Packers downplay discord
Emotions evident after second loss following 6-0 start
Maybe the breaking point came early in the fourth quarter, when the Green Bay Packers returned to the sideline after giving up another touchdown during another game that had spiraled way out of control.
They trailed 37-14. Time for tempers to flare.
So as safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix engaged in heated words with pass rusher Julius Peppers, he was forcefully shoved away by nose tackle B.J. Raji. Then Clinton-Dix was escorted from the scene by other teammates. What a snapshot of frustration. “There was nothing to that,” Peppers insisted to USA TODAY Sports as he headed to the team buses after Sunday’s loss.
Maybe not, but two weeks ago the Packers were undefeated. Now, after getting handled by the unbeaten Carolina Panthers 3729, there’s some serious adversity.
“You want emotion,” Peppers added. “You want players with energy. That’s all that was.”
But it sure looked like bickering. Clinton-Dix felt compelled to offer an apology afterward, tweeting: “I will never disrespect a HOF player and a guy I’ve been watching since I was a little kid. Misunderstanding, I apologize to my packer Fans.”
The Packers defense was scorched for 500 yards while being routed by the Denver Broncos in Week 8. Then Sunday, with a depleted secondary, Green Bay allowed 427 yards and a barrage of big plays by Cam Newton and Co.
Now you wonder whether inhouse issues will linger.
“Looks can be deceiving,” Peppers said. “I promise you, there’s no animosity.”
Interestingly, the Packers seemed to be ignited by the sideline dust-up. Afterward, they staged a furious rally and cut the final margin to eight points. They had a chance to perhaps tie the score — Green Bay proved, six days after the Indianapolis Colts overcame a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit to force overtime, no lead is really safe at Bank of America Stadium — with a fourth-and-goal from the Panthers 4-yard line.
But Aaron Rodgers, pressured by Kawann Short, threw a soft pass over the middle that Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis leaped to snag for a game-clinching interception with just under two minutes left. Rodgers had Randall Cobb open, crossing over the middle, on the fateful throw.
With the game decided, what does Rodgers do next? He went to the sideline, watched a replay on a tablet ... and slammed the device to the ground.
No, Greg Hardy isn’t the only person in the NFL prone to a sideline outburst.
“It’s a frustrating game,” Rodg- ers said. “It’s exhilarating and also frustrating when you make a mistake like that. I had the easy opportunity there for a pitch-and-catch touchdown, but I got scared by something. It was a mistake. I will be thinking about that one on the ride home.”
Consecutive crushing defeats have provided the Packers, widely viewed as the NFC favorite to reach Super Bowl 50, with quite the reality check. Perhaps they are not who you thought they were. Not only does Carolina (8-0) suddenly have a two-game lead plus a tiebreaker in the race for the No. 1 seed, but the Packers (6-2) are suddenly tied with the Minnesota Vikings for first place in the NFC North.
“Nobody to blame but ourselves,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. “We didn’t take the step that we wanted today.”
McCarthy knows it’s not time to panic. There’s half a season of football left. But with a chance to send a strong message, and earn a leg up in the race on paper, this was the type of blown opportunity that can wreck big-picture plans. As it stands, Green Bay likely will have to hit the road at some point during the playoffs.
Rodgers, who has lost consecutive starts in the same season for the first time since 2010, seemed resigned to that possibility.
“We feel confident if we have to come here and play in the playoffs, that we could get the job done,” he said.
When asked where he gets such confidence, Rodgers talked about playing better on both sides of the ball and starting faster. Of course, that’s all easier said than done — especially on the road. And since the start of last season, including the playoffs, the Packers are 13-0 at Lambeau Field ... and now 6-7 away from it.
There is much to fix. Rodgers was sacked five times Sunday, making it 10 times in the last three games. During the first five games, he was sacked eight times. The running game hasn’t worked with Eddie Lacy, who had been steadily losing snaps to James Starks even before suffering a groin injury Sunday. And with receiver Jordy Nelson out for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, the Packers’ deep passing game has hardly been the same potent force.
The secondary, which played without top cornerback Sam Shields on Sunday, has been ripped for big plays. And the pass rush has been anemic, with zero sacks on Newton ... just like the zero sacks on Peyton Manning.
“We’ve hit a little rough patch,” Peppers said. “We’re going to get through this.”
Or else.