RODGERS ISN’T THROWING IN THE TOWEL
QB believes faltering Packers can earn wild-card berth despite broken offence
Is it finally the end of an era in Green Bay? Not if Aaron Rodgers has anything to say about it. The Packers lost their sixth of six road games this season on Sunday night in Minnesota by a 24-17 count. Another close loss away from Lambeau.
It dropped the Packers to 4-6-1 on the season, just a half-game above of the NFC North cellar, two games behind second-place Minnesota (6-4-1) and far behind first-place Chicago (8-3). Green Bay missed the playoffs last year, when Rodgers missed most of the season with a cracked collarbone, and appear to be free-falling toward the same fate in 2018.
Right, Aaron?
“We are where we’re at right now, record-wise,” Rodgers said. “We’re going to need some help from some teams and then we’ve got to take care of our own business.
“We’ve got to go back home, get some rest, beat Arizona. And then come back and beat Atlanta. Then go to Chicago, a place where we’ve won a number of times, and beat them. Go to New York around Christmas and beat (the Jets). Then come home against Detroit, beat them. And get a little help.”
So, Rodgers thinks a 9-6-1 record will get Green Bay into January’s playoff dance? Not exactly. But it’s probably the only way Green Bay can score a wildcard playoff berth.
It’s not exactly a daunting schedule, either. The Cardinals are 2-9, the Falcons 4-7, the Jets 3-8, the Lions 4-7. And the 8-3 Bears are an archrival the Packers have already beaten this season.
But, as Rodgers said, Green Bay will need help. Five teams in the race for two NFC wild-card berths have better records: 6-4-1 Minnesota, whichever of 6-5 Dallas or 6-5 Washington doesn’t win the NFC East, 6-5 Carolina, 6-5 Seattle and 5-6 Philadelphia. Only one of those teams can finish above the Packers if Green Bay is to return to the postseason.
The culprits in Green Bay’s latest loss were numerous.
Bad play-calling by head coach Mike McCarthy is now so frequent it’s become cliché. He’s fallen behind the times, and probably no one knows it better than Rodgers himself.
Also so frequent now as to become darkly comical are offensive line and secondary injuries in important games, and the late special-teams gaffe du jour. Is McCarthy on thin Lake Michigan ice? You have to suspect so.
The Vikings defence has one of the best penetrating front fours in the league, but did that compel McCarthy to do something other than have Rodgers drop straight back on third downs once left tackle David Bakhtiari could no longer play on banged-up knees? Nope. Consequently, Rodgers was instantly swarmed and sacked on a third-and-five, third-and-13, third-and-four, and a secondand-one to boot. Those sacks as much as anything changed the game and kept Green Bay’s point total under 20. Although Minnesota QB Kirk Cousins had carved up the Packers defence in the first half — going 22 of 26 for 254 yards — he completed just 7 of 12 for 88 yards after halftime. Give credit to some heroic starting and replacement Packer defenders who prevented a blowout. The Packers offence is most broken of all. And Rodgers now occasionally contributes himself. He missed a wide open Davante Adams in the end zone late in the game, which would have scored four more points than the field goal the Packers kicked on the next play.
“We’ll see what we’re made of in these last five weeks,” Rodgers said, in challenging his teammates. “Are we going to stick together through these tough times, or are we going to start splintering ? I’d like to think the leadership is in place where we can stick together, through whatever happens.”
TAKING A KNEE
The Jacksonville Jaguars’ existence in the NFL’s spotlight of relevance sure was brief. After annually being the AFC South doormat going back through the past decade, all their high draft picks and talented free agents got it together last season and, by November, started playing cohesively at a high level. The Jaguars made it to the AFC Championship Game and held a two-score lead over the Patriots in Foxborough early in the fourth quarter before wilting. No shame there.
High expectations adorned the Jags this year, and through Week 2 of this season, such prognostications appeared legitimate, especially after Jacksonville overwhelmed New England in a 31-20 victory.
Since then? Eight losses in nine games and seven straight after Sunday’s lame 24-21 defeat at Buffalo.
The Jags have thudded hard into the AFC South basement, with a 3-8 record. It’s all too familiar and painful territory. The Jax offence, led by lame duck starting QB Blake Bortles, had become so putrid that head coach Doug Marrone on Monday fired his longtime friend and right-hand man, offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. Former Toronto Argos head coach Scott Milanovich replaces Hackett. Milanovich had been the QBs coach.
Hours later, Marrone announced that Cody Kessler, the third-year Cleveland castoff, will replace Bortles as the starter this Sunday against Indianapolis. Marrone was asked Sunday if he felt he had lost his team. “No,” he said in defiance. But doesn’t it reflect back on him when an offensive captain — and by far the team’s best offensive performer, running back Leonard Fournette — totally loses his cool, races off the bench and gets ejected for getting into a fist fight with Bills defensive end Shaq Lawson late in the third quarter?
“Sure,” Marrone said. “Wins, losses, penalties, they all reflect on me. So I guess if you want me to say I need to do a better job than I do, I just wish I could stop it before it starts.”
DALTON’S SEASON OVER
So much for Cincinnati’s season. The club placed QB Andy Dalton on season-ending injured reserve on Monday.
The eighth-year passer hurt his throwing thumb in Sunday’s 35-20 loss to Cleveland.
Jeff Driskel presumably starts the rest of the way. The 25-yearold was a sixth-round draft pick of the San Francisco 49ers two years ago. His only game action has come this season in four relief appearances with the Bengals. He’s 23 of 36 for 239 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions — a 92.2 passer rating. The Bengals also claimed Tom Savage off waivers on Monday from San Francisco. Presumably, he’ll back up Driskel.
At 5-6, the Bengals technically remain in the AFC wild-card playoff hunt. But realistically, with a defence fast eroding into the NFL’s worst, and now an offence in tatters, they’re done for 2018.
FIVE FAST FACTS
New Orleans is the only undefeated team on the road ... Green Bay and San Francisco are the only winless teams on the road ... Arizona has sunk to last in total offence, rushing offence and passing offence ... The top six teams in turnover differential are in line for a playoff spot. The bottom six aren’t ... Tampa Bay’s opponents are scoring TDs in the red zone at a ridiculous 87 per cent clip.