History tells us that it is foolish to praise the Vikings or bury the Packers too early in a season.
If bumbling Packers hope for rally like 2016, there's a flaw in their logic
After Aaron Rodgers said the Packers were going to run the table six years ago, they did — going from 4-6 to 10-6. But this is a much different offense.
October 24, 2022 at 9:46PM
Specifically, if you're a Vikings fan with a good memory for pain or a Packers fan searching for optimism, there are some significant parallels between the start of the 2016 season for both teams.
That year, the Vikings started 5-0, including an early-season home win over the Packers, and looked like they would be poised to win the division.
That sentiment grew stronger when the Packers, after a pretty good start to the year, plummeted to 4-6 with a four-game losing streak punctuated by a loss to Washington.
This season, of course, the Vikings are 5-1 at the bye — including an impressive early win over the Packers. And Green Bay has stumbled to 3-4 after three consecutive losses, the most recent of which came Sunday at Washington.
By the end of 2016, the Vikings had come unglued and finished 8-8. The Packers had rallied to win their final six games, a feat predicted by QB Aaron Rodgers, and they made the playoffs at 10-6 and went all the way to the NFC title game before losing.
Could that happen again this season? Sure. But as Patrick Reusse and I talked about on Monday's Daily Delivery podcast, there is a flaw in the logic if the Packers are expecting to turn their season around so easily again.
The big issue with Green Bay right now is that Rodgers doesn't have enough receivers that he trusts. Not only did he lose superstar Davante Adams in the offseason, but also deep threat Marquez Valdes-Scantling left for Kansas City.
During Sunday's 23-21 loss, Rodgers was caught multiple times by even novice lip readers shouting "what are we doing?" during frustrating moments.
The Packers didn't even have 100 yards of offense late in the third quarter, and they didn't convert a single third down. For the second time in three weeks, Rodgers' day ended with him face down after a desperation attempt didn't work.
In 2016, by contrast, Rodgers had Jordy Nelson (97 catches, 14 TDs), Adams (75 catches, 12 TDs) and a mid-career Randall Cobb (60 catches) as a security blanket.
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Rodgers finished the year with 40 touchdowns, 7 INTs and No. 4 in Total QBR. This year he's No. 26 in that advanced QB metric.
The Packers can't win if Rodgers isn't elite. And Rodgers is showing he can't be anywhere close to elite if he doesn't have receivers he trusts.
Maybe they will still figure it out. But in Green Bay, at least for now, it feels like it's getting late pretty early.
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