At the beginning of the NFL season, the Green Bay Packers had one thing on their minds; Super Bowl run. With three games remaining in the 2010 regular season, a new thing is on their minds; can we make the playoffs.
Green Bay had no idea that they would be in the spot they are in now. Instead of being atop of the NFC north, they find themselves in a brawl to stay alive in the playoff hunt. It isn’t going to get any easier either with games against New England, New York, and Chicago. The Chicago game, believe it or not, might be the most important game out of the three. Why is this? Put simply, a win over Chicago, and a good amount of luck, could give Green Bay the North division. The Giants hold the final playoff spot as of right now, and the Buccaneers are next in line to take it if the Giants falter. The good news for the Packers is that both the Giants and Buccaneers have to play a couple division games before the end of the season. The Buccaneers still have to play the New Orleans Saints, who lead a wild card spot right now with a record of 10-3. The Giants still have to play Philadelphia, who owns the other wild card spot as of right now with a record of 9-4, as well as a meeting with the Pack. So it is still possible for Green Bay to make a playoff run, but like I said, they still have to win out while at the same time, have some luck play in their favor.
After the Detroit loss, some wonder if there is any luck on Green Bay’s side. A high octane offense, like the Packers, should’ve been able to put up way more than three points. Aaron Rodgers did suffer a concussion which didn’t help anything, but still should’ve been able to put up at least one touchdown with Matt Flynn to win 10-7 instead of losing 7-3. It also didn’t help that before the injury to Rodgers, Greg Jennings dropped a sure catch for a touchdown to go up 7 at that point in the game. Instead, the play resulted in an interception for the Lions in what was a well-played defensive game, or a poorly played offensive game depending which way a person looks at it, for both teams. The Lions snapped a ten game losing streak to the Packers with the win, and Green Bay lost some more confidence with the loss. There is a sense of urgency within Green Bay right now, and everyone knows it. Something must be done.
There is now but one final question to bring up; what can be done? I’m sure there are a lot of different opinions out there and some obvious statements as well. The first obvious statement is that the team needs to stay healthy. Jermichael Finley, Nick Barnett, Brandon Chiller, Atari Bigby, and Mark Tauscher are some key players that have been injured all season. Then the rookie safety Morgan Burnett got injured after he looked like he was showing some promise. What’s worse is that Bigby and Barnett were injured for much of last year as well. Either the players aren’t keeping in proper condition, or the training staff in Green Bay is well under par. This team has been plagued with injuries for far too long and it just seems like no one is trying to make this problem better. Then there is the coaching staff. Mike McCarthy has been with Green Bay for five seasons now and has made Green Bay’s offense one of the best in the NFL. That’s impressive, but what’s less impressive is some of the plays that are called. It seems in key situations, some plays are being called to be ‘safe’. This isn’t always a bad thing, but it isn’t going to help you win if you’re playing not to lose. There was a chance for McCarthy to challenge a pass play to Greg Jennings in the end zone. The referees called the pass incomplete, but after looking at the replay, it showed that Jennings had caught the ball and had possession of it. There’s no doubt that it would’ve been a close call, but the fact of the matter is that the challenge wasn’t made. This could’ve changed the outcome of the game as well if the play had been reversed. There were also too many ‘play it safe’ calls on third downs. It’s one thing to play safe in the first half, but once it starts getting near the end of the game, you have to set yourself up to win. I felt like none of this was done in the game. And finally, the talk of the running game needs to be brought up. This is because there isn’t one in Green Bay. Once Ryan Grant was lost for the season, the Packers weren’t able to find someone to establish the run. Brandon Jackson has been superb as a third down back and as a receiving back in the past couple of seasons. As a starter, he hasn’t been able to get the rushing thing down. He has only rushed for a hundred yards in a game once this year and it was against the Redskins. That was in big part due to a seventy-one yard gain on one play. Against the Lions last week, nineteen yards on seven carries. That won’t cut it this time of year, especially at Lambeau. John Kuhn is a hardnosed runner that will get the team the tough yardage they need, but he’s not explosive enough to break open a game or be a game changer. This isn’t just on the running backs either. The offensive line needs to be more consistent in order to help the running game out. If Green Bay wants a shot this year, some of this is going to need to be covered, and I’m pretty sure they know it as well.
The end of the season is coming up fast, and the finish line is becoming closer for some teams. Are the Packers one of these teams? That is the question on a lot of peoples’ minds. Will the early season Super Bowl favorites reach their goal they sat out for themselves, or will they lose yet again to really hurt their chances. I guess we will all have to stay tuned to find out.