The season this far for the Green Bay Packers cannot be summed up very easily. They dominated the preseason both offensively and defensively, the offense has been nonexistent for large chunks of games this regular season, the defense forgot to show up against the Lions and then dominated the Jets offense keeping them off the scoreboard all together. A large chunk of inconsistency can be credited to the injuries sustained this season, there are currently 11 players on injured reserve and three others that have visited the PUP list this season.
The most notable injuries were on offense; the loss of Ryan Grant and Jermichael Finley were immediately noticeable and the Packers are still trying to find a way to fully overcome the void that was created. The defense has been decimated as well, losing star Nick Barnett to an injury similar to that one suffered by Brian Urlacher last year. Overall 8 of the players who were placed on either list so far this season were on defense, something that is very hard to overcome.
Despite the inconsistencies and the slow start the Packers are still in a position where they control their own destiny. They are currently percentage points above Chicago in the standings since the Packers have not yet had their bye week. Even though Chicago currently holds the tie breaker with the dead to head win I have confidence that the Pack should win the rematch in the season finale. The Vikings are struggling to find their identity and despite the emergence of the Lions I still believe that the Packers are a better team overall. This week the Pack head into Dallas where the Cowboys can't get any worse than their performance last week, but they don't have a leader to help them get going in the right direction. Green Bay should go into their bye week at 6-3 with at least a share of the NFC North division lead.
The rest of the season will continue to be interesting with a few questions to answer. Will Brandon Jackson continue to be enough for the Packers running/short pass game? Can Aaron Rodgers find the rhythm with Greg Jennings and Donald Driver that he had last year? Will the defense continue to play like they did against the Jets or will they show up as they did against the Lions again this year? After the 3-3 start I was pessimistic about the season and almost ready to pack it in, but 2 big wins and a favorable schedule the rest of the way, I like the potential that the season shows if the Packers can keep the momentum going after the bye.
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