After every single Green Bay Packers game here at Railbird Central, we bring you the silver lining. In a loss, it's the reason for optimism. In a win, it's an unexpected performance. Either way, it's good news for Packers fans.

This week's silver lining: change at linebacker.

People can think that the Packers took a step backwards when middle linebacker Nick Barnett was lost for the season against the Minnesota Vikings. The mainstream media is doing it.

"The odds that the Green Bay Packers' defense will strengthen and stop allowing opposing running backs to run wild were diminished Monday when linebacker Nick Barnett was declared lost for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee," writes Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Meanwhile, the mainstream media is including polls on their websites asking for the most disappointing player of the season and including Nick Barnett on the list.

Sure, whoever steps into the middle linebacker role is going to have their struggles. They're going to have a steep learning curve, and they're going to make some mistakes.

But are they going to be appreciably worse than Barnett? Probably not.

Bishop got his most extensive playing time of his career last week when Barnett exited the game. Of course he was going to screw up. But hopefully he learned from it.

Maybe this will be the impetus for change in the Packers' defensive scheming. Things can't get much worse.

Photo credit: Dan Powers of the Appleton Post-Crescent