In 2018, the Packers went into the week 7 bye with a 3-2-1 record. While the team struggled, there was still hope in the form of top-tier talent in their prime: Aaron Rodgers, Aaron Jones, David Bakhtiari, Kenny Clark, and Davante Adams. They were at a crossroads facing a stretch of four tough road games in their next five games. Aaron Rodgers indicated they would “have to play a lot better” to survive the daunting stretch, which included three division leaders, four teams with winning records and zero teams with losing records. The players knew they were at a crossroads, but so did the coaches and front office coming off a 7-9 season the year before.
We know now how things turned out. The Packers won only one of those games, ended the season with a dreadful 6-9-1 record, and fired the head coach.
The Packers are at a similar crossroads today, having lost 3 in a row and at 3-4 overall. They have four games in the next five which will be extremely tough to win: the Super Bowl favorite Bills on the road, the 5-2 Cowboys at home, the 4-2 Tennessee Titans at home, and finally the 6-0 Philadelphia Eagles on the road. This Packers team is woefully underperforming and let’s not forget that the Packers have stretched their salary cap to go “all in” this year by extending high-priced talent such as Aaron Rodgers, David Bakhtiari, Aaron Jones, Kenny Clark, De’Vondre Campbell, and others. Yet, all indications are that the current talent is not enough. The players know they’re at a crossroads and so do the coaches and front office.
What happens next will have long-term impacts on the franchise. Do the Packers take one final step towards “all in” and use Jordan Love and draft picks in a trade to bring in a top wide receiver ahead of Tuesday’s trading deadline? If they don’t make a trade and end up missing the playoffs, will it be the end of the Rodgers era and the beginning of a re-build? We shall soon find out.