The Green Bay Packers are currently on the outside looking in at the NFC wildcard race according to the NFL playoff picture. Luckily for the Packers they still have 7 games remaining to decide their own fate. In four out of the next five weeks, they will face teams with similar aspirations which means their season will be a fight to the finish.
They Need to Figure It Out on the Road
The Green Bay Packers still don’t have a win on the road nine games into the season. There’s no shame in losing to the Rams and the Patriots away from home, especially the way the team played. They were in both of those games and it could be argued that the way Aaron Rodgers played, they would have won the game in Los Angeles had it not been for a Ty Montgomery fumble that cost him his job.
What makes the NFL so intriguing every year is that because of the short schedule, every game matters unlike any other sport. Your margin for error is very small and it seems like the Packers and a host of other teams are at the point of no return.
With their current record of 4-4-1, the Packers are still alive in the race for their division with games at Minnesota and Chicago still to come. If the playoffs started today, those two teams would be in and the Packers would be out.
The time for moral victories is over.
If anything, those close games in Los Angeles and Foxborough should provide the Packers with the foundation they need to go into the Bears and Vikings games with supreme confidence.
They also have two causes for concern regarding their upcoming opponents in the next two weeks. They travel to Century Link Field to play Seattle where they have a 1-4 record and then the following week to the Vikings U.S Bank stadium where they are 0-2 since its inception. It’s important to know what stadiums around the NFL give teams the most trouble. You can always find the latest news and notes from around the NFL at VegasOdds.com.
As Good As He Is, Aaron Rodgers Needs Help
Last week against the Miami Dolphins, running back Aaron Jones provided the team with the missing piece to their offense. He ran for 145 on 15 carries against a very poor Dolphins run defense. It’s hard to read too much into that game because the Dolphins have the worst rush defense in the league.
This is Aaron Jones’ third consecutive game where he has provided a spark. In the previous two road games, Jones averaged over 5 yards per carry. The momentum has been building and the performance against the Dolphins could be a sign of things to come. If the Packers have any chance of winning their upcoming road games, they will need this trend to continue.
The critics are starting to become very vocal about how one dimensional the Packers offense is. Not only the lack of a running game, also the fact that they haven’t changed their offense much if at all for most of Rodgers’ career. Far too often it seems like Rodgers needs to make magic happen in order to win games which is not a formula for consistent success. One look at their last two opponents gives the clearest picture of the lack of imagination the Packers offense gets accused of. The Rams and the Patriots have two of the most creative offenses in the NFL and one could only imagine what Rodgers could do with similar schemes.
Kings of the North
Since winning the Super Bowl in 2011, Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers have won the NFC North division five out of the last seven years. For now, the psychological edge belongs to the Packers while Rodgers is healthy. His injured knee seems to have healed which is bad news for opposing defenses. Even on one leg, it could be argued that Rodgers is still the best quarterback in the division, he’s that good.
Right now the Bears and Vikings lead the division but the Packers have the upper hand in the head to head matchup. They are undefeated against both which means that the NFC North title is still a real possibility. So is missing the playoffs if they lose those games.
What Happens If the Packers Don’t Make the Playoffs
If the Green Bay Packers don’t make the playoffs, they will need to make some changes, but they also have some reasons for optimism about their future.Aaron Rodgers just signed a four year $134 million contract so that picture is clear. The Packers have one the best players in NFL history at the most important position in the league locked up. Everything else is a question mark if they don’t make the playoffs.
Devonte Adams and the rest of the wide receivers are a solid young group. They have been without Randle Cobb for most of the season and they haven’t really missed him to give you an idea of much potential this group has.
The other group that has performed very well this season is the offensive line.
If you’re going to pay your quarterback the type of money Rodgers is getting, it would only make sense to put the pieces around him that give him the best chance of success. With this top 10 offensive line and a solid group of receivers, the questions for the Packers lie with their defense and head coach.
Mike McCarthy’s Seat Is Getting Hot
The struggles that the Packers have endured this season could be down to the early season injury to Aaron Rodgers knee. It could also be down to the defensive issues they had early in the season. With each passing week, it seems like the voices saying it’s due to bad coaching are growing louder.
Recently analyst Colin Cowherd brought up and interesting point on his show about the amount of throwaways Aaron Rodgers had this season and how that might be more of a sign of his displeasure at McCarthy’s play calling than receivers not being open. Of course only Rodgers knows if that is true or not but there does seem to be an air of discontent about the offense. Rodgers called his offense terrible in a win against the Buffalo Bills earlier this season so he has voiced his frustration.Whatever is going on with that relationship, there is only one winner there.
Mike McCarthy needs to get it right or he will probably be gone by January if they Packers aren’t still playing by then.