The Green Bay Packers’ head coach Mike McCarthy likes to break down the season in quarters, four games at a time. I see more of the big picture, and I think the next eight games will make or break the Packers’ season. The Packers will be favored in all but maybe one and can’t afford to lose any more ground to the Minnesota Vikings, who show no signs of slowing down.
Latest sportsbook reviews still have the Packers has a major player to win the Super Bowl, the next eight games will either reinforce that, or drop their odds dramatically. To say each is a must win is a stretch but boy, you sure can’t afford to lose to the Giants, Cowboys or Bears at home the next three weeks. And after a tougher game in Atlanta, they have the slumping Colts at home and three fairly easy road games at Tennessee, Washington and Philadelphia.
After watching the Giants stink up Monday Night Football last night there is no reason the Packers should lose to them. Eli Manning is no longer a threat even with a good receiving corp. The Cowboys are better than last year but Dak Prescott hasn’t seen anything like Lambeau yet, and the hapless Bears are week-to-week with no hope for the future. Hopefully Cutler is back by then.
The Falcons are another story, though, but they do have a shaky defense so the Packers have the edge there. Still, that game could be a shootout of epic proportions. The Titans are a joke and the Redskins are mediocre at best. Philly is playing well but by then the rookie tendencies of Carson Wentz should be well documented.
8-0 would be nice but I will settle for 7-1 as long as the loss isn’t against the Bears. The Vikings’ schedule is ridiculously easy down the stretch and even if the Packers beat them on Christmas Eve it might not be enough to win the division.
The season is now for the Green Bay Packers, they simply can’t afford to lose any more ground.