The Green Bay Packers had a bad day yesterday. It’s never good to lose a football game but it’s even worse when you lose your best player for the season. When quarterback Aaron Rodgers went down on a totally unnecessary hit from Anthony Barr, it felt like the Packers’ Super Bowl hopes went down with him.
While I’m not going to sit here and tell you the Packers are still a Super Bowl contender, I have a lot more confidence this time around. Brett Hundley is far better than Seneca Wallace, who replaced Rodgers following his first broken collarbone in 2013. He is also better than Scott Tolzien and Matt Flynn, who followed Wallace. No, I won’t be changing leagues and heading to NZ betting anytime soon. But that could be an option down the road.
Hundley was thrown to the wolves at the worst possible time. The Vikings have one of the league’s best defenses and the game was in Minnesota. I don’t think he did a half bad job considering the circumstances, which include not having many, if any, practice reps to prepare for the game. Hundley’s three interceptions certainly played a role in the outcome of the game, but the Packers had other problems as well.
The Packers had absolutely no running game and their offensive line is so banged up I’m not sure what they are going to do going forward. I would start by asking the Browns what they want for Joe Thomas. For Hundley to have success, the Packers are going to have to find a way to protect him, and that is no different than it would be with Rodgers playing. They also have to find a running game, which looked so promising in Dallas.
While the Packers’ defense didn’t play terrible, they once again could not get that one big stop when they really needed it. Granted, they were missing half their secondary, but against Case Keenum that shouldn’t really matter. Hopefully Morgan Burnett and Kevin King are back this week for the Saints, they are going to need all the help they can get the way the Saints are lighting it up recently
I am actually kind of excited to see Hundley play. Here is his chance to find a starting job somewhere in the NFL. If he comes in and plays like he did in college where he threw for 10,000 yards and 75 touchdowns in three years at UCLA, he will be major trade bait come the offseason. The Packers can win games with good quarterback play, yes, it’s a lot easier with great quarterback play. But these are the cards they have been dealt. I think it’s going to be fun to watch how head coach Mike McCarthy plays them.