The Packers may be dead in the NFC North before Halloween
A third straight loss has the Green Bay Packers at 3-4, well behind the 5-1 Minnesota Vikings in the NFC North. With 10 games to go, Green Bay is in serious trouble three games back in the loss column, including an L to the Vikings in Week 1.
And up next is the football version of the Grim Reaper: Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills on Halloween Eve. That game is in Buffalo, meaning there is a very high chance the Packers are 3-5 while the Vikings could be 6-1 entering Week 9. Minnesota returns from the bye to host the Arizona Cardinals next Sunday.
"I'm not worried about this squad. In fact, this might be the best thing for us. Nobody's going to give us a chance. Going to Buffalo on Sunday Night Football, a chance to get exposed. Shoot, might be the best thing for us," said Rodgers after Sunday's 23-21 home loss to the Commanders.
Is that a widespread belief in the locker room?
"It should be. Unless they don't think they're the right person for the job," Rodgers replied. "I think I'm the right person for the job, so you'd have to ask them."
Rodgers can never be ruled out of a fight, but this one seems too much to overcome.
Seven games into the season and Green Bay's passing game barely has a pulse. Rodgers had just 194 yards on Sunday and he's yet to throw for 300 yards in a game, largely due to his inexperienced and banged up group of receivers failing to show up.
There is no doubt Rodgers is missing Davante Adams, who by himself has 54 catches. Tight end Robert Tonyan leads the Packers with 30 grabs. If Green Bay thought second-round pick Christian Watson and fourth-rounder Romeo Doubs were going to save the day, they were sorely mistaken – and not even the great Aaron Rodgers can turn water into wine.
Watson missed Sunday's game with a hamstring injury and has only seven catches all season. Doubs was targeted four times Sunday and didn't catch anything, dropping multiple passes that wound up killing drives.
There is nothing to suggest the Packers can go into Buffalo and upset the Bills.
What's more is that Green Bay has been losing to mediocre quarterbacks. Did anyone have Daniel Jones, Zach Wilson and Taylor Heinicke beating the Packers? Nope. No chance. And the Packers needed overtime to avoid losing at home to the Patriots and third-string rookie Bailey Zappe.
Now they're about to face better and more experienced QBs, including Josh Allen, Jared Goff, Dak Prescott, Ryan Tannehill and Jalen Hurts. All of those in consecutive weeks, with no relief with the bye week until Week 14. They finish the season against Matthew Stafford and the Rams, Tua Tagovailoa and the Dolphins, Kirk Cousins and the Vikings and Goff and the Lions.
Green Bay got the easy part of the schedule out of the way and won just three games. The snowball could be rolling and not even Rodgers appears capable of stopping it.
