When Aaron Rodgers went down with an injury, we all probably assumed that the playoffs may be out of reach for this team. Even though Green Bay looked deeper in years past, it seemed like a strong possibility that this might be the first year since 2008 that Green Bay would be looking outside. Although, they did have a chance to be 5-3 heading into the second half of the season. That didn’t happen after a loss to the Detroit Lions. The playoff picture is not looking good for Green Bay heading into the back half of the season amid an easy schedule.

Green Bay is up against a hell of lot that isn’t related to the division. But let’s talk about the NFC North for a moment. It’s a winnable division because the Vikings play six of their last eight on the road and Detroit is an average team, the focus should be on the wild card at this juncture. Packers are two games back in the loss column, and three in the tiebreaker with Minnesota, and Lions now own a head-to-head tiebreaker over Green Bay as well. NFC North can still be won, yet the road is much harder than it was a few weeks ago even after Rodgers went down.

The NFC playoff picture is not a pretty one as it sits today. Currently, the two Wild Cards are Carolina and Dallas with three losses. You have to assume the NFC East will get one Wild Card representative barring a massive collapse by the Philadelphia Eagles. The part that scares me for the Packers is the bevy of teams on the outside looking in. Almost all of them are more talented than Green Bay right now. Those teams are Seattle, Atlanta, Detroit, Washington and Arizona. Two of those teams have tiebreakers against the Packers with Green Bay owning one plus an additional one with Dallas. That’s a tough group to rise up from.

Now, the NFL is a long season. We saw it last year and saw it in 2013. A lot of shit can happen, but at this point, the playoff picture looks like one the Packers would flip down in their living room and save for later because it’s pretty difficult.

Charlie.