A season that looked like it had a good chance of ending in the Super Bowl is starting to unravel a bit for the Packers.
The NFC as a whole is still weak enough that Green Bay’s championship hopes are far from dashed, of course, but it’s definitely time for concern — if not something close to panic — in Packer Land after their 37-29 loss Sunday to the unbeaten Panthers.
The setback was Green Bay’s second in a row, leaving Aaron Rodgers & Co. at 6-2 and two full games behind that same Carolina team in the race for home-field advantage in the conference.
That’s hardly a death knell for Mike McCarthy’s Packers, considering their most recent Lombardi Trophy was earned entirely on the road as a wild card in 2010. And that team, like the 2015 version, thrived despite a mountain of injuries.
But all the injuries — five key players are on injured reserve — have caught up with Green Bay after a 6-0 start, leading to a near-total collapse on defense.
The defensive woes began out of nowhere three weeks ago, when the Packers gave up 548 total yards in a 27-20 home win over the Chargers. They continued the following week in a Denver, when the Broncos gouged Green Bay for 500 yards, and got no better Sunday as the Panthers piled up 427 yards in a game they led 37-14 in the fourth quarter.
The big problem defensively is Green Bay can’t get any pressure, which is compounding their pivotal injuries in the secondary. The Packers have just three sacks in the past three games, including none the past two contests, after piling up 20 sacks during a 5-0 start.
The run defense also has collapsed, giving up 160 yards on the ground to the Broncos and 130 to Carolina. No wonder several Packers defenders could be seen nearly coming to blows on the sideline during Sunday’s defensive debacle in Charlotte.
The defensive problems have coincided the last two games with arguably Rodgers’ worst career outing (77 passing yards against Denver) and a rushing attack that has disappeared after a fast start.
The combination of Eddie Lacy and James Starks, which enabled Green Bay to run for 123 or more yards in its first four games, has broken the 100-yard mark just once in the past four contests and mustered a season-low 71 rushing yards against Carolina.
All is not lost, though, thanks in large part to the Packers’ schedule. Three of their next four games are against the Lions and Bears (combined record: 3-12), so they could get back on track in a hurry. But it’s obvious from the past three games — and especially the most recent two — the time for that is now.