The Packers’ playoff hopes take a humongous blow
About the only thing that is going right for the Packers today is that the Bears have no desire to beat the Patriots, because Green Bay’s season is currently hanging in the balance at Solider Field right now.
The Packers had a disastrous day in Detroit on Sunday, losing 7-3 to a Lions team that picked up its first divisional win in 19 straight tries. Things got started when Greg Jennings had a potential touchdown pass go off his hands in the first quarter and into the waiting arms of a Detroit defender, then quarterback Aaron Rodgers was knocked out of the game with a concussion in the second.
Things only got worse as Matt Flynn struggled to move the ball against Ndamukong Suh (otherwise known as the Detroit Lions defense) and even when he did, he threw an interception to linebacker DeAndre Levy in the end zone late in the third quarter to kill a potential scoring drive. (He also overthrew Greg Jennings on a 4th-and-1 at the Detroit 31-yard line to put the final nail in the coffin.)
But the Packers can’t pin the loss entirely on Flynn because the Packers didn’t produce any points when Rodgers was in either. And some of the blame for that falls on Mike McCarthy and his coaching staff, which decided to run the ball early and often instead of attacking the league’s worst secondary. I’m not sure what the Packers’ game plan was, but it clearly wasn’t to go after the Lions’ weakness.
Now Green Bay must hope Chicago loses to New England so that they don’t face a two-game deficit in the NFC North by the end of the day. As of this writing, the Bears are trailing the Patriots 21-0 and look completely hopeless, so the Packers’ season is still very much alive.
That said, they travel to New England next Sunday and there’s a good chance that Rodgers won’t be medically cleared to play. Unless Flynn can produce a miracle, the Packers will probably be home when the postseason starts.
But first things first: Chicago must lose to New England.
Follow the Scores Report editors on Twitter @clevelandteams and @bullzeyedotcom.
Posted in: NFL
Tags: Aaron Rodgers, Anthony Stalter, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Greg Jennings, Ndamukong Suh
It helps that they still have some degree of their own destiny in their hands. They need some help, but they’ve got home games against the Giants and Bears to finish the season. So they can help themselves some by knocking down the primary rival for the division and the last wild card spot.
CHI needs to drop its game against the Vikings for GB to have a legit shot at the division. The Packers aren’t going to beat NE next week, so they will have to beat the G-men and Bears and hope that CHI loses to Minny before their tilt at Lambeau. Right now, CHI is still undefeated in the division, while GB has lost two, so in order to get into a tie and send it to the next tiebraker, CHI has to lose to Minny.
Then the tiebraker moves to common games. Assuming they’re both 4-2 in the division, it goes to how both teams did against common opponents outside the division (NE, NYJ, WAS, PHI, NYG, BUF, MIA, DAL). CHI is currently 4-3 in those games with the Jets left to play. GB is 3-2 with the Pats and Giants left to play.
If CHI loses to Minny and the Jets, and GB loses to NE and beats NYG, then the final game at Lambeau will decide the division. If CHI loses to Minny and beats the Jets, and GB loses to NE and beats NYG, then a GB win in W17 would go to the next tiebraker, conference record. GB would be 8-4 (currently 6-4) and CHI would be 7-5 (currently 7-3).
To get the wildcard, assuming they lose at NE and CHI wins the division, GB would have to beat the Giants and Bears, and hope that the Giants lose one other game (MIN, PHI, WAS) along the way.
So in a weird way, Packer fans should be rooting for the Vikings the next two weeks.