Packers: Can they save their playoff chances this season?

With the 2018 season hanging by a thread, can the Green Bay Packers stay in playoff contention?

As the 2018 NFL season enters Thanksgiving week, now is usually the time you can start seeing what teams are headed to the playoffs and what scenarios will get a team in.

In past seasons, the Packers have had a clear view and understanding of what they needed to accomplish and what their team identity is. This year, no one, not even the coach and quarterback, knows what to expect from this team.

To say the Packers have been inconsistent wouldn’t be exactly accurate. They have consistently came up short on the road and have an imperfect 0-5 record, while the Packers have yet to be defeated at home. But, as far as having an identity, this team is still searching for one worth claiming.

As far as playoff aspirations go, there’s a couple ways of looking at it.

The simplest way to view the Packers’ chances is to say, at 4-5-1, they have to win out to guarantee their best shot at making the playoffs.

At worst, the Packers must go 5-1 over the last six games to have a realistic chance. Anything less than that and they have to hope many teams stumble along the way.

The good news for the Packers is both the wild-card and the division are in play.

The Bears are 7-3 and don’t look like world beaters. The Bears face three tough games against the Rams and one more time against the Vikings and Packers. Chicago also has the shortest turnaround for a game in recent history, playing Sunday night and then the early game on Thanksgiving. That could be tough to overcome.

For the wild-card, there are only two teams in the entire NFC field that look to have the playoffs locked up in the Saints and Rams. The rest is wide open.

The Packers also have a favorable schedule the rest of the way, with three domed teams coming to play outside in the elements of Lambeau Field in December. With three division contests left to play, the Packers will have a say in the NFC North division winner.

On paper, the Packers are a top 10 team on offense with a quarterback who ranks among the league leaders in just about every statistical category, and a wide receiver who can say the same.

So, on paper, the Packers can easily contend with all the teams remaining on their schedule and give it a great run.

But, anyone who has watched the Packers this year knows those numbers are deceiving.

An honest assessment when looking at the current version of the Packers is they do not have what it takes to make the playoffs.

This is a team, coach and quarterback that has faced stiffer odds to get into the playoffs before and found a way. But, like Randall Cobb recently stated, this team just “feels different”.

In the Packers’ previous runs, Aaron Rodgers found ways to put the team on his back and play out of this world. He would go on runs of near perfection in quarterback play and be the difference in games.

Coach Mike McCarthy would be the calming influence and steady hand guiding the team with a game plan that took advantage of teams’ weaknesses and put his playmakers in position to win their matchups.

On defense the Packers always seemed to find a way to make a play or get a turnover at critical times.

This year, Rodgers is missing throws he makes in his sleep, McCarthy’s play-calling and substitution patterns have left many people questioning if he’s lost his touch. Overall, this offense just seems stale.

Even though the Packers seem to have more talent on defense, the team can’t seem to get those key turnovers that were a staple of the Packers defense in the past.

The team seems to lack any kind of killer instinct that separates winning from losing. The Packers have blown leads on the road and literally fumbled away golden opportunities.

The topper is injuries are now starting to pile up.

Bashaud Breeland‘s status is unknown, Mike Daniels will miss a few weeks, Cobb hasn’t had a healthy hamstring since Week 4, Geronimo Allison is on injured reserve, Kevin King‘s hamstring injury, Nick Perry‘s ankle, Jimmy Graham‘s thumb. The list keeps growing.

With so many things wrong, the 2018 Packers just don’t seem to have “it”.

But can they turn it around?

We might get our answer to that question as early as this Sunday.

Aaron Rodgers recently spoke about the team needing a “galvanizing moment” to right the ship. What better way to galvanize a team than to beat a hated division rival in their home.

The Packers are 0-5 on the road with a tough task ahead in Sunday’s game. The Vikings are coming off a loss to the Bears and will be looking to bounce back against a wounded, metaphorically and literally, Packers team.

If Coach McCarthy can get his team to play with some type of urgency and win on the road against the Vikings, it might be enough to get this team moving in the right direction.

Getting that first road win can prove they know how to win away from Lambeau Field. Even with that favorable schedule, the Packers still have three road games and two of them are against division opponents. So now would be a good time to get their first win in the Vikings’ new stadium.

But even if they lose, this team must come together.

The bad body language must change, the subtle and not so subtle jabs at one another must stop and this team must rally around each other.

On the field, the head coach may have to dust off his old playbook to come up with ways to get his best players the ball. His new revamped one doesn’t seem to be working that well. It would also help if he keeps those players on the field.

Aaron Rodgers will have to accept he is playing with a few new pieces and may have to settle for the safe play instead of the big play and check down to his backs. He can’t just hold the ball and wait for the big play.

One win will start the run and one win against this Vikings team can go a long way.

If this team can unite and play for each other, there might just be a chance.

If not, and we see more of the same that we’ve seen through the first 10 games, then this isn’t even a .500 team, let alone a playoff contender.