The Green Bay Packers are 3-2 and still in good shape in the playoff race, but you wouldn't know it after their dismal performance against the Dallas Cowboys last Sunday. They have to follow that humiliating loss with a short week when they host the Chicago Bears on Thursday Night Football. The game is televised on both CBS and NFL Network, with Twitter providing a free livestream once again.
Aaron Rodgers is stuck in the biggest slump of his career and had another poor game last week. The box score stats look good (294 yards, 31-of-42 passing), but Rodgers did not look good on tape and kept making inexplicable mistakes. His interception came on a Blake Bortles-esque staredown throw into double coverage. He committed a back-breaking fumble in the red zone that ended the Packers' comeback attempt. It's a far cry from the two-time MVP we've been used to watching for years, and it doesn't look like there are any easy solutions on the horizon.
To make matters worse for Green Bay, Eddie Lacy has an ankle injury and won't be able to play on a short week. James Starks is also out after getting surgery on his torn meniscus, leaving the Packers perilously thin at running back. Things are desperate enough that they made a trade for Knile Davis, who's long been buried on the Kansas City Chiefs' depth chart.
The defense suffered another major loss with cornerback Sam Shields, out since Week 2 with a concussion, getting put on injured reserve. The Packers entered Week 6 ranked first in rush defense, but Ezekiel Elliott put a swift end to that, gashing Green Bay for 157 yards on 28 carries. The Packers are also bottom-half in passing yards allowed per game (266.6) and there aren't a lot of positives for head coach Mike McCarthy to point to right now.
This all sets up for a critical home game against the Bears, one of the worst teams in football this year. Brian Hoyer is playing well enough that he might have supplanted Jay Cutler for good, and Cameron Meredith came out of nowhere to become one of the Bears' best wide receivers, but the team has little talent on paper and it's reflected in their 1-5 record. Head coach John Fox and general manager Ryan Pace might have a long rebuild ahead of them, and unless the Bears go on a surprising hot streak, their fans are likely looking ahead to 2017 already.
If the Packers can't win comfortably (or worse, if they lose), there will be big questions being asked in the coaching staff's office. With the Minnesota Vikings off to a fast 5-0 start, there already isn't much margin for error in the NFC North division race. This is as close to a must-win as a Week 7 Thursday night game can get.
How to watch
Time: 8:25 p.m. ET
Place: Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisc.
TV: CBS, NFL Network
Announcers: Jim Nantz, Phil Simms, Tracy Wolfson
Online: Twitter