Packers Lose Rodgers, NFC-North Up For Grabs

Milwaukee, WI --- Green Bay's championship aspirations are officially on hold.

On their eighth offensive play of the game the Packers were facing a second-and-nine at their own 39-yard-line. Rodgers took the snap and after bypassing his first read, rolled right to extend the play. Linebacker Anthony Barr pinned his ears back and rushed the passer, allowing tight end Martellus Bennett to run freely across the middle of the field. Rodgers threw a perfect pass that bounced off the struggling tight end's hands and fell incomplete. That was the least of their problems. Rodgers was hit hard after the release, and was driven into the turf under Barr's 255 pound frame. For the second time in five seasons Rodgers has broken his collar bone, this time his throwing shoulder, and it may be season ending.

Their spirit on their sideline vanished; their play turned sloppy; players started dropping like flies and it culminated in an embarrassing 23-10 loss at U.S. Bank Stadium.

"It's devastating, no question about it," said Packers receiver Randall Cobb who finished with three catches for 28 yards, season lows in both categories. "First and foremost, it's one of my closest friends, so to see him go down with that, it's tough. But we've still got to play football. We've got a long season ahead of us, and we've got to figure out what we're going to do."

After absorbing the blow, Rodgers was able to walk off the field on his own power, though not without a few choice words to Barr.

"I saw Aaron jawing at him," Packers linebacker Clay Matthews said, who finished with two tackles. "Aaron can take a hit and get up and respect it, but I'm sure he had a little something to say and rightfully so."

When they replayed Rodgers spewing some words at him, his mouth was blurred out. What he said, your guess is as good as mine.

The play was not penalized, though many say it was totally unnecessary.

The Vikings entered Sunday without their starting quarterback, running back and wide receiver and didn't miss a beat against a Packer defense who have made it a habit of letting mediocre offenses look top 10. They came into the game short handed in the secondary as safety Morgan Burnett and cornerbacks Davon House and Kevin King were out with injuries. Cornerback Quintin Rollins joined them as he was carted off the field in the second quarter after suffering a non-contact leg injury. That left Demarius Randall, Josh Hawkins and Lenzy Pipkins as their only remaining cornerbacks.

Football is a war of attrition, but the way the Packers are dropping like flies, you have to wonder how much a team can take before they are literally out of players at a certain position. Even commentator Troy Aikman joked that the Packers may need to put linebackers in the secondary.

Quarterback Case Keenum completed 24 of 38 passes for 239 yards with one touchdown and one interception. And though he didn't have his number one receiver in Stefon Diggs, he consistently hit Adam Thielen who finished with nine catches for 97 yards.

While the defense produced three turnovers, they failed to record a single sack. With a team as mangled as they are in the secondary, pass rush must become their best friend in order to take pressure off of them and direct it toward the quarterback. They failed. But on a positive note, Blake Martinez was once again a human vacuum cleaner, finishing with a team-best 11 tackles. Defensive tackle Kenny Clark seems to be improving every week. He was an absolute terror in the running game, finishing with a career best six tackles, including a forced fumble that led to the first points of the game for the Packers. He occupies blockers, makes a quick read on where the running back is going, then quickly disposes of them and makes the play.

While those two have made jumps of improvement, safety Kentrell Brice wants to land a big hit so badly that he repeatedly misses tackles by not breaking down and ends up diving at ankles. With the secondary already in trouble, he needs to be a more disciplined player. He talks enough trash, it's about time he backs it up.

The Vikings, who came into the game ranked ninth in total offense, racked up 351 total yards to Green Bay's paltry 227, their lowest of the season. The Packers were out gained on first down by 10, and at one point gained just five to Minnesota's 24. Including sacks they averaged just 3.8 yards per pass play.

Minnesota's offense didn't wow you with numbers, but they made key plays when it mattered, and their defense rose to the challenge when they turned the ball over and allowed Green Bay to start in a good field position. Their goal was to stop the run and force the Packers to try and win on the arm of Hundley who, while being a third-year player, is essentially a rookie due to hardly having any on-field experience. He attempted just 11 passes in his young career before Sunday's game.

Hundley entered the game for Rodgers and desperately tried to corral his troops. The 2015 fifth round pick who led the league in preseason passer rating, 129.6, as a rookie and drew trade interest during this year's draft finished with a modest 157 passing yards on 18 of 33 passes with one touchdown and three costly interceptions. His first pass was intercepted when he tried to fit in a tight ball to receiver Geronimo Allison on a quick out route but it was tipped and landed in the hands of All-Pro cornerback Xavier Rhodes.

Don't expect Hundley to quickly take up the mantel Aaron Rodgers has set. It is unrealistic and unfair to put that at the feet of a young passer such as Hundley. "We don't need Brett to be Aaron," said Lane Taylor, the starting left guard who left in the first half with a knee and ankle injury after a defender rolled into him after a sack. "We just need Brett to be Brett, and everyone else do their job."

After racking up 125 yards on just 19 carries last week against Dallas, Aaron Jones was brought back to earth by a dominant run defense. His 6.6 yards per carry average last week was downgraded to 3.2. The return of Ty Montgomery from broken ribs did little to pack a one-two punch, finishing with 28 yards on 10 attempts with a long of just seven yards.

That rejuvenated offensive line? Just a fart in the wind. They came out of the tunnel at full strength, only to leave the field worse than ever. Three of the five starting offensive linemen didn't finish the game. Lane Taylor left with a hurt ankle and knee and was replaced by Justin McCray at left guard. Right tackle Bryan Bulaga was then placed in concussion protocol, so McCray moved to right tackle and Lucas Patrick filled his old spot at left guard. Then David Bakhtiari's hamstring problems reemerged and he left the game in the second half, forcing McCray to move to left tackle and Ulrick John, who was just signed a couple weeks ago, to replace him at right tackle. Yes, reread this if you have to. It is hard to swallow.

When asked if he has every played on a team with this many injuries on the offensive line at any level of football, McCray said, "No. No. This is the worst."

How many players have played offensive tackle for the Green Bay Packers? Bakhtiari, Bulaga, Jason Spriggs, Kyle Murphy, Lane Taylor, Don Barclay, Justin McCray, and Ulrick John.

Now the Packers are forced to use a lineman who was in the Arena Football League, another from the Cardinal's practice squad and an undrafted rookie from last year's practice squad. The offensive line should make "suicide squad" their official motto.

“It’s not going to be the same,” center Corey Linsley said. “Of course it’s not going to be the same. But when you go back and you look at the film you see what adjustments we made, and maybe we didn’t make the right adjustments. Maybe we need to put another guy somewhere, maybe this guy is not playing his best position. So it’s not going to be the same, but that’s the whole essence of the thing. The adjustments that we make need to maximize our potential.”

The Packers went three-and-out on their next possession, starting with two running plays before Hundley got sacked on third-and-five on their own 22 by safety Harrison Smith on a blitz off the edge. McCarthy tried to stay true to the running game in order to make Hundley comfortable, taking pressure off of the passing game by using a two-back backfield. It was on this play Lane Taylor was injured and left the game. He was replaced by Justin McCray.

Two plays later, Viking running back Jerick McKinnon fumbled and it was scooped up by Clay Matthews, who returned it 67-yards. Three plays later, on third-and-six at the Minnesota 14, Hundley scrambled and hit Davante Adams for a 14-yard touchdown to tie the game at seven. So, after throwing an interception on his first throw, he throws a touchdown on his second. You can consider that an in-game improvement. It was not only Hundley's first career touchdown pass, but the first by a backup Packer quarterback since Matt Flynn in week 16 of the 2013 season.

Speaking of Flynn, don't expect him to be making an appearance. Despite being just 32 years old, he hasn't played in an NFL game since 2014, his last dance with the Packers.

"Brett Hundley's my quarterback, Joe Callahan's the backup," said head coach Mike McCarthy. "That's the direction we're going. That is the focus. And that's where we are as a football club."

The Vikings' next possession was their biggest of the game. They marched 84-yards down the field in just eight plays, 42 yards coming off of a pass interference call on Josh Hawkins. In the end, McKinnon bulldozed his way into the end zone for a three-yard touchdown run, making it 14-7. Linebacker Jake Ryan failed to fill the gap and was knocked backward after absorbing the blow.

Hawkins surrendered eight catches on ten targets for 87 yards on the night. The Packers desperately need the ball skills of King and House back if their secondary has a chance to survive.

After going three-and-out again, the Vikings turned the ball over when linebacker Blake Martinez, who is now the heart and soul of the defense with Burnett out and Daniels not being his usual self, got under a slant route, directed toward receiver Michael Floyd, and deflected the pass. It winded up in the hands of Demarius Randall, his second straight game with an interception, who returned it 14-yards to the Green Bay 48.

With 1:57 left in the half the Packers were knocking on the Vikings' door. On third-and-eight at the Minnesota eight, Hundley found Montgomery alone in the middle of the field. Ty wasn't able to fully grasp the ball, and despite diving over the goal line for a touchdown, the call was reversed and it was called incomplete. They settled for a 26-yard field goal, and would go scoreless the rest of the game.

The Vikings would kick three field goals to make it its final score, 23-10.

Taking over with 3:20 left in regulation, the Packers took the field to at least leave the stadium with some pride. With the Vikings play soft, they were able to drive down the field, with Cobb catching two of his three balls. In the end, on third-and-eleven with 15 seconds left, Hundley was under duress and was hit by both defensive tackle Lineal Joseph and defensive end Brian Robison. The pass floated over the head of Nelson and was intercepted by Trae Waynes.

Game over.

The Packers went 2-5-1 without Rodgers when he last broke his collarbone during the 2013 season. This burden will be even more difficult to overcome. This time it is his throwing shoulder that is damaged, so the recovery time may take longer. And while the Packers still managed to win their division that year with a 8-7-1 record, it was Detroit going 1-6 to close the season that kept the Packers' postseason aspirations alive. Don't expect that to happen again.

Replacing Aaron Rodgers is impossible. No band member could have replaced Jimi Hendrix, and no quarterback can replace Aaron Rodgers.

"In my opinion, he's the best player in football, but this is a team game," said McCarthy. "This is the ultimate team game. And we need to be better. And we need to better with 11 people on the field that we have, regardless of the phase that we're in, and ultimately that's my responsibility."

It is a daunting, unenviable task. Hopefully McCarthy and Ted Thompson have learned from 2013.