The injury bug has bitten the Green Bay Packers in a big way so far this season. The Packers have lost running back Ryan Grant, linebacker Nick Barnett, tight end Jermichael Finley and safety Morgan Burnett to season ending injuries. Key players Clay Matthews, Ryan Pickett, Brandon Chillar, Al Harris, Atari Bigby, Donald Lee and Wisconsin alum Mark Tauscher have also missed time with various ailments.
When that many significant players are missing time, it is bound to take its toll on a football team. Green Bay has lost three of its last four games, limping to a 3-3 record to start a season where many pundits were calling the Packers a favorite to win the NFC.
All three of those losses have come in overtime or on last second field goals, where the Packers have very obviously missed some key veterans.
In the past two games, overtime losses to Washington and Miami, the Packers let down significantly in the second half. After storming out of the gates against Washington to the tune of a 13-3 advantage, the Packers let the Redskins hang around and that came back to haunt them as Donovan McNabb led a comeback, guiding the Redskins' offense to 13 unanswered points capped off by a game-winning field goal in overtime.
In that game the Packers lacked a killer instinct to finish the game off and get the job done. They weren't able to put the game away by getting an insurance score or two. They really missed being able to give it to Ryan Grant and pound it out on the ground, or throwing it to Jermichael Finley for big chunks of yardage.
Instead, the Packers were trying to make due with rookie tight end Andrew Quarless and running back Brandon Jackson. Jackson did rush for 115 yards that game, but most of that came on a 71-yard run early on in the game.
The Packers have almost completely abandoned the run game in wake of the season ending ankle injury to Ryan Grant. While the Packers have always been a pass-heavy offense, Ryan Grant was effective enough for teams to have to think about the run when playing Green Bay. Now, teams don't have to worry about any threat of a ground game. They can focus exclusively on the pass, which makes it difficult for the Packers to execute long drives.
But I believe the biggest injuries for the Packers have been on defense. Key cogs like Barnett (who is out for the season after undergoing wrist surgery) as well as Pickett, Matthews, Burnett, Chillar and Harris have really taken a toll on the productivity of the Packers' defense.
In the past two weeks versus the Redskins and Dolphins the Packers' defense has given up 373 and 381 total yards respectively.
Against the Redskins, Donovan McNabb was able to pick apart the Packers' secondary with 357 yards through the air, completing passes to seven different receivers in the process, including a 48-yard completion to Anthony Armstrong that helped fuel the Redskins' comeback.
Dolphins' quarterback Chad Henne also found success passing the ball, going for 231 yards and two touchdowns, including 127 yards to Brandon Marshall.
The Packers are playing with an inexperienced secondary right now, with both Tramon Williams and Charlie Peprah getting starts in the absence of Al Harris, Morgan Burnett and Atari Bigby. The loss of Brandon Chillar, who is arguably the team's best cover linebacker, hurts the defense in the passing game as well.
Depth in the secondary has not been a strength of the Packers in recent years and that shows now with injuries keeping the team's starters off the field, and teams are finding out it is not difficult to pass against the Packers.
This past Sunday against Miami, the Packers struggled defending the ground game as well. They allowed the Dolphins to gash them for 150 yards on the ground; Ronnie Brown especially seemed able to find holes in the Green Bay defense.
Without Ryan Pickett's 6'2"", 340 lb. frame on the defensive line and Nick Barnett patrolling the middle of the field the run defense is bound to have some troubles.
In the Miami game they also really missed the pass rush presence of Clay Matthews. Matthews leads the NFL in sacks with 8.5 sacks this season and has been a disruptive force for the Packers all year long. He missed this Sunday's game with a left hamstring injury and it showed. The Packers were not able to get much pressure on Henne, or seal off the holes to stop the Miami running game.
Green Bay has the toughest part of their schedule coming up. In the next six weeks they play Minnesota twice, the Jets, the Cowboys and the Falcons.
The Packers have been treading water with all of the injuries they have sustained, but they will have to do better than that if they want to come out of this upcoming stretch of games with their playoff hopes still intact. Hopefully some of the injured players can return and get the Packers' Super Bowl dreams back on track.
Think the Packers can overcome their overabundance injuries and still reach the Super Bowl this year? E-mail Ryan at: rmevans2@wisc.edu.
