Rodgers? He's got 10 other guys that he damn well better include in his plan or it will continue to look like the NO game. Take what's given, run the ball, then strike after the D adjusts. See Tom Brady. I was ready to move on from AR during the summer, his zen-like holier and smarter than though attitude is sickening to me. Thanks for letting me vent. GPG

Wow, 5% into a season and you’ve already given up on them? This “toughest schedule” or strength of schedule conversation every year is nonsense as it’s based on records from the previous season. Injuries, teams changing, underperforming teams, etc make that discussion meaningless until the season has ended and you look back and see how all the teams actually did. I’m more of the mindset that week 1 was a fluke, and honestly I think this team needed to get beat badly to refocus for the rest of the year. Will be interesting to see how they respond, Go Pack!

Wow, 5% into a season and you’ve already given up on them? This “toughest schedule” or strength of schedule conversation every year is nonsense as it’s based on records from the previous season. Injuries, teams changing, underperforming teams, etc make that discussion meaningless until the season has ended and you look back and see how all the teams actually did. I’m more of the mindset that week 1 was a fluke, and honestly I think this team needed to get beat badly to refocus for the rest of the year. Will be interesting to see how they respond, Go Pack!

I thought this was a good game for the rest of the Packers fanbase to come back down to Earth who felt like we had a top 5 receiving group in the league. This isn't an elite unit and it showed vs. a depleted Saints secondary who clamped all of them down. This offense was #1 last season because of scheme, not talent.

I understand there are good roleplayers but that in no way makes this roster loaded like a lot of people insinuated all offseason. There were a lot of warning signs a result like this was coming, and in a way I'm glad fans and the team were humbled by the fact they're not one of the most talented offenses in the league and need to play within the scheme and play to everybody's strengths. Players that need to play in a specific role in order to succeed isn't interchangeable with being a good player, let's not get this twisted from now on.

The defense is still unproven, and I'm not taking anything away from a week 1 loss when the defense was out on the field for an exhaustingly long time in the scorching heat. But I will disagree that there isn't enough high-grade talent on the defensive line. I'll never understand this outdated way of thinking from Packer fans. The offensive line is naturally able to block your defensive line and the Saints particularly are good enough to do that in order to run on teams. The issue is and always has been the poor talent and undisciplined linebacker play who need to be able to fill gaps and recognize plays that develop in front of them. "Run-stuffing" defensive tackles are a dime a dozen and can absolutely be found all over in day 3 of the draft and give you what you need.

That being said, it shouldn't be a surprise that this team is extremely conservative upgrading anywhere as they've been doing it for a decade now and are constantly refusing to use their draft picks and only use them when a hole opens up.

This team gave up draft capitol to go and get Randall Cobb & Amari Rodgers and both were limited until garbage time when Davante Adams came out and they had to use them and were the only two players to get open all game. What a novelty to use the talent you acquired in the 4th quarter of a lost game. They still insist on starting Kevin King over Eric Stokes, even though King continues to be a liability and gave up two touchdowns again vs. the Saints. They didn't bother to utilize AJ Dillon that they drafted in the 2nd round until this year because it's yet another example of this team being overly conservative.

I wouldn't worry too much about the Packers, they're still playoff contenders but when this team drops the ball like they did, I think all of this criticism is very valid and shouldn't be dismissed by Packers fans as me just being a fake fan. This team had all offseason to get better and once again did nothing to improve until late in the offseason when they only had scraps to work with.

Not trying to condemn the fanbase with this post, I just hope this game allows fans to understand the real issues with this team instead of pretending like nothing is wrong.

Well Murf, now Rodgers has another reason for that chip...

(i) believe in the Zen Buddhist philosophy, ie. the blind archer hitting the bullseye every time. Take a look at Alan Watts or Suzuki, some time,instead of the prosperity preachers picking your pockets and spreading the flim-flam. Gutedkunst has patched some parts around a Great QB, but blew it on the all-in mantra. Campbell as a starting ILB?? He's a cover backer, that's it. Heflin was robbed of his Karma and rightful starting assignment as the recidivists chose to go with their CAP hits and deadbeats along the D-line. Read'em and weep.

Okay I AM on a Packers site right? This comment by murf7777 is absolutely right on the money filled with a POSITIVE message.

The Packers DID lay a big, ugly, smelly egg. They ARE a very good team and they DO have All-Pros and Pro-Bowlers all over this roster. Horrible games HAVE happened like this and the Packers, MLF, Rodgers, and the rest of this Packers team have answered the bell the following week.

In 2019 the got thumped by the Chargers and beat Carolina by 8 the following week. Then they were thumped by the 49ers and beat the Giants by 18 the following week and didn't lose again all year until the NFCCG.

Everything murf7777 said was right on the button...Just watch.

This does seem extremely troubling, Razer.
Here we have a veteran quarterback who talks about how venerable he is, yet still can't figure out the weaknesses in a defense? Or is it that he stubbornly refuses to make the necessary adjustments?
Even if we beat the Lions this week, and other mediocre teams throughout the season, will the Packers continually lose to top defenses due to our quarterback not willing to play the short and patient game of move the chains?
Why pay a quarterback 1/5th of our salary cap if he can't win the big games? Isn't he just setting us up for disappointment when we need him the most?
I thought we were in the Saints game until the long touchdown pass by the Saints at about the beginning of the 4th quarter. I'm wondering if our quarterback panicked long before then.
***
As always, I could be wrong about all of this; but if others disagree with me, please give me some real reasons.
Do we have a quarterback who wants to interfere in front office and coaching decisions, but won't learn from past experiences how to do his own job?
Are the Packers doomed to lose to physically intimidating defenses that take away the long pass as long as Rodgers runs the show?
Is Mike McCarthy actually ahead of Rodgers in adjusting to NFL defenses? The Cowboys didn't run a lot against the Bucs, it seems, but did effectively attack their defense with a creative array of passes vertically and horizontally?
How much of the problem in 2018 was McCarthy, and how much Rodgers?
Does our current coach have the will to stand up to Rodgers if he is usurping his authority?

You might end up being the middle ground that the despair/euphoria pendulum swings through. Answer this call for leadership :o)

"...and his head expanded to the size of Mike McCarthys ass."

Gotta give credit where credit is due. That was classic...lol

The Mike McCarthy cheap shots have got to stop, he's not here anymore. Outside that, I thought this was a good summary of the current state of the team. Things will get better mostly because this is a veteran team who got a very deserved 'wake-up call'. Both Rodgers and Lafleur are now under the gun, with very grave consequences for both if they do not preform. Two points: As I said before, Lafleur pushing out Pettine against the advice of GM Gutekunst was a serious error on Lafleur's part, and could cost Lafleur his job. Don't blame Barry, he was hired because there was no one else out there so late in the hiring cycle. Not only could the Packers not match Jim Leonhard salary at Wisconsin, and with Leonhard the rumored next Head Coach at Wisconsin, and with Bucky in the Championship hunt, why would he want to leave Bucky in the first place. As for Rodgers, he needs to play well, if only to keep his contract numbers stable for his next team, if he doesn't retire. (As if winning a Superbowl isn't important to him, hard to believe that) The front office has taken a lot of shots, most cheap and undeserved. The reality as TGR has pointed out, is the Packers are Way over the Cap as a result of going all in, and had very little room to maneuver. Gute has done an excellent job in keeping this team together for this run. To his credit Gutekunst made it clear that this was the end after this season for this roster. Getting below the Cap is going to be ugly for both the team and fans alike. But there is no choice, and some players (Z. Smith D. Adams for example) are very unhappy about that fact. (For those who complain that the Packers would not fire a HC with time on their contract. Ted Thompson fired Mike Sherman in 2005 and Ron Wolf fired Ray Rhodes in 1999 for medical reasons)

Glad to see you are finally on board.

Thanks for repeating everything I have said/predicted all summer.

You must have read Green-Gold and my exchanges and finally recognized the truth.

Agree on dealing Rodgers. Of course the consensus here & elsewhere in the Packer fandom was that the time to trade him is 2022.

Too late. They’re not going to get much for him — if anything. I wouldn’t be surprised if he just walked away midseason.

#'s 3 and 5 are very significant here. If GB can't snap back to form, I think we have a lot of shades of 2018 coming back. Gute has shown he is more than willing to cull the herd in season, and if he has players on his team that seem unwilling to walk in step, he will get rid of them so the cancer doesn't spread.

It is imperative MLF put his foot down now and tell his players the social media and media drama stops now, because it is clearly a distraction, and remind them that any players who can't be bothered to show up ready to play and stick to the program on game day will be happily traded to whatever destination their GM deems fit.

I do not think that it is his heart but his head. I think he’s possibly at a point where he’s lost his grounding. If he gets that back, we may be fine. If he doesn’t, we may look back at this year and deem it the point where Rodgers self opinion accelerated his decline unnecessarily. If he does it will be a blip on the road for a great offense. That just leaves Mr Barry. He could also turn it around, but there are signs that he may be so out of his depth that he won’t last the season. That could also waste this roster.

Leatherhead I completely agree with your post. However that is a summary of the Packers and the same problem that they have had for years. If Rodgers and the offense doesn't play well the Packers can't win. The defense won't win a game 13-10 or 17-14. Which is needed when Rodgers and the offense doesn't play well.

We can't depend on STs to turn a game around with a big return or on the defense to shut down a quality opponent's offense or QB. Or for the defense to come with a score off a turnover like a pick -6 that becomes the game's turning point. It's all on Rodgers and the offense.

I've thrown out the Saints game and I still believe this team will make the playoffs probably by winning their division. But unless I see it over the remainder of this season I don't think that the Packers can beat Tampa or a revived SF. They will still lose in the trenches to teams like them. Hopefully I'm wrong and the OL and DL will improve over the course of this season and be able to meet the challenge in the playoffs. However, I think we have a long way to go. Thanks, Since '61

Old School is rational as he acknowledges this is an offense driven team with a semi-complementary defense.
The caveat being is this a defense?

He had time. Not as much as we might like, but on rewatching, he was ignoring short yardage options too often. Rodgers is best when he doesn’t do that. The idea that the O Line is the reason for his offensive impotence doesn’t stand up to statistics or rewatching.

Go 4 It, but King CUT, Sullivan to dime where his pay grade belongs and Jean-Charles to the slot. Once again, do (i) have to call in the Ghost of Bill Walsh to drive some sense into the skulls of brandy-addled Packer Fans???

Clayton? Why would I put Stokes in the middle? Scott was injured and I’m not sure if his hammy will let him be ready by Monday. Summers and Burks barely played D.

I agree, press man on the outside: if we play King that’s a must. It should have been last week. I agree, put Clark at NT, bench Lowry and play Slaton and Heflin with Keke on passing downs. I have no idea why we played Lancaster coming off an arm injury that greatly impacts functional strength and leverage-his only genuine assets. Barry’s decisions really are pretty worrying.

And physically, watch the LOS

We’re they beaten before or after the kick off?

We have Alexander, Amos and Savage. That’s a pretty good 3/4. A healthy Z and the P that showed up last week plus Garry isn’t at all bad either. We have Clark, though we misuse him. That’s actually not a bad core. We played passive D all game. Remember a blitz? We played off coverage. Our talent is there, at least enough to be decent. Can we use it effectively is more the question.

It’s pretty hard in today’s game for a D to pitch a shut out when it’s on the field as long as it was in he first half and gifting short fields like we did. 5 TDs and under 200 yards with a over a quarter of that from one pass late in the game says it all.

Bad as the D was, let’s remember that this game was not out of reach by any means till the offensive implosions went beyond the prior impotence. Seeing signs of real concern on the D doesn’t mask a truly horrific offensive performance and shouldn’t mask its significance with respect to the outcome. That was atrocious game planning and in game coaching from LaFleur and also Rodgers being outright bad mentally and pretty mediocre in terms of both timing and accuracy.

Remind me how many blitzes we saw? How fast is Winston and how many yards did he make on the ground? Who decided to play king in off coverage? Who chose to start Lowry against Kamara? Who decided to play a NT coming off an injured arm and keep Clark at DE?

What plan? Was Barry’s plan to have guys playing confused, out of position and weak? Basically the same defense as last year but more experienced, older and not necessarily smarter. I’ll start believing in Barry when the Packers’ defense gets some turnovers, sacks, interceptions, stops on 3rd and 4th downs, and hold the opponent to 28 points or less. Still waiting for this very talented team to show some interest in dedicating themselves to win the Lombardi trophy.

What plan? Was Barry’s plan to have guys playing confused, out of position and weak? Basically the same defense as last year but more experienced, older and not necessarily smarter. I’ll start believing in Barry when the Packers’ defense gets some turnovers, sacks, interceptions, stops on 3rd and 4th downs, and hold the opponent to 28 points or less. Still waiting for this very talented team to show some interest in dedicating themselves to winning the Lombardi trophy.

The basic problem is Barry does not know how his players will preform in his system. Last Sunday was the first time for both 1st units on the field, And it showed. (ugh) Lafleur's gamble is using the first game to replace the final preseason will not hurt the team down the road. Frankly, I had no clue what Berry was running out there, and I suspect neither did he. Couple of points: Lafleur damn well knows that the Packers have played off coverage to prevent the PI call over the past two years. Under Pettine the Packers CB primarily played press, but dropped that because of constant calls of PI when they were in hand checks in coverage. In other words, neither king, nor Alexander got the benefit of the doubt. That's not going to change under Barry, the game officials have tagged the Packers secondary as a hands team, and they're going to call it even if the secondary makes a great play as we saw Sunday. Lafleur and Barry have two choices: They can run the Stanley defense, which this team would take half the season to get use to, or they can continue to run the Pettine defense which is set for this team's personnel with whatever mods they wish to use. This is not a FO issue, not is this a player issue, this is strictly a coaching issue, one of their own making. Lafleur and Barry better get their heads on straight, fast.