Following the Green Bay Packers' embarrassing loss against the Denver Broncos, what five reasons can be given to prove that the Packers and their fan base should panic?
1. Their Strength of Schedule Leading Up to Denver
After Green Bay got off to a 6-0 start, everyone (including us) began hyping them up as a potential Super Bowl contender and potentially a favorite. That was obviously a rushed opinion, as the Packers hadn't played anyone of note before tonight's game. Seattle and St. Louis are decent, but the other teams that they have played were absolutely awful and Green Bay shouldn't have been over-hyped like they were.
2. Green Bay's Offensive Line Finally Shows the Truth vs. a Good Pass Rush
Green Bay had seen their offensive line be hyped up all season long up until this game against the Broncos' pass rush. Even against St. Louis, the Packers' offensive line was porous and allowed way too many players to get through and put pressure on Rodgers. They cannot stand up to a team with a dominant pass rush, which will come back to kill them later on in the year.
3. Jordy Nelson's Absence Finally Came Back to Haunt the Packers
Losing Jordy Nelson in the preseason was expected to hurt the Packers in a big way, but up until this game it hadn't haunted them. Denver was easily able to cover the Green Bay wide receivers and Aaron Rodgers had absolutely nowhere to throw the football. That showed all night and will hurt them against any good secondary throughout the remainder of the season.
4. Lack of Coaching Preparation
Coming into a huge game like the Packers did against Denver, the coaching staff has to figure out how to prepare their players. It was obvious from the opening drive that Green Bay didn't come prepared and didn't have an even close to acceptable game plan. That comes back to the coaching staff, which has been called into question time and time again throughout the last few seasons.
5. Dom Capers' Defensive System Doesn't Work Against Elite QB's
Perhaps the most frustrating thing for Green Bay fans over the last few seasons has been watching the defense play pathetic football against any decent quarterback that they have faced. Peyton Manning is an elite quarterback and showed the Packers why they need to be knocked back a few spots in the power rankings. Green Bay cannot defend a simple crossing route and still haven't learned how to tackle, which will always beat them against elite quarterbacks.
Many will disagree and try to argue that one game doesn't matter this much, but flaws were finally shown in Green Bay's offense and defense. They gave up a massive game to Philip Rivers last week as well and simply haven't looked like the "dominant" defense that they were early on in the year.
Green Bay can still fix the issues, but following this loss they are no longer considered a favorite to win the Super Bowl.
As long as they have Rodgers on their side they will always be a good team, but they have a lot of flaws this season. It is time to panic in Green Bay, but hopefully Rodgers can pull another R-E-L-A-X moment out of his bag of tricks and get his team back on track throughout the remainder of the season.
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