![The Green Bay Packers have all but sunk as low as low will go in 2017 after the loss of Aaron Rodgers. [Photo via Raymond T. Rivard]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2017/11/20/660x290/b_502x220x82/the-green-bay-packers-have-all-but-sunk-as-low-as-low-will-go-in-2017-after-the-loss-of-aaron-rodgers-raymond-t-rivard-photograph_1697703.jpg "The Green Bay Packers have all but sunk as low as low will go in 2017 after the loss of Aaron Rodgers. [Photo via Raymond T. Rivard]")
Losing at home - no, being shut out at home - was a huge embarrassment for the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. For the first time in 11 years, Green Bay went 60 minutes without scoring a single point - against the Baltimore Ravens, a so-so American Football Conference team. Ok, so the Ravens have a decent defense, but when the Packers offense, led by the inexperienced Brett Hundley, gave up multiple turnovers, one knew this wasn't going to be a productive day for the proud franchise and its rabid fan base.
Last week's win on the road against longtime rival Chicago Bears, provided some hope for Green Bay.
After Aaron Rodgers went down with a broken collarbone last month, it had been nothing but disappointment for the Packers. Hundley was nothing like Rodgers and head coach Mike McCarthy had a tough time figuring out how to best utilize his backup quarterback in ways to not only enhance the team's offense but to find ways to score points and win games. With Rodgers working toward a comeback that many are hoping would give the Packers a boost at the end of the season, the need is fast becoming moot.
Down and out
Sitting now at 5-5 and three games out of first place in the NFC North - a division the Packers have ruled for a decade - hopes are fading fast certainly for any way to win that division or even qualify for a playoff berth.
For the first time in nearly a decade, the Green and Gold will not be represented in the NFL season-ending tournament. Not only can Packers fans forget about the division, but as a team that was favored to win the NFC and is a representative in the Super Bowl, Sunday's shutout at home extinguishes any hope for that goal. Aaron Rodgers has been the glue that has held this team together in the past and it's pretty clear that his role was bigger than we even thought.
It was his MVP-type play that not only covered up a questionable defense but bailed them out time and again. Not this season.
Climbing from the valley in which they've found themselves after Sunday's embarrassment certainly isn't impossible, but highly unlikely. It's time to let Aaron Rodgers rest and come back for a new run next year.
It's time to start scanning the draft boards for defensive players that will fit the next defensive coordinator after Dom Capers is fired. It's just time to start anew. It's time to start rebuilding this franchise that wasn't as good as everyone expected without Aaron Rodgers. It's time to move on from this misery and look at rebuilding. Having two Hall of Fame quarterbacks on their roster for the past quarter-century has spoiled all Packers fans - especially those who have only known Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers.
Forget the past
For those of us who knew Randy Wright, Jim Del Gaizo, Don Horn, Lynn Dickey, and Don Majkowski, we understand. We've been here before. We've seen this type of play. We understand that climbing out from this level of performance isn't easy.
With a healthy Aaron Rodgers coming back in 2018, there is hope, but we also know Rodgers won't be around forever. Losing is difficult. Getting back to being a winning franchise and continuing to maintain that level is even harder.
Get better, Aaron Rodgers. Forget about this season. It's time to move on from this debacle.
