After four weeks of action, Mike McCarthy’s Green Bay Packers and the divisional Detroit Lions were tied atop the NFC North with 3-1 records. You will recall that we gave Aaron Rodgers and his team a B+ for their early efforts. Things got even better one week later as the Pack was all alone atop the division with a 4-1 record. But it has been all downhill ever since, as the team’s star signal-caller went down with a broken collarbone in the first quarter of what would become a 23-10 loss at Minnesota. This was followed by home losses to the New Orleans Saints and Detroit Lions.
The team now sits with a 4-4 record, once again tied with the Lions, but now two games behind the Vikings.
Its been a dismal stretch for the club. But once again, we have looked at the three key departments for this club and came up with an overall grade.
Offense, defense, and special teams
You wish the news could be better when it comes to the defending NFC North champions, but the fact remains that Rodgers is sidelined until Week 15 of the season with that broken collarbone. The soonest he could return to the field is Week 15 when the Green Bay Packers visit the Carolina Panthers. The team got off to that aforementioned 4-1 start this season before the talented passer suffered that broken collarbone in Week 6 at Minnesota.
This season – so far – Rodgers has thrown for 1,385 yards and 13 scores compared to only three interceptions. All told, backup Brett Hundley has not been up to the task at hand, and this is a club that currently ranks 23rd overall in total offense.
On defense, the Packers have fallen hard for a lot of different reasons. Dom Capers’ unit has allowed 12 offensive touchdowns and a total of 110 points in their last four contests.
Green Bay surrendered only 81 points and just seven offensive TDs in their first four outings. The pass rush has managed only 13 sacks and the Pack has slipped to 15th in the NFL in total yards allowed per game. Elsewhere, kicker Mason Crosby has been so-so in his last four games after a strong start. He’s missed two PATs and connected on only 4-of-6 field goal tries.
He opened the year connecting on all 12 PAT attempts and was 4-of-4 on field goal tries. Finally, Trevor Davis has solid on both kickoff and punt returns.
Grade: C
This Sunday in Chicago, the Green Bay Packers will begin the second half of the 2017 season. Unfortunately, they will be taking their three-game skid into the Windy City looking to extend their seven-game overall winning streak (including the 2010 NFC title game) at Soldier Field. Remember, this was an organization looking to reach the playoffs for a ninth straight year and the Super Bowl for the first time since 2010. Now the Pack is just trying to keep their helmets above water until Rodgers is able to get back on the field.
