Offensive Line Carousel Continues to Doom Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers

The Green Bay Packers haven't had their starting five on the offensive line available since the Week 9 matchup against the Carolina Panthers, and while they have been able to overcome that handicap in four games since, they suffered their fifth loss of the season on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals. 

The loss of even more members on the offensive line against Arizona began the domino effect that led to the Packers' downfall. 

There were multiple similarities in the way the Green Bay Packers began their matchup against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 16 and their miracle comeback against the Detroit Lions in early December. 

In both games, the Packers were down by 17-0 at halftime. And in both games, Green Bay lost multiple starters on the offensive line to injury.

However, while the Packers were able to pull off the comeback against Detroit in Week 13 despite the exigencies on the offensive line, they were too much to overcome against Arizona, which clobbered Green Bay 38-8.

Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press

As Mike Clemens pointed out, the personnel left standing on the offensive line in Week 16 was remarkably similar to that which the Packers used for the "Motown Miracle" in Detroit.

The team lost center Corey Linsley, right tackle Bryan Bulaga and right guard T.J. Lang to injuries throughout the course of the matchup against Arizona, though Linsley later returned.

Meanwhile, left tackle David Bakhtiari was already out to begin the game, making the composition of the offensive line at one point Don Barclay, Josh Sitton, Linsley, Lane Taylor and Josh Walker. 

While the Packers offense was ineffective across the board, whether it was Aaron Rodgers' incompletions and poor separation by receivers in the passing game or James Starks' fumble in the run game, it all stemmed from the poor play of and holes in the offensive line.

Rodgers was under duress throughout the game, completing just 53 percent of his passes. 

In fact, Rodgers was under so much pressure that he was replaced by backup quarterback Scott Tolzien in the fourth quarter, a luxury the Packers could afford because they clinched a playoff berth in Week 15. Rodgers ended his day 15-of-28 for 151 yards and an interception and was sacked a whopping eight times.

The last time Rodgers took that many sacks in a game was in 2012 against the Seattle Seahawks. 

And when the Packers got into a multiple-score deficit early in the game, they had to all but abandon the run game, rendering the already-struggling offense completely one-dimensional. 

The Packers attempted 29 passes to 26 carries, but many of those runs were one-offs by players such as fullback John Kuhn, Tolzien and wide receiver Randall Cobb. Eddie Lacy carried the ball just 12 times, and while he gained 60 yards, the team ultimately had to move away from the run game as it fell nearly 30 points behind. 

The Packers special teams and defense attempted to help bear the load, with Mike Daniels' interception in enemy territory and Tim Masthay's successful fake punt to give the Packers 1st-and-10 at Arizona's 48-yard line, but the offense was not able to score any points off either of those plays on the ensuing drives. 

Green Bay also gave the ball away four times, which was just gift wrap on the win for Arizona. 

Head coach Mike McCarthy spoke to the stress placed on Rodgers in his postgame press conference, noting that he was "very concerned with the QB hits," per the Packers' Twitter. 

"You cannot get your QB hit like that," McCarthy continued, but it was too tall an order for what ended up becoming a patchwork offensive line. 

Even with its starting five intact, Green Bay's offensive line has been middling all season. It is not designed to survive an injury at one position, let alone three or four of them. And while it would be easier to just heave all the blame for the loss on the line, the truth is that Rodgers and the receivers own their fair share of it, as well.

While Rodgers has been holding onto the ball longer than most quarterbacks this season—taking 2.69 seconds to attempt a pass, per Pro Football Focus, which is the third-longest in the league—it's often because his receivers are struggling to gain separation and beat man coverage. 

"We didn't have a ton of guys open at times," Aaron Rodgers said in his postgame press conference on Packers.com. 

"I took some shots, but I'm just disappointed in myself."

Rodgers was optimistic in his press conference, saying that the Packers can "do everything we want to do" as they head into the final week of the regular season against the Minnesota Vikings with the division on the line.

But if this offensive line remains banged up, it's going to be hard for Rodgers, or Lacy or anyone else to do much of anything on offense.