Green Bay Packers' Slumping Offense Is the Sum of Its Parts

It was a night that should have belonged to the Green Bay Packers, for multiple reasons. 

The team retired Brett Favre's jersey while legend Bart Starr looked on. 

The Packers were hosting the Bears, a team they had beaten in six of their last seven matchups at Lambeau Field, on Thanksgiving. 

But Chicago earned this win, stealing a night that could have gone down as one of the best in franchise history, and the Packers offense has itself to blame. 

There are plenty of scapegoats on whom to pin this season's offensive failings, and they change from week to week. 

For instance, the receivers have been unable to gain separation at best and, at worst, entirely unreliable targets for Rodgers.

Their pattern of drops has become pervasive; Randall Cobb, the de facto No. 1 receiver with Jordy Nelson out, had seven dropped passes on the season heading into Week 12, which is tied for the fifth-most among all wide receivers. 

The table below shows how many dropped passes Packers receivers had up until Week 12 and where in the NFL they stand. Studying the game film, however, these Pro Football Focus estimates seem low. 

Player	Targets	Receptions	Drops	Drop Rate
Randall Cobb	81	47	7	12.96
James Jones	45	30	4	11.76
Davante Adams	51	30	4	11.76

Cobb's, James Jones' and Davante Adams' drop rates all fall in the top 20 out of 75 eligible NFL receivers.

Though these numbers do not include Week 12, the problem was as apparent as ever on Thursday, and given the data, the cold rain that fell throughout the game at Lambeau is not an excuse.   

Adams had multiple drops against the Bears. Early in the first quarter, he couldn't haul in a pass on 3rd-and-11 that certainly would have given the Packers a first down and which he potentially could have taken all the way, as 620 WTMJ's Greg Matzek noted. 

The failed drive was especially egregious given that Cobb had just dropped a pass a few plays prior.

But it was nothing compared to the mistakes the offense would go on to make later in the game.

For instance, Rodgers' interception, just his fourth of the season, was the direct result of Adams stopping short on a route and failing to get to the ball.

Instead, it was Chicago's Tracy Porter who caught that pass, and it earned him a turkey leg after the game.

As ESPN analyst and former NFL defensive back Matt Bowen explained, the error was Adams', not Rodgers'. 

It wasn't just the passing game that struggled against Chicago. Eddie Lacy, who looked poised to build on his breakout game last week, almost lost the Packers' only touchdown of the night by flipping the ball just as he crossed the goal line, and later lost a fumble.

Both mistakes landed Lacy on the bench for the following drive, but he was averaging 6.2 yards per carry and rushed for more than 100 yards on the night, adding another 34 through the air.

Green Bay needed him on the field, in the hopes that his production would be enough to outweigh his mistakes.

The offensive line, too, deserves its share of blame for the loss. Though Rodgers was sacked only twice, he struggled with a collapsing pocket for much of the game and scrambled four times.

Of course, it doesn't help that every member of the starting five appeared on the team's injury report heading into the matchup. To add insult to injury, right tackle Bryan Bulaga left the game with an ankle injury and was replaced by reserve lineman Don Barclay, who has struggled in his appearances this season. 

Ultimately, however, it was the mistakes in execution which lost a game the Packers had a legitimate shot of winning.

Rodgers wasn't perfect, but he drove the offense 72 yards down the field in less than two minutes on the final drive; in 13 plays, the Packers ran the ball just once. 

Once the unit got into the red zone, however, execution plummeted. 

On 3rd-and-goal from the Chicago 8-yard line, Rodgers took a page out of Favre's book and scrambled to extend a play as the pocket collapsed and pressure mounted around him. He slung a surprisingly catchable ball to Jones in the end zone, but it hit the receiver's hands and fell to the ground. 

Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

4th-and-goal: one more shot.

But the script was already written; Adams would drop another shot at a game-winning score and the Packers dropped to 7-4 on the season and second in the division. 

In his postgame press conference, Rodgers stressed that the offense needs "to get on the same page."

However, the unit has been so out of sync this season that it's difficult to even remember what that looks like.

At times the Packers have looked best when they are mounting comeback drives late in the game, which suggests two things. The first is that, if Rodgers is calling the plays more frequently in those situations, he might do well to have more input earlier in games.

There's no question that the transition to associate head coach Tom Clements calling the plays this season has changed the dynamic of the offense.

The second is that the Packers are the most successful when operating out of the no-huddle and when they, and especially Rodgers, aren't overthinking the game plan.

However, the problem with those conclusions is that they still rely on execution by the players to get the job done, and right now, that is entirely lacking.

Between fumbles, drops, stopping short on routes, being unable to beat man coverage, interceptions and general sloppiness, the offense is its own worst enemy.

Forget beating the Lions, Cardinals and Vikings in the coming weeks; Green Bay's biggest obstacle to success currently is its own offense.