Monday night is a must-win for the Green Bay Packers

The Green Bay Packers desperately need a win tonight against the Detroit Lions.

The Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions face-off tonight on Monday Night Football in what could be an early-season defining game for Aaron Rodgers and Co.

Last weekend, the Packers were shellacked by the New Orleans Saints 38-3, and it left everyone with a lot of questions. They looked like a team that hadn’t played together in some time because realistically, they hadn’t.

With the Rodgers offseason drama extending through the summer and OTAs and the coach’s decision to sit a majority of starters for the newly shortened preseason, there would be little time for cohesion and basic conditioning.

Are we overreacting? Yeah probably. Since coming into the league, Aaron Rodgers is 12-5 against the Lions and 6-0 in games played after a loss under Head Coach Matt LeFleur. And this Lions team is Stafford-less and already banged up.

The Green Bay Packers are 11.5 point favorites in Lambeau Field and have all the elements in place for a strong bounce-back game

The reason why this is a potential must-win is the consequences and the optics should the Packers lose. With the poor performance against New Orleans in week 1, the conspiracy theorists are already out there, with a growing narrative that Rodgers “tanked” the game. With a loss to the Lions, it could shine a light on the possibility that the Packer’s championship window is closing.

Green Bay will have the benefit of playing in the NFC North and having the additional game in the schedule, giving them plenty of time to right the ship. If Green Bay can win tonight, and they should, it should calm the waters of turmoil, and Packer Nation can R-E-L-A-X. But if they lose, this could be the catalyst that sparks the end of the Aaron Rodgers era in Green Bay.