This was supposed to be the week the Green Bay Packers stopped the bleeding. After rattling off three straight wins to start the season 3-1, the Packers dropped four straight heading into Sunday’s clash with the Detroit Lions. It was supposed to be a quick fix for quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay’s anemic offense.

The Packers moved the ball, but Rodgers killed several drives with poor throws, including interceptions in the end zone on Green Bay’s first two drives. The Lions, with one of the worst defenses in the NFL, held the Packers to nine points in an embarrassing 15-9 Packers loss, their fifth straight.

This is the lowest point for Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in quite some time

If it’s not the offense struggling, it’s the defense. Sunday, the Green Bay defense outplayed the offense by a wide margin.

Despite Rodgers’ three badly underthrown interceptions, the Packers (3-6) were in the game. They had the ball at the Detroit 17-yard line in the final minute, but Rodgers threw four straight incompletions. Rodgers finished the game 23-for-43 for 291 yards and a touchdown. He led the team in rushing with 40 yards on four carries.

The problem was his three uncharacteristic interceptions.

“Well, I played s***ty, but I never gave up,” Rodgers said postgame. “Obviously, I don’t want to lead us in rushing. But I knew I was going to have to make some plays with my legs, and moving forward I’m going to have to keep doing things like that.

“But, no, I feel like we never gave up. We moved the ball well in the first half, and I threw a couple of picks in the end zone and took points off the board. That obviously came back to hurt us down the stretch.”

The win ended a five-game losing streak for the 2-6 Lions.

“We can’t lose a game like that against that team,” Rodgers said. “So that’s going to hurt for a while.”

Rodgers knows the Packers have already been counted out by many

You know the Packers offense is struggling when the go-to play on fourth-and-goal from the 2 is a throw to an offensive lineman — an injured one, at that. Rodgers’ second pick was a badly underthrown pass to left tackle David Bakhtiari that was intercepted by Aidan Hutchinson. Twice, running back A.J. Dillon was stuffed on run plays at the goal line during that series.

“Credit to Detroit, they dared us to throw the football,” said Packers coach Matt LaFleur after the game. “I can’t tell you how many times, particularly when we’re under center, that everybody’s mugged up at the line of scrimmage.”

It’s gotten so bad for Green Bay now that teams want Rodgers to throw the ball.

Rodgers said he knows everyone is counting out the Packers. He said he’s been counted out before.

“I’ve been counted out many times in my life, as have many of my teammates,” Rodgers said. “I hope we just dig deep and find a way. We will truly be underdogs for many games moving forward. Hopefully, we can embrace that. We have two games at home, we’ve got to go win those two games in a week, and then this thing looks a little different.”

Rodgers is saying the right things, but after what we’ve seen from the Packers in the last month, it’s tough to take him seriously.

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