Packers Cling to Hope, If Nothing Else

The Green Bay Packers had never lost back-to-back regular-season games under coach Matt LaFleur. With a 23-21 loss at the Washington Commanders, they’ve dropped three in a row.

The Green Bay Packers’ offense? Terrible.

The defense? Terribly disappointing.

Special teams? Not any better.

With three consecutive losses in the supposedly soft part of the schedule and a primetime game coming up at the Super Bowl-favorite Buffalo Bills, the Packers have nothing to cling to from an on-the-field perspective following a 23-21 loss at the Washington Commanders. All they have is hope and, as quarterback Aaron Rodgers put it, “the past.”

In 2016, the Packers fell to 4-6 when they lost at Washington for their fourth consecutive loss. Afterward, Rodgers suggested the Packers could “run the table.” And they did. Starting with a Monday night romp at Philadelphia, Green Bay won its final six regular-season games and advanced to the NFC Championship Game.

Asked if turning around the season and getting to the playoffs felt “plausible” this time, Rodgers said: “You’re goddamn right it does. I’m not worried about this squad. In fact, this might be the best thing for us. This week, nobody’s going to give us a chance, going to Buffalo on ‘Sunday Night Football,’ with a chance to get exposed … Shoot, this might be the best thing for us.”

That’s one way to look at it. The Bills are 10.5-point favorites at FanDuel Sportsbook. The Packers never have been such a big underdog in a game started by Rodgers.

The calvary isn’t on the way. It’s not as if the Packers are almost clicking. They’re not one bad call or one unlucky bounce from winning. They’re being outplayed in every phase.

To tight end Marcedes Lewis, there’s only one way to dig out of the mess. It involves a shovel and sweat.

“One thing I told the guys just now,” Lewis said. “In times like this, individually, when I’ve had, whether it’s a couple bad plays, play a couple games you’d rather have back, you just lean on your work. We got out there and we bust our butt every day. It’s about finding our rhythm and all it’s going to take is one and they come in bunches after that. Time to get back to work.”

The Packers killed themselves on Sunday. They led 7-0 until Amari Rodgers’ muffed punt handed the Commanders three points. They appeared to have extended their lead to 21-10 on Rashan Gary’s strip and Rasul Douglas’ 62-yard touchdown on the fumble return but Eric Stokes’ penalty nullified the score.

During a three-series span in the first half, holding on Yosh Nijman made it first-and-20, a blown block by the new left side of the line and another holding penalty on Nijman made it second-and-25, and holding on Robert Tonyan made it first-and-19. On a key fourth-and-1 early in the fourth quarter, it appeared Sammy Watkins blew his assignment, resulting in Romeo Doubs’ drop.

“We’ve just got to play better, all of us,” Rodgers said. “I think if we all look at the film, there’s probably a number of plays in every phase that we could have done better. But we just, I’ve said it before, the margin of error is so tight. You know, a couple of calls don’t necessarily go our way and we don’t execute at all on offense.”

With three consecutive losses to three of the NFL’s worst teams from a year ago, it’s now going to be Packers vs. Everybody. If there’s any chance of turning the season around, the Packers can’t start feuding. It took the team to get out of this mess. It will take the team to find its way out.

“As just a teammate and a leader, we’ve got to stick together through prosperity and adversity,” Lewis said. “When it’s going well, everything’s good. But when it’s not going so well, we’ve got to be stronger, whether it’s on the sideline, individually, being able to keep your head up and go through that adversity. It just sucks. Nobody wants to be in this spot. It’s time to go back, look at the film and just confront that truth and come back better next week.”

Based on quality of player and quality of upcoming opponent, the Packers are in deep trouble. Rodgers, the winner of four MVPs, looks like just another quarterback. The defense, the supposed strength of the team, has been mediocre. The special teams, the unit that appeared to be on the upswing, is headed the wrong way, too.

Does everyone in the locker room share the belief that the Packers can save the season?

“It should be,” Rodgers said. “Unless they don’t think they’re the right person for the job. I think I’m the right person for the job.”

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