Does anyone have suggestions on what nickname to give this week in the National Football League, which amounts to pro football’s equivalent of moving day in golf or even a premature version of Selection Sunday?
A worthy title could be Shuffling Sunday, a day-long window that will etch in most minds a solid idea about who is most dominant present force in the NFL, as well as who is best positioned to emerge at the top of its strongest (yes, really) division, the NFC East.
Yet while the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills — as well as the Dallas Cowboys and the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles — will be trying to land haymakers and settle scores, the Green Bay Packers will be simply seeking to settle their season down.
The Packers, on account of some debilitating inconsistency to begin the campaign and all sorts of not-quite-right hints seeping out of Lambeau, could use a weekend where the noise is coming from elsewhere, and when their own business passes, boring and without incident.
Aaron Rodgers and Co. take on the New York Jets (1 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports App) following a stuttering stretch that has the MVP quarterback noticeably disgruntled, even if he is expected to overcome a thumb injury that kept him out of midweek practice.
Rodgers hasn’t enjoyed much of what he has seen, felt, heard from and learned about this current Packers squad. Because he’s Aaron Rodgers and speaking with unabashed frankness is practically part of his identity at this point, he’s let all those things be known.
“Frankly, I don’t like all this conversation about losing next week,” Rodgers told reporters last Sunday. “I’m a firm believer in the power of words and manifestation. We’ve got to check ourselves on that, because talking about that is not winning football. There was conversation about it in the locker room, and I don’t like it.”
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Rodgers was discussing comments from cornerback Jaire Alexander, in which he said he wouldn’t “be worried” unless the Packers lost “next week,” which is now this week, to the Jets. It came following a defeat to the New York Giants in London, a trip to the United Kingdom that Rodgers enthusiastically embraced. He was royally peeved that a 10-point halftime lead turned into a 27-22 defeat and a 3-2 record.
Rodgers had already said that winning in the manner of the Packers’ overtime nail-biter over the New England Patriots in Week 4 was “not sustainable” and he was quickly proven correct. With no settled situation at wide receiver after the offseason departure of Davante Adams, questions remain, not helped any by the Minnesota Vikings‘ blistering surge to the top of the NFC North.
“What are we panicking for?” former Packers All-Pro receiver Greg Jennings said on FS1’s “The Carton Show.” “Are we concerned they are not going to make the playoffs?
“This team has concerns, but there is no reason to panic. When you have one of the best QBs in the league you expect him to figure it out. That offense will get better as the season progresses.”
So far, the Packers offense ranks 22nd in the NFL at 19.4 points per game, while Rodgers has thrown for 1,157 yards, eight touchdowns and three interceptions. Two years ago, the squad racked up a league-high 31.8 points per game, before dipping to 26.5 in 2021.
As we have seen, when Rodgers hits optimal form, Green Bay becomes almost untouchable. Each of the last three seasons under Matt La Fleur have resulted in 13 wins, and don’t forget that last season saw some early teething troubles before a fairly routine clinching of the No. 1 seed.
“There’s a lot that we need to clean up,” LaFleur said in a news conference this week. “First is just the urgency to get lined up and get ready to play.”
To accomplish something more dynamic, however, the Packers first need stability and smoothness. Something more mundane than memorable. On a weekend, ironically, that could scarcely be any more juicy.
This is when we will get an idea of whether it is the Chiefs or the Bills that are the feistiest of the Super Bowl favorites at the end of the season’s autumn third. And when the NFC East’s resurgence finds its most important crossroad, with the fact that it will be Cooper Rush and Jalen Hurts firmly in the spotlight offering comprehensive proof that things can shift quickly in the NFL.
Yet while the focus is shared elsewhere, the Packers will try to stay under the radar. Knowing full well they if they don’t, their season will have officially turned into a muddle.
