{"id":106303,"date":"2022-10-24T06:50:30","date_gmt":"2022-10-24T06:50:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/the-packers-season-has-become-a-disaster-so-whats-next-in-green-bay\/"},"modified":"2022-10-24T06:50:30","modified_gmt":"2022-10-24T06:50:30","slug":"the-packers-season-has-become-a-disaster-so-whats-next-in-green-bay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/the-packers-season-has-become-a-disaster-so-whats-next-in-green-bay\/","title":{"rendered":"The Packers’ season has become a disaster, so what’s next in Green Bay?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

LANDOVER, Md. \u2014 With 2:06 remaining in their 23-21 loss to the Washington Commanders on Sunday, members of the Packers front office began filing out of the row behind Green Bay reporters in the FedEx Field press box.<\/p>\n

President Mark Murphy, general manager Brian Gutekunst, vice president of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan, director of player personnel John Wojciechowski, director of football operations Milt Hendrickson and chief operating officer Ed Policy had seen enough. And who could blame them?<\/p>\n

That’s how far the Packers have fallen in such short time. From three consecutive seasons with a playoff bye week to conceding defeat before the game ended, understandably so, to one of the NFL’s worst teams as they blew an 11-point lead in losing their third consecutive game while falling to 3-4. The game wasn’t even technically over \u2014 the Packers actually came fairly close to pulling off a miracle game-winning lateral sequence \u2014 but those who run the organization didn’t seem to care that their team still had a sliver of hope, likely because of how disgusted they were in what they had watched the prior three hours.<\/p>\n

One team has the back-to-back NFL MVP (Aaron Rodgers) and a bevy of other players who possess All-Pro talent. the other? Its fans filled the stadium with a \u201csell the team!\u201d chant Sunday and booed the owner’s wife when she appeared on the jumbotron.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t think anybody thought we’d be in this spot that we’re in right now,\u201d coach Matt LaFleur said.<\/p>\n

With 2:13 remaining and the Commanders leading by the final margin (two points), backup quarterback Taylor Heinicke found wide receiver Terry McLaurin, who again had beaten the league’s highest-paid cornerback, Jaaire Alexander, for 12 yards on third-and- 9 to all but seal the game.<\/p>\n

As the aforementioned six members of Green Bay’s front office exited, executive vice president Russ Ball, who’s in charge of managing the team’s salary cap, stayed behind for another minute. Perhaps he needed just a little more time to ponder how the team he has helped construct, one that is stacked on paper, has fallen apart.<\/p>\n

\n

Aaron Rodgers: \u201cI’m not worried about this squad. In fact, this might be the best thing for us.\u201d pic.twitter.com\/KzLwzDsd2J<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) October 23, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Rodgers hasn’t played like the two-time reigning MVP, and the Packers’ receivers and offensive line scared Washington so little Sunday that the Commanders didn’t rush more than four on 46 of 47 plays.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey didn’t need to,\u201d Rodgers said. \u201cThat’s what they thought. They thought their rush could get home and they could cover it up on the back end.\u201d<\/p>\n

And they were right.<\/p>\n

The Packers lack a deep passing game. They have two recent third-round picks in tight end Josiah Deguara and wide receiver Amari Rodgers who contribute little. They have a quarterback who has been more sporadic than in recent years and pass catchers who struggle at getting separation from defenders and catching the football. They trotted out an O-line on which only one player remained at the same position as last week, in part because the issues from the knee injury that kept five-time All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari out for the better part of almost two years resurfaced late last week and sidelined him again Sunday after he had played in the previous four games.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels eerie,\u201d tight end Marcedes Lewis said of the offense’s struggles. \u201cLike weird, almost.\u201d<\/p>\n

Green Bay faced six third downs and converted none of them, not on third-and-2 or third-and-4 or third-and-10, -11, -13 and -25. The Packers’ only two third downs that turned into first downs came because the Commanders committed a pair of illegal use of hands penalties. According to ESPN Stats & Info, the Packers hadn’t gone a full game without converting a third down themselves since Week 6 of the 1999 season. Brett Favre completed just 7 of 23 passes that day for 120 yards, no touchdowns and three interceptions. LaFleur was a wide receiver at Western Michigan. Rodgers was a student at Pleasant Valley High School in Chico, Calif.<\/p>\n

\u201cExecution of the details, small details,\u201d Rodgers said when asked what went wrong on third downs. \u201cI mean, a lot of mental errors today. Now, we had some issues with guys getting hurt and Allen (Lazard) got banged up and Sammy (Watkins), we were trying to keep Sammy to 20, 25 plays. But yeah, we just made some silly execution mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n

On defense, the cornerback being paid $21 million per year who hoped to follow McLaurin got beat by him many times, including on a go-ahead third-quarter touchdown and the third-down conversion that all but won the game late in the fourth.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe gets paid a bunch of money just like me,\u201d Alexander said. \u201cSo hats off to him because he played a good game.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

THAT’S A FIRST DOWN<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa #GBvsWAS<\/a> FOX pic.twitter.com\/S9BExPz2PN<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Washington Commanders (@Commanders) October 23, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

For as good of a pass rusher as Rashan Gary is, he struggles setting edges in the run game, and those below him on the depth chart don’t do it any better. The Packers also have struggled to complete tackles, and their defensive backs have struggled catching the ball \u2014 and their wideouts haven’t done any better.<\/p>\n

They commit backbreaking penalties, too, such as the (questionable) illegal contact call on cornerback Eric Stokes that negated Rasul Douglas’ fumble return for a touchdown that would’ve given the Packers a 20-10 lead late in the second quarter. (The Packers committed a season-high nine penalties Sunday.) And that’s just the start of the 2021 first-round pick’s woes this season, as he has looked flat-out lost at times on coverage and has gotten straight-up beaten often.<\/p>\n

Even the Packers’ special teams, the phase that was the most consistent through four games, has disintegrated. Second-year return man Amari Rodgers’ ball security issues finally bit the Packers, this time when he muffed a punt deep in his own territory to gift the Commanders three points in the first quarter.<\/p>\n

Up next for the crumbling team? A visit to the 5-1 Bills on \u201cSunday Night Football\u201d next Sunday.<\/p>\n

Even so, the starting quarterback says he isn’t panicking.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m not worried about this squad,\u201d Rodgers said with a stern look. \u201cIn fact, this might be the best thing for us. This week, nobody’s going to give us a chance going to Buffalo on ‘Sunday Night Football’ with a chance to get exposed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Added LaFleur, \u201cWe’re going to find out what we’re made of in terms of just how we attack Monday, how we attack Tuesday, Wednesday and every day in practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Packers shouldn’t need this week to find out what they’re made of. They should already know based on the first seven games. The answer: They have been tissue-paper weak in all three phases.<\/p>\n

What they have been is a bad football team. They don’t need a reflective Monday film review or inspiring Tuesday kumbaya session or well-executed Wednesday practice to deceive them otherwise. And what do bad football teams normally do this time of year? Trade their players away.<\/p>\n

Forget all the talk about the Packers needing a wide receiver such as Chase Claypool or Jerry Jeudy or Odell Beckham Jr. This offense looks beyond repair. One receiver isn’t going to change much, if anything, not like it might have in years past under LaFleur. There’s a reason the Packers already have more losses this year in games they didn’t mail in than in each of the last three seasons (their fourth loss in 2021 came in a meaningless Week 18 game in Detroit in which a handful of starters played only a half).<\/p>\n

\n

Matt LaFleur: \u201cI don’t think anybody thought we’d be in this spot we’re in right now.\u201d pic.twitter.com\/z6wqgqE22y<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) October 23, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Alas, Green Bay likely won’t sell in advance of the Nov. 1 trade deadline because doing so simply isn’t in its DNA. A team that calls Lombardi Avenue home will always have an eye toward the Super Bowl trophy named after its former head coach, and perhaps it still does after seven games. Perhaps Rodgers actually meant that he’s not worried about this team and that they can turn it around, no matter how unrealistic it may seem to fans of a team who see the Bills, Cowboys, Titans, Eagles, Rams and Vikings remaining on the schedule.<\/p>\n

Does reaching the playoffs still feel plausible?<\/p>\n

\u201cYou’re goddamn right it does,\u201d Rodgers said.<\/p>\n

And perhaps the front office (foolishly?) feels the same, so maybe Gutekunst will be in the mix<\/em> once again instead of shipping off players with an eye toward the future.<\/p>\n

Is that the right strategy, or is a longer look in the mirror required?<\/p>\n

Time will tell, but it will take a lot of changes to put out the seemingly uncontrollable dumpster fire that has engulfed the Packers’ season.<\/p>\n

(Photo of Aaron Rodgers: Scott Taetsch \/ Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n