Green Bay Packers: Randall Cobb calls 2018 issues “different”
By Erik Lambert
The Green Bay Packers have handled midseason struggles before and still made the playoffs, but something just seems off about this 2018 group.
It’s not like they’re bedeviled by injuries or anything. Aside from a couple of key early losses, they’ve been relatively healthy. Their offense can still move the ball with Aaron Rodgers and the defense, while not elite has played fairly well. Yet the losing continues. The team is 3-4-1 halfway through the season and coming off a rather humiliating defeat in New England where the Patriots were clearly the better team in a 31-17 win.
Nothing has felt right. Despite shutting out Buffalo 22-0, Rodgers admitted the team didn’t play its best. Then they struggled at home to take down a one-win San Francisco 49ers team fielding their backup quarterback. These are opponents previous Packer teams would’ve destroyed. A surefire sign that something just isn’t right.
Wide receiver Randall Cobb, who’s been a part of that past greatness, admitted to ESPN that this is the case and it’s more than a little concerning.
"“We’ve lost games before here, but this just feels different. And it doesn’t feel good. It’s not fun. But we’ve got to figure something out. Yeah, I mean we definitely need some momentum, we need to get a win. I can tell you, this isn’t fun. Very frustrating and it’s tough. Because I know what we’re capable of and we’re not there. I don’t know what it is, but we’ve got to find a way to get it done.”"
Constant changes inside and out have led to Green Bay Packers struggles
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For the first time since 2008, the Packers missed the playoffs last year. It was a sign that their previous dominance of the NFC North had disappeared. Suddenly the division has begun to awaken. The Minnesota Vikings went to the NFC championship last year and the Chicago Bears hold first place halfway through this year. That aura of invincibility is long gone. They even lost to Detroit earlier this year. The division is not in awe of them anymore.
There have also been a number of curious personnel decisions. None more so than trading safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. While he’s been a bit up and down this year, to give up a former Pro Bowler in his prime for a 4th round pick seemed like a rash decision by the organization. Especially when nobody on the roster was capable of replacing both his talent and his leadership.
One thing is clear. The upcoming three-game stretch could potentially make or break their season. They face a decent Miami Dolphins team at home and then have to play back-to-back road games in Seattle and Minnesota. Two difficult places to play. If they come out of there 1-2 or 0-3? One can safely say their season is all but sunk.