Packers have issues threatening to derail their season

The Green Bay Packers are perennial contenders, but so far in 2022, they look like ane say out with a bad offense and uneven defense.

With 5:43 remaining in the third quarter against the New York Jets, the Green Bay Packers may have hit their low point.

Despite Jets quarterback Zach Wilson being 8-of-16 for 80 yards, the Packers trailed the Jets 17-3 after having a punt blocked and returned for a touchdown.

At that moment, Green Bay’s problems became a three-phase disaster.

This offseason, talk around the Packers largely centered about the lack of weaponry for Aaron Rodgers after the Davante Adams deal. Most believed Green Bay would be buoyed by a defense featuring seven first-round draft picks.

Through six games, that hasn’t happened.

The Packers have major issues, and it’s only getting worse

While the Packers are 3-3 and far from buried, there’s little to be excited about.

Rodgers has been nothing like his MVP form of the past few years. He’s yet to throw for 260 yards in any game this year. He’s still yet to toss three touchdowns against any opponent.

Additionally, Green Bay’s receivers have been everyone’s worst fears, a group that struggles to get open. Going into Sunday, veteran Randall Cobb led the unit with 249 receiving yards, and he left against the Jets on a cart in the third quarter.

Defensively, the heavy investment through the draft isn’t paying off. The individual talent is evident, but coordinator Joe Barry’s soft zone scheme leaves Green Bay susceptible against any decent quarterback with a few seconds to throw. So far, the Packers have faced Zach Wilson, Daniel Jones, Justin Fields, Kirk Cousins, Bailey Zappe and Tom Brady without Julio Jones, Chris Godwin and Mike Evans.

Spoiler: when the Packers play quality quarterbacks, it’s going to be ugly.

Here’s the good news; the rest of the NFC stinks.

The Minnesota Vikings are leading the NFC North, but looked far from invincible on Sunday against the Skylar Thompson-led Miami Dolphins. The NFC South might not a have single worth talking about, including the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who struggled all afternoon against the moribund Pittsburgh Steelers. Then there’s the NFC West, where the San Francisco 49ers are a MASH unit and the Los Angeles Rams who couldn’t block a JV team.

But if you’re viewing Green Bay through the prism of whether it can reach and win the Super Bowl, it’s hard to be excited with the early returns. The Packers simply don’t have the offensive firepower to scare teams, and defensively play a scheme which invites easy throws — no team had given up a worse completion percentage than Green Bay entering Week 5 — and ample yardage.

The Packers have Aaron Rodgers under center and Matt LaFleur on the sideline. They have talent all over the defense. Perhaps that’s enough to figure it out and get rolling. Perhaps the weak NFC will invite Green Bay to make the adjustments necessary to win consistently.

Still, the question is whether the Packers are willing and able to accept the invitation.