Injuries have potential to dampen Packers’ Super Bowl or bust season

With the Green Bay Packers’ 2021 season being compared to the “Last Dance” of the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan, the injuries that continue to pile up may make a run at the Super Bowl extremely difficult.

Backing up for just a moment, Aaron Rodgers and the Packers front office had a standoff over the summer with the reigning MVP threatening retirement if he wasn’t traded. Coming off the heels of consecutive 13-3 seasons and appearances in the NFC Championship game, this was a disappointing development, to say the least.

With salary cap hell looming over the team in 2022–they are projected to be way over the cap and will likely have to part ways with multiple starters–the front office wanted (at least) one more season with Rodgers at the helm to try and get over the hump. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed and 12 agreed to come back thanks to a contract restructure, the acquisition of Randall Cobb and doubtless behind the scenes work.

As the injuries continue to pile up for the Green Bay Packers, they have the potential to dampen their Super Bowl or bust season.

The Packers’ weak spot the last two years has been their defense. They’ve gotten torched in the Championship games and have made it very difficult for the offense to keep pace. Head coach Matt LaFleur brought in a new defensive coordinator in Joe Barry to make improvements and get that side of the ball up to par.

Unfortunately, the injuries to key players are beginning to pile so high that it might not make any difference what the offense or defensive coordinator does.

Za’Darius Smith missed all of training camp with a back injury, but was able to return to practice before Week 1 and play sparingly in the season-opener. That only made matters worse for the All-Pro outside linebacker and he had to have back surgery, ruling him out until late in the season, if not the entire year.

With the Packers’ best pass rusher down, Green Bay has struggled mightily to get after the quarterback. Rashan Gary and Preston Smith have picked it up as of late, but they haven’t been nearly as good as Z. Smith.

Now, it appears Green Bay could be without their top player in the secondary, as Jaire Alexander is waiting to make a decision about whether he’ll have season-ending surgery or play through his shoulder injury with a brace. Alexander is one of the very best cornerbacks in the league and is able to hold his own against any wide receiver. With him down, Green Bay will be forced to turn to rookie Eric Stokes and the consistently inconsistent (and oft-injured) Kevin King. Not great, Bob.

Offensively, David Bakhtiari began the season on the Physically Unable to Perform list and should be back after Week 6 sometime. His replacement at left tackle, Elgton Jenkins, missed the last two games, forcing the team to start Yosh Nijman in his place. Jenkins looks on track to return this week, but now starting center Josh Myers is questionable.

Wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling was also placed on the injured reserve with a hamstring injury after Week 3, meaning he’ll be out at least three weeks. That’s their second-best receiver and only true deep threat.

Green Bay had tremendous injury luck during the first two years of LaFleur’s campaign and it appears it’s all evening out in one season.

The Packers’ defense was already a question mark and now they could possibly be down their two best players for the rest of the season. That’s a huge blow for a unit that already had limited room for error. It’s not impossible, but it will be difficult for them to overcome these major blows in the long run and bring the Lombardi Trophy back home. Let’s see what this team is made of.