After four straight losses, all of which included the opponent scoring 30-plus points, things are dire for the Green Bay Packers.
Sunday night’s 42-24 loss to the Redskins dropped the Packers' record to 4-6, giving Green Bay little, if any, margin for error in its quest for an eighth straight playoff appearance.
Packers coach Mike McCarthy put it succinctly after his team’s latest embarrassment: "We understand clearly what's in front of us, so six losses puts your ass against the wall. And that's where we are."
This is the first time since 1953 the Packers have allowed 30-plus to be scored on them in four straight games. Their last two opponents, the Redskins and Titans, have hung 40-plus on them. In Sunday’s loss at Washington, the Green Bay defense gave up three plays of 50 yards or more in the fourth quarter — no other team in the league has given up that many 50-plus yard plays in the fourth quarter all season, per ESPN’s SportsCenter.
MORE: Is McCarthy on the hot seat?
In fairness, Green Bay’s defense is all kinds of banged up, as is their corps of running backs, and the list of injuries lengthened in Washington to include linebacker Blake Martinez (knee), safety Kentrell Brice (back) and cornerback Demetri Goodson (knee).
The Packers, though, are not throwing in the towel, players insist.
"I don’t think so," linebacker Datone Jones said when asked if the team gave up against the Redskins. "We have to find ways to keep fighting and playing hard. We could have finished the game better."
WATCH: Packers not in best mood after Sunday's loss
Wide receiver Jordy Nelson added, "We don’t need to change who we are, we don't need to completely go off script, we just need to continue to work at it. We made some plays, we just need to make more of them."
Next up for the Packers is a trip to Philadelphia next Monday night. At 5-5, the Eagles are slightly better positioned then the Packers, but they’re on a bad run of their own, losing five of their last seven games. Las Vegas oddsmakers opened Philly as a three-point favorite for the Week 12 tilt.