Aaron Rodgers did what he liked for the first 30 minutes.

He threw a pair of touchdowns https://www.thepackersfanshop.com/Marwin-Evans-Jersey , including a 54-yarder on the run to an unknown tight end for his first NFL catch. His passer rating was nearly perfect. Green Bay looked like it could score on every drive.And then it almost completely stopped. Rodgers was unable to solve Seattle in the second half, and was left to watch Russell Wilson lead another late touchdown drive and send the Packers back home with a loss.“It’s tough losing on the road. It’s tough losing by one possession,” Rodgers said. “Obviously I’m frustrated, and not just by the last throw, but some other stuff that we could have done better out there. I still believe we have a lot to play for.”Green Bay’s road woes continued in a 27-24 loss to the Seahawks on Thursday night. The Packers (4-5-1) had leads of 14-3 and 21-17, only to see Wilson throw a 15-yard TD pass to Ed Dickson with 5:08 remaining to give Seattle the lead for good.The Packers still had a chance to get out of Seattle with its first win here since 2008, yet their final possession lasted all of three plays. And it was the last pass by Rodgers that seemed to baffle everyone.Facing third-and-2 at its own 33, Rodgers called a quick pass to the flat for Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Except the pass never got there. It hopped in front of the intended receiver, and instead of going for it on fourth down, Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy opted to punt with more than 4 minutes remaining and the Packers still having one timeout.The decision backfired. Green Bay never saw the ball again, instead forced to watch Wilson kneel three times to run out the clock.Rodgers said the pass for Valdes-Scantling “stuck” in his hand and guessed he could make that throw 100 times and that wouldn’t happen again.“We beat ourselves in the second half,” Rodgers said. “We kind of moved the ball at will in the first half.”Green Bay’s problems went well beyond that one bad throw by Rodgers and the decision to punt. Rodgers was sacked five times, four of those in the second half. Twice in the third quarter Green Bay was forced to punt after drives stalled at midfield. The Packers were 3 of 11 on third downs, 2 of 7 in the second half. A week after Aaron Jones rushed for a career-high 145 yards, the Packers had just 48 yards rushing and Jones finished with 40.Green Bay is 0-5 on the road this season and has lost seven straight road games dating to last year.“I think it kind of went the way we thought it would go. When you’re playing in this environment, particularly when you’re on the road up here. There’s a high tendency for big-momentum plays, big swings, and I think that definitely held true,” McCarthy said. “They made more big plays than we did. … We’ve got to finish games better, especially in the fourth quarter, and especially on the road.”Rodgers finished with 332 yards passing and his TD throw to Robert Tonyan in the first quarter, and his 57-yard strike to Davante Adams in the fourth quarter showed again the greatness of his arm. But Rodgers had 214 yards at halftime and Seattle was able to pressure Rodgers enough in the second half to disrupt Green Bay’s passing attack.Injuries certainly didn’t help either. Green Bay was already down four starters before the first snaps with cornerback Kevin King Jermaine Whitehead Jersey , safety Kentrell Brice, linebacker Nick Perry and wide receiver Randall Cobb all out due to injuries. They lost two more in the first half when Bashaud Breeland 鈥?starting for King 鈥?aggravated a groin injury and Jimmy Graham injured his thumb. Graham had a 13-yard reception on Green Bay’s first offensive play in his return to Seattle, but that was his only catch.Mike Daniels suffered a foot injury early in the second half and backup safety Raven Greene suffered an ankle injury. Neither returned. If there’s an upside to the loss, it’s Green Bay getting extra rest before facing Minnesota in a must-win game next week.“We have a number of opportunities where our record would be very different right now, unfortunately, that’s the way it’s played out,” Clay Matthews said. “We’ve set ourselves up for a pretty good second half, we just have to get back to work. We have no other option. On to Minnesota after a couple days rest.” Two plays to define a season for the Green Bay Packers. On the first, rookie Equanimeous St. Brown beat Pro Bowl cornerback Kyle Fuller to the inside, but didn’t bend his route far enough where Aaron Rodgers expected it. The Packers settled for a field goal instead of a touchdown. On the second, another rookie, Marqueze Valdes-Scantling cooked Fuller once again, but Rodgers simply overthrew him. No miscommunication or lack of nuance. One of the best of all-time just sailed the throw. In a game the Packers ultimately lost 24-17, that’s an 11-point swing as MVS would almost certainly have gone untouched into the end zone had the throw been on target. For more fitting metaphor, a throw to the big free agent Jimmy Graham in the fourth quarter ended Rodgers’ interception streak at an NFL record 402 throws. Had Graham held on, the Packers could have cut a 10-point deficit to three, instead it’s a turnover. The 2018 Packers official video should be called “this close,” with six of eight losses coming by just one score.We can put to bed any notion of Joe Philbin returning as the next head coach, stripping him of the interim title and handling him the keys outright. The next Packers head coach was not on the Green Bay sideline Sunday (though he may have been on the other side of the field). And the Packers can’t reach their ultimate goal of getting back to the Super Bowl with their All-World quarterback not playing up to his ability. For whatever structural and personnel deficiencies the Packers offense has, Rodgers hasn’t played his best football this season. In the first half, the Packers managed just 122 yards of offense. Sacks ended drives on third-and-short and a third-and-long on consecutive drives to open the game and the disjointed look to the offense from earlier in the season once again cropped up. Credit the Bears defense, but there’s clearly something fundamentally wrong with the bedrock of the offensive system Aaron Ripkowski Color Rush Jersey , unable to create anything easy for its players, including and especially the quarterback. The Packers missed on the aforementioned throw to EQ and instead of 7-7, it’s 7-3, becoming another in a string of inflection points for Green Bay over the course of the season. If Mason Crosby doesn’t lose his mind. If Ty Montgomery doesn’t take the ball out. If Rodgers does lose the grip on the ball in Seattle. Counterfactuals define this season. If one thing changes here or there, a game may look different, and by extension the season. But they didn’t, and that didn’t change on Sunday with a team clinging to its playoff hopes, facing a divisional rival that looks like a nascent powerhouse in the NFC.Rodgers came out firing in the second half, marching his team down the field with quick passes and solid balance in the run game. Third-and-7. Incomplete. Field Goal. Instead of having a chance to cut the Bears lead to 14-10, they have to settle for a 43-yard Mason Crosby field goal and a 14-6 score. These are the plays Rodgers ate for breakfast when this team fired at maximum velocity, a team that now seems decades ago. Their best call on third-and-manageable is throwing into coverage for Randall Cobb. That’s what this offense has become. A one-week hiatus against the worst passing defense in the league doesn’t paper over the structural deficiencies holding this offense back. Meanwhile, the Bears made the plays fans normally expect their team to be making. On their own third-and-7 in the first half, Mike Pettine dialed up the perfect blitz, getting Eddie Pleasant free off the corner. Mitch Trubisky spun out of the tackle attempt and floated a ball to Adam Shaheen for 23. A sure sack turns into a first down. That’s what Aaron Rodgers normally does. The difference is most of what Trubisky does results from beautiful play design, giving him simple reads and open receivers. Trubisky will make a handful of plays every game on his own, backbreaking because of how hard Nagy’s offense can be on its own. Rodgers still makes those plays, it’s the rest of the time that has been like pulling teeth. If the only way the offense can succeed is Rodgers making plays, that’s not sustainable over 16 games in 2018, not the way offenses exploded this season. As has been the case all season, the Packers’ urgency ramped up in the second half as they fought their way back. Nagy’s aggressiveness cost him on a fake punt where Green Bay’s special teams was ready, stopping the play in the backfield. Rodgers found Adams with a dime up the left sideline for 28 yards on third down to extend the drive, setting up a 10-yard touchdown scamper from Williams. The connection worked again with Rodgers finding Adams wide open for the two-point conversion and the game-tying points. On the next possession https://www.thepackersfanshop.com/Demetri-Goodson-Jersey , another Nagy special backfired. One of the best play designers in the league, Nagy’s situational playcalls have been the best in football. For what felt like the first time all season, one failed to work as Tarik Cohen fumbled a wildcat snap on third-and-short at the Packers 23. Momentum clearly on the Packers’ side, right? Rodgers throws three straight incompletions and gives the ball right back to the Bears. The third-down miss was particularly egregious because this was the play when Valdes-Scantling torched Kyle Fuller over the top and Rodgers simply overthrew him. Another play embodying the 2018 season in microcosm. If it’s not one thing, it’s another. In typical 2018 fashion, the miss cost dearly. Pettine’s defense, playing a questionable amount of soft zone coverage against Trubisky, couldn’t hold on the following possession, letting the second-year quarterback dice them up. Trey Burton ran wide open to the corner of the end zone against one of those aforementioned zones and Trubisky found him for the go-ahead touchdown with 10:16 left in the fourth quarter. This would have been the time for some Rodgers magic, but Randall Cobb dropped a potential first down, ending a drive in a three-and-out. Speedy Tarik Cohen returned the ensuing punt to the 15 and from there it was all over but the crying. A brainfart from Cohen cost the Bears a potential touchdown, but a Cody Parkey field goal put the Bears up 24-14 and the Packers simply couldn’t mount a sufficient comeback. Chicago ended the third-longest playoff drought in the league and a streak of eight consecutive defeats at home to the Packers. Sunday showed these are teams headed in opposite directions, the Bears to the playoffs and standing in the NFC as a Super Bowl contender, while the Packers face their biggest offseason since committing to Aaron Rodgers amid turmoil and disappointment. The Bears can keep fighting for playoff positioning while the Packers have to determine if playing their franchise quarterback the final two weeks even makes sense. Green Bay played with the best teams they faced this season, kept it close, but couldn’t make the plays they needed to make. They’re short right now, talent and coaching prowess. Before they can expect to beat a team as good as the Bears, that has to change. It’s not exaggeration to suggest this offseason will ultimately define the Rodgers legacy. They’re close, but just not close enough. Mark Murphy, Brian Gutekunst, and Rodgers himself have to find a way to close that gap.