In the time it takes you to read this, Aaron Rodgers will have been sacked three times.  Well, maybe 4.5...

In a 23-30 loss to the Vikings last night, the Packers were exposed.  Exposed for having the worst offensive line in football.  Exposed for having a dearth of playmaking linebackers.  Exposed for having a poor secondary.  Exposed as being a team poorly coached.  I could go on if you'd like.

For the second time in three weeks, an opposing defensive end harrassed the Packers for 4+ sacks in a game.  We saw Adewale Ogunleye torch Allen Barbre for two (2) sacks.  Then, it was Antwan Odom, destroying the Chad Clifton and Darren Colledge for five (5) sacks.  In week three's matchup with the Rams, the past-his-prime, Leonard Little got after Colledge for two (2) more sacks, and then of course, Jared Allen last night. 

So, if you're keeping score, thats 13.5 sacks in four weeks.  And thats just four players.  In all, Rodgers has been sacked 20 times.  If you want to really break it down, the Packers left tackle has surrendered 11.5 sacks this season.  Not bad, only on pace for 80.

Lets end this once and for all, alright?  If Brett Favre were on this team, he'd fare no better.  The one trait Favre does posses that Rodgers doesn't have yet, is his ability to feel the pass rush and evade pressure, without being mobile.  Favre knows exactly when to get rid of the ball and precisely how much time he has, just look at that game winning TD pass against the 49ers.

Rodgers doesn't have that yet.  What he does have is mobility.  If he didn't, if Rodgers were Carson Palmer, or Kurt Warner, he may be sacked 40 times so far.  

The one aspect to his game that Rodgers absolutely needs to improve, is his internal clock.  I think we can all admit that.  Sacked eight (8) times last night, one could argue it should have only been 5 or 6, but even still, we're still talking about our quarterback being sacked, well...FIVE OR SIX TIMES!

Last night's loss proved one thing to me.  Not that the Vikings are "for real" or a very good team, because frankly, I wasn't too impressed with them last night.  No, thats not the talk of a fan scorned, or sour grapes, the Vikings just didn't look like a top flight team, in my opinion - more on that later.

What we did learn, is that the Packers are not a very good team, and they are poorly coached.  Questions and criticism for Ted Thompson aside, I think it's time Mike McCarthy start getting a brunt of the heat TT has been catching.

Once again, we saw a stale play-calling strategy.  More than that though, McCarthy continues to pump us lip service about establishing the run.  Look, its a variation of the west coast offense, so you pass to set up the run, and more often than not you'll use the short pass in place of the run, but still.  Just as we saw in week 1 and 2, and a majority of last season, McCarthy completely abandons the run at the first sign of resistance.  

Once could argue last night Ryan Grant looked the most elusive he's looked in a while, or perhaps, ever in Green Bay.  Grant struggled a bit early, but started to get it going a bit as the game went on.  Couple that with the fact that the Vikings were just having their way with the Packers offensive line, and pining their ears back and coming after Rodgers, and it makes it all the more puzzling.

Where were all the screens, draws/traps and, well, RUSHES!  The Vikings are coming after your quarterback and hitting him on virtually every play, so you keep passing?  The Packers had success early on by going to quick routes and three step drops.  That seemed to go away late too.

The biggest thing I took from this game, was while blame certainly lies at the feet of Ted Thompson for the line he built failed to put together, McCarthy gets just as much blame here.  His play calling has left a lot to be desired, and more importantly, this team continues to commit stupid mistakes and penalties.  That is absolutely coaching.

The other thing I take from this, is since the receives continue to drop passes, including big ones...DONALD LEE...Jordy Nelson needs to get more reps.  The only thing Nelson can't catch has been a case of the drops.

One would hope the combination of bye week and facing the Lions in consecutive weeks will help this team.  They will get Chad Clifton back, and while that helps, it's essentially stiking your finger in one of the three dikes you have.  You're still getting water coming through...

Ugh.  Until Next time