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Entering the 2021 season, there were two potentially extreme scenarios on the table for the Green Bay Packers and their disgruntled MVP quarterback, Aaron Rodgers.
Scenario 1: Rodgers, who didn’t do much to hide his disenchantment with the team while sitting out much of the offseason, enters the campaign inspired to make a point and dominates again. This seemed particularly plausible because Rodgers did exactly that after the Packers traded up to draft quarterback Jordan Love in the 2020 offseason.
Scenario 2: With 2022 on his mind, the same regime in place and a lack of solid offensive support beyond star wide receiver Davante Adams, Rodgers checks out at the first sign of trouble. This seemed possible because Rodgers appeared so determined to ditch the Packers in the 2021 offseason, and it doesn’t take much for the wheels to fall off anywhere in the NFL.
Week 1 is often not predictive of how entire seasons will go in this league, but an embarrassing 38-3 loss at a neutral site to a short-handed, Drew Brees-less New Orleans Saints team Sunday in Jacksonville is a daunting indication that Rodgers and the Packers are headed down the second scenario’s path.
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There’s plenty of time for a future Hall of Fame quarterback to right this ship, especially in an extended 17-game season, but the margin for error is quite low considering the state of Green Bay’s roster compared to those of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals in the NFC.
It’s entirely possible the Packers will lose those wheels early and this will go down as a lost season in Green Bay.
A team has never lost by 20 or more points in Week 1 and gone on to win the NFC, and nobody has ever made the Super Bowl after losing its first game by a margin as large as the one New Orleans defeated Green Bay by on Sunday. Everyone is prone to a stinker here or there, but this was easily the most lopsided loss of Rodgers’ career.
Considering the timing, that should terrify Packers fans.
Rodgers didn’t have standout left tackle David Bakhtiari on Sunday as he continues to rehab from a torn ACL. He also didn’t have reigning first-team All-Pro center Corey Linsley, who is now a member of the Los Angeles Chargers. The defense was always as much of a liability as an asset, and it was the former in this case as well.
That all combined to lead to one of the worst games of Rodgers’ legendary career as he completed just 15 of 28 passes for 133 yards, zero touchdowns and a pair of interceptions. The Packers were nearly shut out on a day in which they converted just a single third down.
Rodgers also simply looked checked out for much of the afternoon. Green Bay fell behind 17-0 in the second quarter, and you never got the feeling a vintage Rodgers comeback was on the horizon. It was one of the most oddly deflated performances you’ll see from a superstar.
That doesn’t mean Rodgers and the Pack are done. The NFC North remains weak, with the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions also losing Sunday afternoon and not looking like contenders.
Back in 2012, Rodgers completed just 14 passes in a 38-10 loss to the New York Giants, but he rebounded with a 107.7 passer rating during the Packers’ ensuing four-game winning streak. He also struggled mightily in a 36-16 Week 1 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in 2014, but Green Bay went on to win 12 games that season. And he and the Pack recovered from an ugly 38-10 loss to the Bucs last October.
But those weren’t championship seasons either for a team that is Super Bowl or bust in what might be Rodgers’ final season in green, gold and white. The Packers can’t afford for this to represent the start of a pronounced early-season slump. They desperately need it to be an aberration, especially because winning cures and losing is often toxic, and the Green Bay football culture can’t afford more toxicity right now.
Rodgers was publicly critical of the front office this offseason, and The Athletic’s Bob McGinn reported that he harbored particular hostility for general manager Brian Gutekunst. Meanwhile, the Packers made significant concessions when they revised his contract this summer, and they went out of their way to acquire one of his favorite receivers, Randall Cobb, from the Houston Texans.
If in the near future that looks to be all for naught as the losses pile up, it’s easy to see the relationship boiling over again.
Now, they’ll run into a feisty Lions team that, unlike Green Bay, showed a lot of spirit in Week 1. And after that they’ll have to deal with defensive juggernauts San Francisco and the Pittsburgh Steelers before hitting the road for a back-to-back against the Cincinnati Bengals and Chicago Bears.
Unless they pull a 180 in the coming days, that could become a harrowing stretch. And that could be a problem because the Pack were supposed to load up on wins early before dealing with the Cardinals, Seahawks, Rams, Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns and Kansas City Chiefs later on.
The wheels are already beginning to loosen up.
Brad Gagnon has covered the NFL for Bleacher Report since 2012. Follow him on Twitter: @Brad_Gagnon.
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