The Murphy/Gutekunst team missed the window to move Rodgers last year with Hackett going to Denver. Send him with a friend to an AFC West team for a boat load of picks. The simple truth is that Rodgers was never going to lead us to another Super Bowl as all of our early playoff exits demonstrate. We held onto to him too long.

As for the rest of the underperformance and misadventures on the field, you only need to look at the coaching. Matt Lafleur is a coordinator at best. Robert Saleh did the same thing to the Packers O-line when he was with San Fran then did it again with his stunts yesterday. Out-coached and underprepared is the reoccurring theme with Matt and his friends.

Sorry, the Packers made it to the top of their ladder a couple of years ago - they just didn't know it was the top.

Even the best laid plans can - suck. Yes, Problem #1 is the OL. Problem #2 Wrs. -( They just can't stay healthy. ) And maybe we should include the TEs. Even though Tonyan had his best game. Regardless - Love will never be the answer, or any QB. Until they fix #1 and #2.

Clearly the Jets had no fear of 85 yesterday, and 12 threw him the ball (when he wasn't getting pounded). Tonyan had six catches against TB earlier in the year, and I thought he was ready to take off. He's looking better every week. Who's going to join him?

I've seen a lot of folks pounding on the defense, but they played well enough for a credible offense (and ST that doesn't honk a FG or punt) to win, and they have most weeks. They were more aggressive and--if you look at the game flow--they were good enough. The missing part is takeaways--they need to start generating turnovers. Bottom line is that right now, the defense needs to be nearly flawless for this rambling and punchless offense to win games.

"Everybody loves AJ Dillon but games like this illustrate why he works better as a supplementary back rather than a featured guy."

The lack of snaps for 33 was almost criminal yesterday. Dillon isn't Derrick Henry, he's Mike Alstott. He needs his Warrick Dunn to make it go.

I still find myself asking the question, "Why Winfree when they could use his limited snaps to see what they have in Toure?" Is Toure really that far away?...and if so, then why give him a roster spot?

"-- Maybe it’s just my imagination, but when the camera takes a tight shot of Matt LaFleur on the sideline, he has this bewildered look on his face, as if he has no idea why this is happening, and no clue how to fix it."

No Ken, it's not your imagination. Remember when Matt LaFleur was hired by Mark Murphy (It WAS Murphy) and he had that "Deer in the headlights" look? Watching LaFleur this season has reminded me a little of that day. He looks lost, stunned, and frankly looks like he doesn't have a clue how to fix this.

I tried to find hope, but this is what the reality is:

This team is not very good. They are bad, in fact. Rodgers looks old and like he had too much Ayauhasca. Newman is awful, I don’t know why Tom hasn’t replaced him. Why are we starting Jenkins on the outside when he’s coming back from an ACL and his mobility is limited? Why is Aaron Jones not more involved? Bad coaching decision-making and play calling (don’t know why we go deep for it when that isn’t our strength).

On defense, the unit has some studs, like Gary, Clark, and Alexander, and others that are good, like P. Smith and Amos, but everyone else is overrated. Play has been bad overall, and outside of these players, the others have not done well. Part of it could be coaching, as well, although in the first half, at least, I thought Barry did better, but not good enough.

I agree with you Ken, If it were me I would get a better GM and competent HC and DC and a better owner than Mark Murphy too. We have to remove the roots of the problem, not just cut off the leaves.

STs laid some ugly eggs, but that could just be because the blocking was bad. However, we also blocked a punt as well. Bissacia, even through the lumps, has done an amazing job, though, revamping the STs.

It is time for a rebuild. Gutsy needs to make trade moves now. He should look to trade Bakh and Jones (old players who could get some good capital), Lowry, Reed, and Amos (players in the final year of their contract), Lewis and Cobb (guys who deserve to win a SB ring) and cut Rodgers at the end of the season. Play Love for decent chunks of each game. MLF and Barry are not the right guys for the job, and if it wasn’t evident before, it is now. Invest in Love, see what Tom can do, and be smart. After MLF is gone, some interesting options for head coach could be Ben Johnson (Lions OC), Shane Steichen (Eagles OC), DeMeco Ryans (49ers DC) or Ejiro Evero (Broncos DC).

Gutey has been the only decent leader, although he whiffed on drafting players like Devin Lloyd and Alec Pierce. Everyone else should certainly go except for Bissacia, and Gutey perhaps could go. It is time to do the responsible thing and rebuild around Love - time to start over.

Last year was the best shot the Packers have ever had at winning the Super Bowl. Their offense was great, their defense was good, with Gary and the Smith bros. Rodgers failed them when they needed him the most, though. If he threw to wide-open Allan Lazard instead of targeting Adams in double coverage on their final play of the game, the Packers most likely kick the FG and win. He let us down, and now we are going to be bad for awhile. Oh well.

Wow, that article hurt but probably very accurate. The Packers don't seem to be playing as a team. The oline is an example of that. Maybe individually they are rated ok, but they need to function as a unit. Yesterday they didn't look like they had played more than a week together. I think the coaching exodus last year has disrupted their chemistry along with Jenkins and Baks delayed starts.
I hope Ken is wrong, but afraid he's right.

History is repeating itself , Favre= Rodgers. Hung on too long, can't teach an old dog new tricks, coaches afraid to coach the pre-madonna super star QB. LAME LAME LAME. All you keep hearing from the media is, " as long as you have AR." That's all you heard at the end of Favre's career in GB, " as long as you have BF." MLF has a lot of work to do, we'll see what he's really made of, so far he's out to lunch.

I think they're setting up Brian Gutekunst to take over for Mark Murphy following his retirement. Just a gut feeling. Don't know if that's bad or good right now. After yesterday the gut's not doing very well.

Even the announcer Greg Olsen was calling out the right guard on plays. The Jets were just swinging someone around to his spot and on some plays Newman was trying to help Meyers, or some trying to help Jenkins and letting them go or he was just standing looking. One play he even let the lineman go and tried to block the linebacker behind him. 4 sacks right there. I didn't see Runyan get blown up as Ken noted above but I think everyone on the line had at least one bad moment.

At least the O is starting to have consistency now. Instead of just playing one half they're mailing in the whole game (maybe give them one drive). STs and D are not far behind.

Tonyan had a lot of targets and catches but has no explosiveness. His YAC is negligible, he looks like he has concrete shoes.

Today is a day to not overreact. But it is a day to react!

I have been thinking about this since the game of what I could write for game balls. Who deserves a game ball. I was going to go with special teams. And then they gave up the blocked punt. I was going to go with a lot of players on the defense. And then they basically collapsed in the mid/late 2nd half. So my game balls is short today.

Game Balls:

Bobby Tonyan -
He was the one consistent player on offense. The one guy that caught every catchable ball. The one guy the Rodgers could rely on.

Lame Calls:

OL -
The OL is the biggest cause to why the offense struggled yesterday. They didn't open holes to run the ball. They allowed way to much pressure.
Its time to blow this thing up. I don't know what the answer is, but I know any answer that has Newman in it, is not the right one. I saw he gave up 6 pressures yesterday. He was benched for Hanson. But then went back in after Hanson went out. I don't get why they didn't put Tom in there at that point. I will lay out a few thoughts for the OL.

First - The easiest fix. The easiest fix is to replace Newman with Tom. Tom deserves a shot and switching those 2 guys alone could be all that it takes.

Second - The moderately easy fix. If they feel like Tom isn't ready, put Yosh at RT and move Jenkins to RG. Jenkins might be playing out of position at RT. He could slide inside and possibly solidify the entire middle of the OL. Yosh had been good at LT. Not sure if he can really move to RT. Maybe they feel like Tom could move to RT and he would be that guy. So they have options.

Third - Blow it up fix. The last time that Bakhtiari played he had Jenkins next to him. They had chemistry. When Bakhtiari and Jenkins were out, Yosh and Runyan played a lot of snaps next to each other. They have built chemistry. Right now there is no chemistry with the players next to each other on the stunts. So this is a big move proposal. Bakhtiari, Jenksin, Myers, Runyan, Yosh. I don't think they make this many big moves. But putting Jenkins next to Bakhtiari gives those guys the level of comfortability to play with each other. Moving Runyan to RG would be a switch footwork wise, but he has comfortability with Yosh next to him. Yosh if he can play RT, has comfortability with Runyan. This in the long term may give them the best OL possible.

Fourth - Surprising rookie. Walker has been inactive for most of the games. Which suggests Tom is ahead of him in the pecking order. But if they don't think Tom can play RG or RT. perhaps they turn to another Rookie. Walker at RT. Move Jenkins inside, put Walker at RT. They can always give him help with RB's and TE's chipping.

All I know is that the OL can't have Newman in it anymore. He wasn't the only problem yesterday, but he is the one guy who consistently allows pressure. They have to make a change. If they feel that Jenkins will be fine at RT, then they have to put Tom at RG. If they feel that Jenkins is out of position at RT, then move him inside solidify the interior and put Yosh, Tom or Walker at RT.

Three and Out:

- Offensive skilled positions struggled. They had 5 drops. Lazard had a 3rd down and 2 that he had in his hands and let get punched away. Winfree had one that if he catches likely gets a first down, and he flat out dropped. Dillon really struggled in this game. Rodgers was a bit off on some throws too.

- Defense and special teams were playing really good. Until the blocked punt for a TD. That was the game changer.

- One sign of hope. The final drive by the Jets got them to the redzone. It was first and 10 from the 13. 3 plays they got first and goal at the 3. They ran 2 plays and then had an unnecessary roughness penalty giving them a first and goal at the 2. They stopped them the next 2 plays making it 3rd and goal at the 1. They stopped them, but had an offsides penalty for another try. They stopped them again. The Jets had 9 plays inside the redzone and didn't score a TD.
That gives me some hope. They did not fold. They did not allow them to score there. That to me shows the fight at the end when there was no chance they had to win. They played with pride! That is my hope. There is fight with this team! I'm not hitting the panic button yet. But keyword is yet.

"It only hurts now because we were convinced this team was still in the championship mix. By next fall, we will have adjusted our expectations, and we’ll all enjoy small signs of progress and watching the gradual resurgence of our great franchise."

I've been thinking this since the disappointing end to last season after a string of disappointing ends to seasons with near-contenders. I was OK moving on from Rodgers in the off-season and starting the rebuild with Love now. We did get a ring with him and we all had a lot of fun watching football for 15 years, but this organization with Rodgers seemed to have reached an invisible, impenetrable ceiling, fated to fall short year after year after year. The post-Rodgers future, on the other hand, is a beautiful mystery.

Still, most of us were eagerly anticipating the start of this "all-in" season, with the construction of what on paper looked like a top-5 defense, the prospect of a healthy offensive line with Jenkins and Bakhtiari for the first time in almost 2 years, the reinvention of the Rodgers/MLF offense without Davante, etc. What a miserable 6 games it's been. Watching yesterday's game was like experiencing all of the negative energy from a decade's worth of failures condensing into a single point, because it truly felt over. We have to shamble to the end of the season because time's march forward is inexorable, but the lack of joy and heart the players project on the field appropriately encapsulates how I feel about this season's team. Will we even make the postseason, let alone win the North? Despite the 3-3 record, this team hasn't put 4 quarters of football on the field that makes me believe they can beat anyone on a consistent basis.

Week 6 is very early to pronounce the end of the 2022 Packers' season and miracles do sometimes happen. But that's what it will take. I've seen nothing from this organization at any level that makes me believe they can manifest one.

The saying "so long as we have AR..." still rings true.

It used to mean we could beat anybody.

It now means we can't beat anybody.

This teams problems are certainly not all AR's fault... but the truth of the statements above is indisputable.

It
Is
Over.

I, like Ken, will look for the small steps of progress that happen when a team is in rebuild and currently does not have enough pieces to fill all the holes.

If there is any self-honesty in ACR and love for the team, he should ask for himself to be benched while he is nursuring his injury. He should understand that it is the time for retirement. I'm all to have him as help for Jordan Love and to be there this season for emergency to come back on the field in necessity. But, I have no delusion he will do that.

This is not said to downlevel his past successes or to say that he was not great QB. This is something what I hope to avoid Ben Roethlisberger scenario, what will jeopardize collective memory of his contribution to Packers success through ~15 seasons.

I know that Mark Murphy contrubute a lot to Packers financial success at his position, but he also need to understand that he need to let people who knows how to run football part of organization to run that part of it. He made a lot of bad decisions by his requests that are not in the best decision for Packers football team.

What I'll be doing at this moment is that I would put Brian Gutekunst in the chief position and let him to run this part till the end of the season. Let BG to prove himself he is capable to turn around how this team function.

If that means some additional costs for changing coaching by position or bringing someone new to the staff, let him do that. Also, I'll try to talk to ACR and to explain him that he should take care of his real duties and to forget to suggests which player should be kept (prove that he is not good at that are Jake Kumerrow and Juan Winfree), in influencing on game plans and play calling, etc.

This is very sad situation Packers are in. They might get win over Commanders, Lions and Bears (additional 4 wins) but I really doubt that they will win the teams on the rest of the schedule if changes will not be substantial.

Yes, I'll play Jordan Love (ASAP) to evaluate where to start after this season. If that will be done, we may finish the season with those 3 wins, but if Jordan Love show constant improvement than Packers may win few more games and have a new QB for 2023. Do not forget that Wilson played for Jets last season with quite bad record, but he is playing much, much better this season. And that is true for several young QBs.

I'm not try to assess which player has potential and who not. I have not enough knowledge to do that. But I'm sure, there is enough capable experts in Packers organization to that. Let them do their jobs.

The O-line is not good and Newman is bad. The guy simply can't figure out how to block a stunt. Every time the Jets ran a stunt, he slid away from his gap to help either Myers or Jenkins, leaving a gaping hole for a free rusher at QB1. Never once did he figure out that just maybe a defensive lineup would be stunting back into his gap.......... RCPacker outlined all the options and I don't care which one they take as long as Newman starts next week on the bench. If Newman is in the starting lineup against Washington, it will be one more indictment of MLFs coaching inadequacies.

Ken Lass hit on a sensitive point, but I think he is spot on - Rodgers is looking old. After watching the Bills - Chiefs game and two of the best young QBs in the league, Rodgers' declining mobility and increasing inaccuracy under pressure were quite evident. He was the MVP for the last two seasons, but Father TIme has caught up with Aaron Rodgers in a hurry. Maybe that's why Davante Adams is in Las Vegas - he saw this coming and wanted to finish his career with a younger QB.

Unfortunately Mark Murphy did not see this coming and did not take the loaded deal from Denver to kick start our rebuild. Jordan Love may or may not be the Packers future, but Aaron Rodgers most certainly is not the Packers future. Big miss on Murphy's part.

I don't see Rodgers wanting to play through a rebuild. How much dead money cap hit will we take next year if he retires? Should have traded him when the value was there after 2 MVP seasons

Do you watch the ball at the snap and what the guy is doing with it? Don’t. It’s not a cliche the game is won and lost at the LOS. On the snap just count one Mississippi and take note of who’s LOS is he game is being played on. Both sides of the ball. Sad.

My son lives in NC and we text each other through out the game but yesterday he didn’t get the game and told me so. I sent one text “the O line is getting handled, gonna be a long day.”

Give the D line credit in the first half for hanging in there for the punt fest. Then there’s the second half and the D line runs out of gas. How many consecutive handoffs for the TD and the game is over? There isn’t a team left on the schedule that doesn’t see this…if you got the big boys willing to man up, it’s just a matter of time before they impose their will.

One thing pretty much everyone on here agreed on (and that's saying something) over the past 3 years was that Adam Stenavich was one hell of an OL coach. Since his elevation to OC (what exactly does an OC who doesn't call plays coordinate?) the OL seems to be an absolute mess. Obviously, injuries have played a part, but it just seems like players are playing out of position...EJ looks totally lost at RT...players who struggle (Newman, Hanson) keep getting playing time.

A poster above noted that moving EJ back to his natural position at LG would put him next to Bahk who he has familiarity with. Likewise, Runyan and Yosh have familiarity as well, so it seems they would make the most sense at RG and RT.

I'm not sure who is making the calls on the Oline...Butkus or Steno...but they need to find the best five who work together and stick with that lineup to give the line consistency. Until this Oline mess is straightens out, I don't see this offense ever jelling.

Fact is the Packers are just not a very good football team right now, and any notion that having Rodgers makes the Packers immune to a lost season definitely faded yesterday. The Packers have the talent and track record to turn their season around, but it cannot be taken for granted.

I've generally been a fan of MLF, just in the sense that at times it seemed like he was moving this offense away from the hero ball mentality that plagued them for so many years.

After the end of last year and now this year, I have to start wondering if MLF is just an OC that's risen beyond his capabilities. Special teams decisions last year, multiple stubborn DCs, questionable decisions on OL starting lineups... Not all on him, draft decisions and injuries blur the issues, but he just doesn't seem to have the leadership skills that are necessary to manage a team. Getting up and taking the blame for everything every week is what a leader should say, but he doesn't follow through. And it's on him for fielding a team with no resiliency or ability to withstand pressure.

I think when Rodgers goes and this next era begins, he might need to be scrutinized as much as anyone.

"The Aaron Rodgers era is over. What an incredible run it was. We were privileged to watch the career of the greatest quarterback in franchise history. .... The Packers will never contend for a Super Bowl again with Rodgers under center. "

This is what bugs me about how they are playing, this is essentially what my thought was this past off-season before his extension. They had two very good opportunities (2020-21) to win a championship, and came up short. I was ready for the Jordan Love era, and now we probably won't even get that because of Rodgers contract.

I didn't think this team would be quite this bad this season, but certainly not a top team. They are stale against teams they should beat. They will get rolled by the Bills in two weeks. Will that wake them up?

I know I'm gonna get crushed for this....

But holy crap guys.... Matt LaFluer is 42–13...... And Still a VERY young HC.

Let's give the man a chance to navigate through this. It's his 1st taste of real adversity.
What we see as fans seems obvious, but how many called runs get can'd into passes, or RPO'd?
He has a QB legend that does not seem interested in running his offense, just wants to heave it down the field and be a hero.
He has tried to be loyal and promote from within the staff.... new OC, new OL coach, new QB coach, new WR coach. A Mistake? Maybe.
Will he learn and change up? That is the question. Only time will tell. But we need to give him that time.

Game Balls: Tonyan

Lame Calls: The rest of the team, including the coaches. Especially in the 2nd half.

How did we get here? biggest lame call of all is on Mark Murphy. Murphy is the President of a non-profit organization. His primary role is to maintain and possibly expand the revenue streams and to protect the brand. Basically Murphy's role is to "Carry the G." In NFL terms Murphy fulfills his role by keeping the Packers relevant in the league. Keeping the team relevant is different strategically than a team owner who wants to win now at all costs.

Examples of Murphy keeping the Packers relevant include; The Titletown District, hiring MLF and signing Rodgers to his current extension.
Titletown leverages Packers history and hopefully makes Green Bay a year round destination which creates additional revenue for the Packers and for the Green Bay community. That only works while the Packers are winning and the Packer mystique remains alive and well on the national stage.
Hiring MLF an alleged offensive genius in an offensive happy NFL means that the Packers will at least create the impression of a new modern offense led by an up and coming NFL Head Coach. Speaking for myself I never hired anyone for any position after one meeting/interview. It shows a complete lack of depth in the hiring process and in the thinking of the leader of the organization.
Extending Rodgers is the underpin of the strategy. Without Rodgers the Packers might fall into NFL irrelevance quickly. Even losing with Rodgers is better than losing with Love or another QB. Why? Because Murphy is in it for the shorter term. He will likely retire when Rodgers retires or shortly thereafter. He can off into the retirement with the claim of keeping the Packers relevant during his entire tenure as team President. He will probably join the Executive board after retiring as team President. In the best case scenario he gets another SB with Rodgers before he retires although that is beginning to look less and less likely.

Basically Murphy has left the Packers with inadequate coaching, a salary cap mess and an aging QB who they are going to pay $50 million to sit on the bench while they try out Love unless Rodgers is seriously injured. He'll play through the thumb injury unless the medical team says that he can't play.

How did new get here? Ask Mark Murphy. His approach for keeping the team relevant may in fact have brought the Packers to irrelevance quicker than anyone thought possible thanks to his numerous lame calls. Thanks, Since '61

THE PACKERS HAVE NO ❤️

That is all…..

I'm glad you said it, Ken, because I had the same though over the last few weeks: We're watching the end of the Rodgers era and possibly the Lafleur era, as short as it's been.

Ken, just like that line in the movie "An Officer and a Gentleman"...I can't handle the truth.

Dear Ken-
I always look forward to your weekly post. Sometimes I even put in my own "Game Balls and Lame Calls." But this week, the real crux of your post is your "Big Picture." You lay out clearly and correctly what many fans have known for awhile, but were afraid to admit: this is an 8 win or less team not just this year, but into the near future. I remember the 70s and 80s. I hate to return to those days, but teams ebb and flow. Time to face facts. Time to rebuild, top to bottom.
The Szotman

Way too early, but losing breeds a toxic environment; should this manifest, we expect Murphy & LaFleur (GOATs) to side with one another, the obvious excuse LaFleur is Murphy's HC hire...what we won't expect is enemy sign GUTE (OX) to oppose them; as I've stated in the past, the metaphysical blueprint has perhaps been destined to fail from the beginning. MLF is getting all the blame--don't be surprised if the finger pointing turns to Gute for not adding adequate talent to the roster / handling of Adams situation long before it became a trade request.

Dillon as the featured guy...someone please tell that to MLF that he is the wrong featured guy...the whole world knows it but MLF...I would like to see Jones on a different team to see what a new coach would get out of him...vastly underused here in MLF's offensive offense...

The Packers are playing lousy football right now, but I can't believe what a bunch of front-running pantywaists Packers fans have become.

There's plenty of time to right the ship and get things in order. The team is not devoid of talent. They're broken at the moment, sure, but there's talent on the roster, and outside of Davante Adams and Billy Turner, the roster is probably stronger than it was the last two years overall.

So suck it up. Sure, the Packers might crash and burn the entire season, but really, not much has changed from 2020 or 2021, so I doubt that's the case. This is an in-between-the-ears issue, not a devoid of talent issue. The team needs leaders- real leaders, not bullshit try-hard roleplay leaders like Rodgers- to step up and prevent the team from breaking rank.