The Green Bay Packers have a good reason to worry, considering they’re once again without the lead in the NFC North, and the form of all levels – passing game (Aaron Rodgers), running game and defense has been dropping considerably for the last five weeks.
Losing to the Chicago Bears broke a long chain of success against them, especially when playing at home. But the big deal isn’t whether or not Jay Cutler finally has a win at Lambeau Field. It’s about Aaron Rodgers hurting his arm, but even when healthy not looking like a quarterback who can make do with anything, be it a shaky offensive line, lack of run support or losing his best wide receivers one by one, which is all happening to a certain degree.
Now, with so many bad records around, it’s hard seeing the Packers (7-4) not making the playoffs, even through the Wild Card spots, where they currently are next to the Atlanta Falcons, who are 6-4, also losing four of their last five games. But bad momentum creeps up on even the best of teams, and the Packers haven’t been one of those for over a month, dropping games to both the Detroit Lions and the Bears at home, where Rodgers has always been considered unbeatable.
But as much as there is focus on Rodgers, just like there always is on a star quarterback, this isn’t about him, or not just him. He has a head coach who is known for being quite an awful play caller, while both the defense and the running game consistency has been lacking. The Packers have made the playoffs six years in a row. They’ve won the division four years in a row. This might be the season that at least one of these streaks comes to an end if things don’t change for them and fast.