This week's edition of Thursday Night Football features two teams that are not necessarily where they want to be at this point of the season, but could potentially use this game as a springboard to get there. It helps that when the Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers do battle in primetime, something weird usually happens. 

We all remember the Fail Mary back in the day, right?

While the odds of something exactly like that ever happening again are fairly low, that doesn't mean we can't get an entertaining game between two solid teams each quarterbacked by one of the best and most exciting players in the league. Here's what to look out for as Green Bay visits Seattle (8:20 p.m., NFL Network, stream on fuboTV). 

When the Seahawks have the ball

You've likely heard this stat somewhere else already, but it bears mentioning again simply because it is so unusual in 2018: the Seahawks run the ball more often than they pass it. In a league where 60 percent of plays are passes, the Seahawks call for a pass only 49 percent of the time, making them the only team in the league with a negative pass-to-run ratio. (The Packers, by the way, are at the complete opposite end of the spectrum. They call pass 66 percent of the time, second in the NFL behind only the Giants, who aren't really calling passes because they want to, but because they're terrible.) 

The rushing attack is now looking like a three-man committee in the backfield, with starter Chris Carson potentially on track to return, backup Mike Davis still running well, and first-round pick Rashaad Penny finally breaking out with a 108-yard game last week. Carson has looked like the most effective player for the balance of the season, but he has also proven to be extremely injury prone during his two NFL seasons, appearing in only 11 of 25 possible games. Still, he's averaging 4.5 yards per carry and has been the lead back whenever healthy. Davis has largely operated as Carson's partner in a timeshare, averaging 4.4 yards per carry and exhibiting ease and smoothness catching the ball out of the backfield. Penny was largely a disaster right up until last week, when he took 12 carries for 108 yards against the Rams. That one performance raised his yards per carry average from 3.5 to 4.7 for the season.

All three will presumably see work against the Packers, who have not exactly showered themselves in glory when defending the run this season. Green Bay is allowing 4.7 yards per carry, 22nd in the NFL this season. They're ranked 26th in Football Outsiders' rush defense DVOA, 30th in Adjusted Line Yards (which assigns credit to offensive lines as a percentage of yards gained per rush attempt), and 31st in percentage of opponent runs stopped in the backfield. Seattle's offensive line has been far better this year than in recent seasons and should be able to pave some road for these guys to do their work. Add in the attention that perimeter defenders have to pay to Russell Wilson in Seattle's read-option concepts, and there's a lot of potential for the backs to make hay. 

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Wilson, by the way, has gone from being one of the more pass-heavy quarterbacks in the NFL last year to being on pace to attempt his fewest throws in a season (439) since his second year in the league. He's made up for his lack of volume with terrific efficiency, completing 66 percent of his passes and averaging 8.0 yards per attempt, while throwing a touchdown pass on a career-best 8.5 percent of his passes. Among qualified passers, only Patrick Mahomes' throws have turned into touchdowns more often than Wilson's. 

Now that they're all healthy, Wilson has a nice mix of targets to throw to. The combination of Doug Baldwin in the slot, Tyler Lockett on the outside, and David Moore working intermediate areas and the red zone has worked extremely well for the Seahawks, and tight end Nick Vannett has flashed some ability as well. Baldwin will presumably work against Bashaud Breeland in the slot, while Lockett and Moore will do battle with rookies Josh Jackson and Jaire Alexander. Green Bay's pass defense overall has essentially been slightly above average in every area this season, but Alexander has emerged as the secondary's best perimeter player and throws over the middle have given them the most trouble. That sets things up very nicely for Baldwin, who is Wilson's most trusted target in a vacuum anyway.  

When the Packers have the ball

As mentioned above, the Packers run the ball less often than only one team: the Giants. But in recent weeks, their running game has been much improved thanks to the fact that they have finally, mercifully, at long last handed over the reins to the talented Aaron Jones, who has been very obviously their best back since last season and for some reason was stuck working behind both Jamaal Williams and Ty Montgomery for much of this year. 

The Packers traded Montgomery at the deadline and finally reduced Williams to mostly pass-protection work, and Jones has looked positively electric. Over his past three games, he's carried 41 times for 306 yards (7.5 per carry) and three touchdowns. He's the second running back ever to average at least 5.0 yards per carry in seven of his team's first nine games while also receiving five-plus carries in each game. The other guy is some dude named Jim Brown, who did it twice. 

Seattle's run defense ranks 23rd in DVOA this season and the Seahawks have allowed an incredible 5.0 yards per carry, so there should be plenty of room for Jones to do his work against this front. The only question is whether the Packers will stick with the run or lean on the right shoulder of Aaron Rodgers to do the majority of the work. Knowing their history we'd lean toward the latter, but crazier things have happened. 

Rodgers will once again be throwing to a depleted wide receiver corps, as both Geronimo Allison and Randall Cobb will miss the game. Rookies Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Equanimeous St. Brown, and J'Mon Moore will pick up the slack, with MVS getting most of the snaps in the slot, St. Brown working on the outside opposite Davante Adams, and Moore largely getting fill-in snaps to give the other guys a breather. 

Adams is in the midst of his best season as a pro, averaging 6.9 catches, 87.4 yards, and a touchdown per game. He's on track for a season-long line of 110-1,400-16. That has been accomplished exactly once in the history of football, by Randy Moss back in 2003. Rodgers clearly trusts him as much as he has ever trusted any receiver, firing him the ball more than 10 times per game and repeatedly giving him chances to come down with the ball in tight windows -- especially in the red zone, where Adams has emerged as his clear preferred option. He'll work against Tre Flowers and Shaquill Griffin depending on where he lines up, but he should have the advantage all night either way. (This is especially true against Flowers, who has allowed a 106.0 passer rating on throws in his direction this season, per Sports Info Solutions. That ranks 149th out of 200 players who have been targeted in coverage at least 10 times.)

Valdes-Scantling has emerged as the Packers' No. 2 receiver over the past few weeks, but he works primarily out of the slot when Cobb is out and Seahawks slot man Justin Coleman has been solid throughout the season. (The Seahawks also used him as a blitzer last week in order to frustrate the Rams, and it would not be a surprise to see them do the same against Rodgers on Thursday evening.) Tight end Jimmy Graham provides a strong option over the middle and in the red zone -- if he suits up. He's been banged up and limited in practice, and there are questions about whether he'll be able to get on the field. 

Prediction: Seahawks 23, Packers 20