Feeling Green in Lambeau

Things are not boding well for the green and yellow. Already dealing with injuries to LB Clay Matthews, WR Randall Cobb, and TE Jermichael Finley, the Packers could ill-afford to lose another key player to the injury bug. But then things went from bad to critical. 

Last Monday night, against their divisional rival Chicago Bears, the Packers suffered perhaps their most devastating injury of the season. On the 7th play of their opening drive in the game, Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers dropped back for a pass and took a hard hit by Chicago DE Shea McClellin. At first it looked like any other sack, with Rodgers slowly making his way to the sideline afterwards. But then on Green Bay's next offensive series, backup QB Seneca Wallace was taking snaps under center while Rodgers went into the locker room with the medical staff. It wasn't until midway through the third quarter Rodgers was back on the sidelines. However  he was just in sweats, his left hand in his pants pocket the entire time.  

Then today, everybody in Green Bay, Wisconsin let out a collective gasp of shock. It came out with a report that All-Pro Quarterback Aaron Rodgers suffered an injury to his non-throwing shoulder. The severity of the injury is undetermined but sources close to the Packers organization said that the injury is a fractured collarbone on Rodger's non-throwing arm. The timeframe for return from such an injury is between 4-8 weeks.

Green Bay Remaining Schedule

The Packers are now at a pivotal point in their season. After their week 9 loss to Chicago, Green Bay is in three team tie for the division lead with the Bears and the Detroit Lions (all three teams are 5-3 record overall and 2-1 in the division). But there's still hope for the Lambeau faith. Over the next three games, they'll be facing the unpredictable Philadelphia Eagles (4-5), the weakened Giants (2-6), and a crucial yet winnable divisional game over the lowly Minnesota Vikings (1-7) in that order. If the Packers can win two out of those three games, their playoff hopes will be kept alive. 

But the key factor in all this is the performance of QB Seneca Wallace. In his Green Bay debut, Wallace failed to impress the Lambeau faithful when he filled in for Rodgers. He went 11-for-19 (57.9% completion) for 114 yards, 0 TDs and 1 INT for a lowly QB rating of 53.4 as well as being sacked 4 times as Green Bay lost 27-20. 

If there was an opportunity for Wallace to exorcise some demons, now is the time. With a career record of 6-15 as starter, Wallace needs to show that he can hold down the fort as well as provide a spark to a hurting Green Bay squad. Otherwise it's going to be a long and bare winter up in the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field.