The Packers are dealing with the realization of their worst fear, a major injury to the NFL's best quarterback. With Aaron Rodgers possibly out for the rest of the season with the broken collarbone, backup Brett Hundley played as well as he could in relief during Sunday's loss to the Vikings.
But Hundley's play (18-of-33, 157 yards, TD, 3 INTs, 77.5 rating) wasn't the only reason Green Bay lost.
A Packers defense that keeps getting further depleted on the back end is at least an equal concern without Rodgers for the long haul.
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The Vikings and Case Keenum, their own fill-in QB, had their way with the Packers' defense, which was without starting safety Morgan Burnett (hamstring) and top corners Davon House (quad) and Kevin King (concussion). During the game, Green Bay defensive back Quinten Rollins (leg) also was injured. Keenum, even while he struggled for stretches, kept Minnesota in full control of the game. The Dalvin Cook-less rushing attack led by Jerick McKinnon wasn't spectacular, either, but it was effective enough.
Hundley is a smart, athletic, young QB who has learned a lot behind Rodgers and offensive-minded coach Mike McCarthy since he was drafted in the fifth round in 2015. He has been an intriguing backup commodity to the point that he has developed some trade value. Getting full weeks to practice as starter should leave him better prepared to execute with more efficiency and explosiveness.
The problem is Hundley can't afford to play like a caretaker.
The Packers need to be aggressive with Hundley as a downfield passer and can't limit him in any way; they have to ask him to do his best impression of Rodgers in order to keep masking the deficiencies on the other side of the ball.
Rodgers was the NFL MVP front-runner before Sunday. Now all that immense pressure falls on Hundley. The Packers haven't looked like a team that can "find ways to win games" when Rodgers isn't ripping apart a defense.
So the game plan for beating the Packers becomes easier: Go after their many weaknesses in pass coverage, build a lead, render them one-dimensional and tee off on Hundley. It's not much of a deviation from the previous formula, but the "making Rodgers beat us" part didn't sound like a winning proposition. With Hundley — and, really, almost any QB not named Rodgers — that suddenly turns into an excellent plan.
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The Packers weren't playing good complementary football before Rodgers went down. They simply relied on his right arm to bail them out. With Hundley, the defensive issues will significantly raise the degree of difficulty for the offense. Even if Hundley plays better than he did Sunday, anything less than Rodgers-like play won't cut it.
Hundley can handle the starting job for a while, but he's not built to save the Packers.
Sadly, only Rodgers can do that.
