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The Green Bay Packers are one-fourth of the way through their 16-game schedule, and I do believe there is hope for Coach Mike McCarthy's team to make the playoffs.  This is despite the fact the Packers have the worst offensive line in the NFL.  It's amazing to me that quarterback Aaron Rodgers is still healthy through four games because he has been thrown to the turf like a rag doll all season.  Bringing back right tackle Mark Tauscher is a start, but realistically, he is probably a few weeks away from being game ready.  Getting left tackle Chad Clifton back healthy, coupled with Tauscher on the right side should make Rodgers less antsy in the pocket.   Critics say Rodgers is holding on to the ball too long, well until #12 grows eyes in the back of his head, how can you blame him for being uncomfortable dropping back to pass. 

The Packers next three games are all winnable, at home against Detroit, on the road at Cleveland, and the rematch with Brett Favre and the Vikings at Lambeau Field on November 1st.  Win all three and Green Bay will be 5-2 and with their 8th game on the road against a BAD Tampa Bay team, and the Packers could finish the first half of the season at 6-2.  Yes, the second half of the schedule will be very tough with games against Dallas, San Francisco, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Arizona.  The common theme with all six of those teams is that they all have winning or .500 records and will be battling for the playoffs just like Green Bay.  A Thanksgiving game at a much-improved Detroit team is not a given, so my early prediction is that the Packers will go 3-5 in the second half.  That adds up to 9-7 if the Packers can reel off four straight wins over the next month.  Still, that may not be good enough to make the playoffs in a very competitive NFC.  

Here are the teams ahead of the Packers through four/five games:  N.Y. Giants 5-0, Minnesota 5-0, New Orleans 4-0, Philadelphia 3-1, Chicago 3-1, Atlanta 3-1, San Francisco 3-2, Dallas 3-2...  Several teams are bunched together at 2-2 or 2-3 like Seattle, Arizona, and Washington.   Green Bay is lucky that they don't play the Giants, Eagles, Saints, or the Falcons this year because frankly, they are not in the same league as those teams.  

A stumble against Detroit or Cleveland in the next two weeks and the Packers season is finished.  And if the Vikings and Favre come to Lambeau Field and complete a season sweep of Green Bay and again, you can forget about the post-season.  The only way the Packers make the playoffs is by winning the division, because I'll be shocked if one of the two wild cards come from the NFC North.  The NFC East and NFC South have very good teams and it's likely that the wild cards will come from there. 

If the Packers fail to make the playoffs for the second straight year, I'd be surprised if major changes were not made both in the coaching staff and personnel.   Ultimately, general manager Ted Thompson will be on the hot seat.  He has been a proponent of building his team through the draft, and not going after free agents.  Charles Woodson is the exception, and he has been fantastic for the Packers.  But the way you win championships in the NFL is in the trenches.  The Packers have done a poor job acquiring talent on the offensive and defensive lines.  For Thompson, Justin Harrell was a bust, and so far B.J. Raji has yet to show why the Packers used the 9th overall pick in the first round to draft him.  I'm sorry, but when you draft someone that high, he needs to play immediately.  Especially if he's healthy.  Put him in and justify why he was drafted 9th overall.   On the other side of the football, the offensive line is in shambles.  I like Mark Tauscher, great guy who has got the most out of his ability.  A 7th round draft pick out of Wisconsin who showed you don't have to be a blue chip prospect to play a long time in the NFL.  Clifton has been very good as well, but he like Tauscher were part of the Packers long before Ted Thompson was GM.   And both are the later stages of their careers.  Their best years are behind them. 

If the Packers fail to make the playoffs, their first round draft pick, their second, their third, and fourth should be offensive lineman.  Find guys that can protect the quarterback, because the status quo is not good enough to compete for a Super Bowl title.