The Green Bay Packers are 1-2, fourth place in a weak division. The Chicken Littles are out, followed closely by the lemmings and the folks quoting Nostradamus and Revelations.

Fire everybody.

While the defense has been asserting itself the last few weeks, keeping the opponents’ scores a little respectable after a Week 1 shellacking against the Seahawks, its been the offense that has let the team down.

Sure, the offensive line is a group of ustabees, wannabes, and neverbeens, failing to consistently open holes for Eddie Lacy and keeping pass rushers in the backfield. And Randall Cobb doesn’t appear to be quite the same player, leaving Jordy Nelson as the primary target. And, the young players trying to replace James Jones are doing a good job of replacing the 2008 version of James Jones.

But, the most uncomfortable target for Packer fans has to be none other than #12, and his apparent regression to his pre-starting days. Oh, sure, there’s been moments where his arm shoots a laser through traffic into a place where only his receiver can catch it. But, for the most part through three games, Rodgers’ gameplay has been marked by some recurring non-MVP-like habits.

• Failing to sense the rush and hanging on to the ball too long.

• Zeroing in on one receiver (usually Nelson) instead of going through his progressions.

• Throwing the ball without the usual pinpoint accuracy--in fact, he’s been downright off on many of his passes.

The knee-jerk reaction to criticism of Aaron Rodgers is usually a fierce defense from those who rallied around an unfortunate young quarterback thrust into the most impossible of situations during the Favregate era. Like old and rusty political talking points, we naturally react with the same attack-lines we’ve been using for years.

But Rodgers has his Super Bowl and his own MVP. And the reality is this offense still relies on his arm to put points on the board. And to start out the season, the Packers offense hasn’t put many points on the board, sporting the 28th-ranked offense and averaging a meager 18 points per game.

This isn’t the first time this has happened in Rodgers’ modern era. Thanks to Timehop, I was able to look back two years ago to some observations I made on Twitter.

At that point, Aaron Rodgers was the reigning NFL Most Valuable Player and the toast of Green Bay, earning platitudes from every venue regardless of his performance. In other words, criticism of Aaron wasn’t something you saw very often, or would be taken very well.

But, just a few weeks later, after watching many of the same failings coming from Rodgers, I penned what might have been the first critical article of Rodgers, in the October after earning that MVP.

I've been concerned about the dependence on Rodgers on the offensive side of the ball for some time now. No one likes to listen to stuff like that when you're 13-0. "What's the matter? 13-0 isn't good enough for you? Do we need to be thirteen-and-oh-ier???"

 

But Rodgers' accuracy (and mobility) gave McCarthy the leeway to pursue the no-huddle offense, eschew the running game almost completely, and allow his quarterback to essentially be responsible for 70-90% of the yardage each and every week. And when his accuracy returns to that of mere mortal men, the whole machine suffers.

It was a sobering piece to write, and a sobering piece for Packer fans to read. Some glumly agreed, while other quickly moved to shift the blame elsewhere...anywhere else, in some cases.

Perhaps, however, it was a sobering piece for Aaron Rodgers to read, because just six days after that article was published, Rodgers threw six touchdown passes as the Packers rolled over the Houston Texans 42- 24. Then, he looked right into the camera, right into my soul with those big blue eyes, and said this:

In my world, I like to believe he read my CheeseheadTV article and was so ticked off, he put a chip on his shoulder to prove me completely and utterly wrong.

After that point, Rodgers began to play like Rodgers again, but it seemed like he needed that chip on his shoulder--the same one he brought with him after falling in the draft, and the same one he used after children in #4 jersey swore at him in training camp.

Mike McCarthy’s Packers have always seemed to respond to urgency, needing their back against the wall to get their act together and play to their potential. This week, Aaron Rodgers gave his shot across the bow a little early, telling Packer fans to R-E-L-A-X. Perhaps it would have been nice, as in 2012, to actually have played a stellar game ahead of time first. But the message has been sent.

RELAX might be this year’s “Shhhhhh…”

And not a moment too soon. With the Packers lining up at noon against the Bears, a loss would really put them behind the 8-ball, falling to 1-3 and 0-2 in the division. Truly, the onus is on the Packers offense to pick up their game and to quit leaving it to the defense.

But such criticism of Rodgers is bound to be a continuous story over the remainder of his career. Many of us have quietly noted that Aaron is now on the wrong side of 30 years old, and with that comes a bit of a label as an “old quarterback”.  My colleague at PackersTalk, Richard Chang, didn’t make this observation quite so quietly yesterday.

This week was a scream. We got a little taste of what it’s like to be the “other 31″ with a mortal quarterback. I don’t take the criticism of Rodgers personally, but I am offended by the way pundits tippy toe around what they think is causing his struggles in 2014. The two reasons why the Packers offense is struggling: 1. Rodgers is old 2. McCarthy draws up plays in crayon….I don’t think the collarbone is affecting him, but I do think health is at the forefront of his mind. How can it not be? Playing distracted sacrifices accuracy. When McCarthy can’t call a single play to get a receiver into space, it requires the same pinpoint accuracy that Packers fans expect from twelve. Pinpoint. Like, on a dime. Those days are done.

Those are fightin’ words for most Packer fans. Trust me, I wouldn’t have dreamed of writing words like that in 2012. But, its a quiet thought in most of our heads, and come 2016, it might be more of an ongoing narrative than just one man shouting.

But now that Aaron has told us to relax, the time has come for him to prove it. To be honest, I truly believe that he will have the same kind of redemption game today against the Bears as he had against the Texans two years ago.

But this year may not just be about getting the Packers into the playoffs. It might be the very start of his biggest battle of his career, just like every other elite, Hall of Fame quarterback--the battle against Father Time.

And that just might put the biggest chip on his shoulder you’ve ever seen. It's a battle that he will lose...someday down the line. It's inevitable. But #12 is here, well-loved by the Packer faithful, and we will ride that roller coaster to every height and every depth along the way. So, sit back today and enjoy the game, and the time we have watching Aaron Rodgers still in his prime, throwing the football for the green and gold.

Or, more simply put....relax.

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C.D. Angeli is a lifelong Packer fan, and feature writer at Cheesehead TV. He is also the good cop over at PackersTalk.com and co-host of the long-running Packer podcast Cheesehead Radio. Follow him on Twitter at @TundraVision.