Every week another starter is lost to the Packers and this week it was starting center J.C. Tretter, who was put on the shelf with a knee injury.
Through the first seven games during which the Packers went 4-3 the Packers lost 16 players to injury for a total of 37 missed games. In fact, there hasn't been a week where the Packers didn't have a player out because of injury.
Week 1 Josh Hawkins (hamstring), Trevor Davis (shoulder), Chris Banjo (hamstring) and Jayrone Elliott (hamstring) sat out the game. Week 2 Hawkins, Elliott and Banjo were still out with Sam Shields added with a concussion.
Week 3 Shields was still out (he eventually was placed on injured reserve after week 6), but Hawkins, Elliott and Banjo returned. However, the other shoe dropped with Morgan Burnett (groin), Letroy Guion (knee), Datone Jones (knee) and Clay Matthews (ankle) sat out.
Week 4 was the BYE week and after a week off Week 5 saw all the above returning, but Jared Cook (ankle) and Damarious Randall (groin) dropped out. Week 6 saw Cook still out and Banjo (hamstring) returning to the injury list. Randall returned to the field, but was hurt again and has been out ever since.
Week 6 also saw Eddie Lacy playing on an injured ankle, which he hurt ever worse and has also been out ever since after being placed on injured reserve the morning of week 7. James Starks (knee) and Quinten Rollins (groin) also sat out.
Week 7 saw Cook, Banjo, Starks, Rollins and Randall remained out with Jared Abbrederis (quad) sitting out. Abbrederis and Banjo were eventually put on injured reserve and then Abbrederis asked to be released and Ted Thompson accommodated him. Banjo was also released with an injury settlement.
Week 8 Cook, Starks, Rollins and Randall were still out with Ty Montgomery (illness-sickle cell anemia), Clay Matthews (hamstring) and Randall Cobb (hamstring) added to the list and sat out.
This week (Week 9) lists Cook, Starks, Randall and Tretter definitely out. Montgomery (illness) and T.J. Lang (hip) are on the list, but without a designation while Demetri Goodson (concussion), Randall Cobb (hamstring), Clay Matthews (hamstring) and Quinten Rollins (groin) listed as questionable.
With Tretter on the injured list and it may be for several weeks the Packers activated Corey Linsley from the PUP list and he will start, instead of Don Barclay, who is the only backup at center and at both guards.
I have noticed something about injuries and the Packers and for the league for that matter. It seems when someone has been out a while when he comes back he almost immediately suffers a hamstring injury.
You would think the league and the Packers in particular would be attuned to this problem. But evidently they only rehab the injury and ignore the rest of the body. I think someone, besides me, should realize, "Houston, we have a problem."
Now for this week. The wounded Packers (4-3) have the luck of facing a terrible team in the Indianapolis Colts (3-5). The Dolts have 18 on their injury list with 5 definitely out, including left guard Jack Mewhort and safety Michael Adams and 5 as questionable, including right guard Denzelle Goode and tight end Dwayne Allen with the other 8 without a designation including starters quarterback Andrew Luck, running back Frank Gore, wide receiver T.Y. Hilton, linebackers Erik Walton, D'Qwell Jackson, Robert Mathis and cornerback Vonte Davis.
By all rights this should be an easy game and a big victory. With Aaron Rodgers beginning to look like Aaron Rodgers and not Mr. Rodgers I would say the Packers should win.
However, with the running back situation still a cluster...k with Montgomery now the starter until Starks gets back (remember he was having a terrible year before he was hurt). The only other reserves are practice squadder Don Jackson, who has a hand injury and fullback Aaron Ripkowski. This was good a few weeks ago and continues to be not good now.
I feel with the game being at Lambeau Field the Packers should win big, 34-14. The 8 at CBS.com agree.
Pro Football Focus says, "Packers win by 5" The Packers’ offense appears to have found a groove the last two weeks, with Aaron Rodgers generating his highest game grade since early last season in last week’s loss at Atlanta. That said, the Packers’ offense has probably become too pass-heavy, limiting Green Bay’s ability to take advantage of a Colts’ front-seven that has the vast majority of its players earning overall grades below 45.0 this season. With the Packers’ secondary still injury-stricken at the cornerback position, and Andrew Luck enjoying his best season so far, look for the Colts’ passing game (even with T.Y. Hilton’s availability in question) to keep this one close at Lambeau.
S.I. says, "Packers 34-24." Here’s the thing about the Colts: They’re not very good. They still host all three AFC South teams, so that division title is within reach, but on the whole they simply do not have a well-constructed roster. A visit to face a suddenly rolling Aaron Rodgers doesn’t help, either. The Packers’ receivers still are not winning a lot of those one-on-one isolation routes, but the team’s lack of healthy running backs has forced it to attack the field more horizontally. And it’s working. Davante Adams is racking up catches (12 last week) and Ty Montgomery (if he plays through injury) is a growing weapon. Rodgers should pick Indianapolis’ linebackers apart inside. The Colts’ upset chances, as usual, lie with Andrew Luck. CB Quentin Rollins is back for Green Bay. Otherwise, that secondary remains banged up, which Matt Ryan exploited last week (288 yards, three TDs).Watchability index: 7. The quarterback matchup is up there, and the Colts have the offensive weapons to hang around. Their defense is just so mediocre.
SB Nation says, Colts (+7) over PACKERS. "Let’s look at the two biggest spreads of the week. On the surface, picking the Colts to beat the spread against the Packers at Lambeau seems just as absurd as picking the Browns to do it against the Cowboys. Nobody should entertain the idea that the Colts have a real shot to win this game. No. Instead, I think the Packers are likely to get a big early lead, and force Andrew Luck to throw the ball a bunch against a Green Bay defense that really isn’t all that great. That should be enough to cover."
So it seems all the ducks are in a row, so we have to worry about an upset and hope when the Packers get a big first half lead Mike McCarthy doesn't shut down Rodgers and the offense and put the game in the hands of Dom Capers. If that happens there is a good chance for an upset loss.
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