Sitting at 4-4, many Packer fans have been calling for the head of Mike McCarthy and packing up their hopes for a Green Bay playoff run. While frustrations are justifiably high after a sub-par first half of the 2016 season, the truth is that the Packers’ playoff hopes are far from extinguished. Sitting just a game and a half back of the Minnesota Vikings with eight games to go, the season is far from over.
Still, the Packers are now on the outside looking in. After the Packers’ embarrassing loss to the Indianapolis Colts last Sunday, Green Bay would find themselves out of the playoffs if the season ended today, snapping a 7 year streak of reaching the postseason.
The Packers will now be contending with a number of teams for a possible wildcard spot including Washington, Seattle, Detroit, New York, New Orleans, and Philadelphia, all of which are either currently ahead of the Packers in the playoff hunt or who share their 4-4 record. While the Packers are not out of play for the division title, they’re now situated behind both Minnesota and Detroit, needing to climb past two tough division opponents in order to snatch the NFC North.
It’s certainly not impossible, especially for Aaron Rodgers and Co., but the odds are getting longer with each loss. In 2010, the Packers found themselves in a similar spot. Sitting at 3-3 after a tough overtime loss at home against the 2-2 Miami Dolphins, the Packers pulled themselves up by their boot straps, winning five of their next six games. That team squeaked into the playoffs and the rest is history.
With a tough three game road trip coming up, the question remains as to whether this 2016 group can also rattle off a series of wins to put themselves back into serious playoff contention. The season is not yet over, but if the Packers can’t leave Tennessee with a victory this Sunday, it might be time to pack it up. With two consecutive losses to middling AFC South opponents, the Packers would be sitting at 4-5, facing playoff contending Washington and Philadelphia on the road before even getting back to Lambeau. Any postseason hopes at that point would be on life support.
For that reason, the Packers have their backs against the wall. They must win and preferably win big, overcoming their sputtering pace and giving themselves momentum for an arduous second half of the season. With a lot of kinks yet to be worked out on offense and in the defensive secondary, the Packers have to come into Nissan Stadium with the energy of a team fighting for its life. For better or worse, Sunday may foreshadow what the rest of the season has in store for Green Bay.
——————Taylor O\'Neill is a Packer fan born and raised in Oshkosh, WI. He currently lives in Florida and is pursuing his PhD. Taylor is a writer with PackersTalk.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @TaylorONeill87 for more Packer news.
——————
2 responses to “Season’s Not Over but Packers Have Their Backs Against the Wall”
The Packers lost two games on the road by a total of four points. It’s the losses at home that bother me. Four turnovers in the Dallas game and I was there. We handed that game to Dallas.The Colts game we get two turnovers from interceptions by Clinton-Dix and come up with three points. This is unacceptable. I’m kinda glad we’re on the road for three weeks. We seem to have lost that great home field advantage at Lambeau Field. Let’s get fired up and kick some you know what. GO PACK GO!!!
I wish the comparisons to the 2010 team would stop. This team is nothing like the 2010 tea, That team had Woodson, Williams, Collins and a rising CB named Sam Shields. HHCD is a good Safety and could be the next great Packers Safety but he’s not there yet.
The 2010 team was designed around Finley. After he was injured the Packers had the WR’s to withstand the loss. They don’t have anyone close to what jennings brought to that 2010 team and they were just scratching the surface of what Nelson brought to the table.
Rodgers was younger, hungrier, and had a HUGE chip on his shoulder then. Now after 2 MVP’s, 1 SB MVP, 6 years of everybody telling him he could be the best ever, he seems more comfortable on the “Red Carpet” than the field. Hell if he put in as much time at his craft as he does making those damn commercials, he might just get that “Chip” back.