With all the games, backstories, injuries and developments in a given week in the NFL, it is tough to know what to look for on Saturday. Here are five things to watch:

“New” back with old skills to watch

Ty Montgomery burst on the scene for the Packers last week, but his emergence as a running back — one of the most fun NFL stories all season — isn’t entirely a shock.

Though it still is strange to see a back wearing a receiver’s No. 88 like Montgomery, the second-year pro wasn’t a stranger to the position before romping for 162 yards and two TDs in a 30-27 win over the Bears last week, which was crucial to 8-6 Green Bay’s playoff hopes.

Not only is Montgomery built like a running back at 6-feet-2, 220 pounds, but the third-round pick spent time at that position his final two years at Stanford. He was a standout in that role as a senior, carrying 23 times for 144 yards (a 6.3-yard average).

So don’t be surprised if Montgomery goes off again Saturday when the Packers play host to the Vikings in a pivotal NFC North matchup. Minnesota is ranked third overall in defense but just 18th against the run, and Montgomery looks like a good candidate to exploit that weakness.

Record chase to watch

Ezekiel Elliott not only is making a good case to be the NFL’s Most Valuable Player as a rookie, but the incredible Cowboys newcomer is also on the cusp of history.

Eric Dickerson’s 33-year-old league records for rushing yards and total yards by a rookie are in danger from Elliott heading into Monday night’s visit by the Lions to the newly minted NFC East champion and the conference’s No. 1 playoff seed.

Elliott needs just 258 rushing yards and 311 total yards over the final two games to unseat Dickerson’s respective marks of 1,808 rushing yards and 2,212 total yards.

Neither is considered a long shot, considering Elliott is averaging 133 rushing yards and 147.5 total yards over his past two games, including a 159-yard rushing effort (and one hilarious Salvation Army kettle leap) in last week’s 26-20 win over the Buccaneers.

About the only thing that could keep Elliott from the record is Dallas coach Jason Garrett, if Garrett — with nothing to play for in the final two games — decides that keeping his prized workhorse back healthy for the playoffs is more important than a place for Elliott in the NFL’s history books.

Rising defensive star to watch

The Chargers’ ridiculous contract standoff with Joey Bosa is looking dumber with each passing day that the Ohio State product shows he already is among the NFL’s best pass rushers.

The No. 3-overall pick missed the first month of the season because San Diego’s skinflint ownership wanted to delay when he received his signing bonus in full and wanted language inserted into the deal that would have saved them at most a couple of million dollars three years from now.

You have to wonder if that silly obstinance ended up costing the Chargers their season and might end up costing coach Mike McCoy his job, because Bosa has been a force of nature for otherwise struggling, 5-9 San Diego.

Heading into Saturday’s visit to the winless Browns, Bosa has 3.5 sacks in his past four games and leads all rookies with 7.5 sacks in just 10 contests overall. Joe Thomas, Cleveland’s perennial Pro Bowl left tackle, labeled Bosa “the most polished rookie pass rusher I’ve ever seen” in an interview this week.

More importantly, the Chargers are 4-6 and haven’t allowed more than 393 yards with Bosa in the lineup after going 1-3 and allowing 410 or more yards twice while he was sidelined by the contract dispute.

Coincidence?

Fading quarterback to watch

Kirk Cousins’ bid for a huge offseason payday is taking a hit right along with the Redskins’ playoff hopes.

Cousins has tailed off badly the past three weeks, coinciding with a 1-2 stretch that has left Washington 7-6-1 overall and gasping for air in the postseason hunt going into Saturday’s trip to the Bears.

Including last Monday night’s dismal, 26-15 home loss to the Panthers, Cousins completed 64 percent of his passes with three touchdowns and three interceptions (for an 85.4 passer rating) over the past three games.

That is big and worrisome dropoff from the Cousins who was preparing himself to cash in with his play the first 11 games. Cousins had a 101.4 rating during that stretch after completing 69 percent of his passes for 20 TDs and just seven interceptions.

The leaguewide depth at quarterback is so dismal that Cousins still is almost certain to do very well for himself in the offseason, either with Washington or somewhere else.

But the decision by Redskins general manager Scot McGloughan last offseason to take a wait-and-see approach with Cousins is looking more prudent by the day.

Underrated tight end to watch

It appears well past time for Greg Olsen to start getting his due as one of the NFL’s all-time best tight ends.

That might sound strange considering the Panthers veteran was just voted to the Pro Bowl, but it was just the third such nod in Olsen’s consistently terrific, 10-year career.

It still seems like Olsen is a long way off from hearing his name mentioned in the same Canton-bound company as Rob Gronkowski or Jason Witten, but Olsen is poised to do at least a little to change that when Carolina plays host to the Falcons on Saturday.

Olsen, who leads all NFL tight ends with 992 receiving yards this year, needs just eight receiving yards in the Panthers’ final two games to become the first tight end in NFL history to record three consecutive seasons with 1,000 receiving yards.