass to James Starks. James Jones, who racked up six touchdowns following Week 6, was making a case for the Pro Bowl. He’s only caught one touchdown since either because of injury or because he simply cannot get open.

“If you look at the last six or seven games for us, we’ve had a lot of really good halves,” Rodgers said. “Not full games.”

That’s true, but the Packers still find themselves on the top line in the NFC North. No matter how confused and clueless this team has looked at times, they can still flip the switch and make a postseason run.

And it all starts with the running game. Once the calendar turns to December in the Midwest, nasty weather looms. Even though El Niño has turned much of the country this year from snowy white into fairway green, this month is still critical to running the football.

Eddie Lacy knows all about inconsistency. In seven of 12 games, he has tallied less than 50 yards on the ground. He has rushed for back-to-back 100-yard games, but then followed that up by missing curfew and only getting five carries.

“He’s a tough guy to tackle,” said Rodgers about Lacy. “He’s a bowling ball out there. He’s a smart guy. He’s a good runner. He’s a very good runner for a guy his size. But you need multiple guys.”

While Lacy has been inconsistent, Starks hasn’t been much better. However, John Crockett brings a nice shiftiness that complements both Lacy and Starks. Crockett will never be a featured back in this league, but he can run by a defense that had been used to absorbing blows from Lacy all game.

Before Jordy Nelson’s devastating injury this past August, people expected the Packers to move the football easily and score 30 points a game for the second straight year.

“We’ve been trying to find that balance on offense and guys to pick up the slack,” said Rodgers. “We’ve had a lot of injuries at our skill positions that has made it tough to get that get that consistency every week.”

That means getting some health on the offensive line, getting more than one sack from the defensive front seven in the last two games and having receivers that can create more separation.

“I’ve never lost confidence in this locker room,” said Packers wide receiver Randall Cobb, who leads the team with 92 targets. “We all believe in each other. We all continue to fight and we’ll be ready.”

The question is, how ready?

With the final chapter of the season upon us, we’re left trying to figure out who these guys are. A team with unfixable problems or a team that’s lying in the weeds for a surprise January run?