Sunday’s 35-31 loss to Carolina at Lambeau Field was a story the Packers and their fans have seen too many times this season. A close game with some good moments ends in a loss. The Packers have now lost four games by four points or less this season. The Packers locker room was extremely quiet and the mood was realistic. Whatever the reasons, the Packers are 5-7 and their playoff hopes are now hanging by a fragile thread. Even if you want to think positive and believe the Packers can go 4-0 in December—which I think is possible---they’re still going to need to get some help. Green Bay is now two games behind the Vikings and a game behind the Bears. Minnesota has the tougher schedule but they’re playing well. The Packers have another game with the Bears, which could prove huge in possible tiebreakers. Still, as Aaron Kampman told me after the game, the Packers can’t be thinking about playoffs. They need to be thinking about winning a game Sunday against Houston at Lambeau Field. How did they get here? Despite the fashionable scapegoat in Derrick Frost, this team’s problems run a lot deeper than a poor punter. The defense has given up 86 points over two weeks. The kickoff coverage unit was horrid against Carolina. The offense can’t get in from the 1-yard line and can’t pull out a game late when given chances. That pretty much covers every aspect. Coaching. Personnel. Performance. Execution. It’s not a bad team, but it’s a 5-7 team. The next four games will help define this season. If the Packers can get hot against a soft schedule, 9-7 would at least make them a winning team and give them a chance to win the NFC North. After all, the Vikings and Bears are not juggernauts either. But if the Packers lose even one more game, I think they’re dead. If the Packers collapse down the stretch and finish with a losing record, it will be a dramatic fall from grace for a team that was an overtime away from the Super Bowl last season. That would be an organizational tumble with plenty of responsibility to go around.