Green Bay Packers causing me early mid-life crisis

Team opens playoffs Sunday against Redskins

Ah, our beloved Green Bay Packers.

Titletown. The Frozen Tundra of Lambeau Field, a virtual Mecca of America’s favorite sport.

For the past three decades, thanks to consecutive Hall-of-Fame-caliber quarterbacks, along with strong management and a dedicated, die-hard fan base, the Packers have been one of the most consistent teams in the National Football League.

These are all things you probably knew or could figure from common sense, considering the Patriots’ Tom Brady and the Packers’ Aaron Rodgers have been the best two signal-callers in the league for the last decade.

Since the late 80s, I’ve bled green and gold, as my dad is a Packers fan and it just stuck.

Each Sunday, the family gears up for the game. My 1-year-old daughter wears a Packers’ cheerleader outfit and randomly blurts out “Go, Pack, Go” and “touchdown,” while my wife wears a Clay Matthews jersey.

My fandom has few limits, as I choose from a wealth of team apparel, from my white, cheap Wal-Mart Aaron Rodgers jersey to my collared, golf shirt/coach’s uniform I call my “Mike McCarthy” shirt.

Ever the believer, I had supreme confidence Green Bay would handily defeat the Minnesota Vikings Sunday night and claim its fifth straight NFC North title.

Distant memories of horribly inconsistent offensive performance had left my brain, as a cold beverage warmed me on my living room sofa as temperatures sunk near 0 degrees outside.

When the Packers again inexplicably dropped the ball, literally, and lost 20-13 to the beatable Vikings at Lambeau Field, completing the trifecta of home losses to divisional opponents (first time that’s happened to Green Bay since 1968), every ounce of me wanted to scream at Aaron Rodgers for his pathetic play and baffling late interception.

My blind rage conflicted with my Packers blood, and the result was this catastrophe of a contradiction on Facebook:

“For as deplorable as the Packers have looked for two months, is anyone worried about the Redskins?

And yes, I get it, Carolina and Arizona had good REGULAR seasons. But have Carson Palmer or Cam Newton won anything ever?

Quite possibly the strangest NFL season in recent memory.

Rodgers needs to play with urgency for 60 minutes, keep a rapid tempo and hope the O-line holds up.

Second season starts Sunday at 3:40 p.m. in Washington D.C.

I literally have ZERO IDEA what will happen, but NFL parity is stronger than ever.”

Not just a river in Egypt

At first glance, the average Packers fan will look at my post and appreciate my positive outlook and glass-half-full attitude.

But after a day of reflection, it’s become clear I was in complete denial.

Rodgers isn’t right, the loss of Jordy Nelson is fatal to the team’s offensive flow and the coaches, players and organization have zero idea how to fix it.

Green Bay controlled the time of possession, one of the most notable factors when determining who wins and loses, by a whopping margin of 36 minutes to 24 Sunday night.

Minnesota quarterback Teddy Bridgewater didn’t have a clue on most plays, and the right-handed passer, who wears a white Michael Jackson glove for some reason, threw one pass with his left hand.

Naturally, it was intercepted.

For as badly as the Vikings were trying to give the game to Green Bay, the normally collected, accurate Rodgers simply didn’t seem to want the victory.

Thanks to a Rodgers fumble where he showed little pocket awareness on a blind-side arm swipe, Green Bay fell into a 13-3 hole.

When the Packers’ offense once again stagnated, the Vikings marched down the field and extended the lead to 20-3.

In the second half, Rodgers and company switched the game plan from actual routes to “schoolyard,” as they call it, where the quarterback scrambles around and plays are essentially broken and receivers must find a way to get open.

Minnesota may have gotten lackadaisical, or Green Bay felt the urgency of the moment, but the Packers flipped the switch and had a chance to tie the game after their kicker, Mason Crosby, made the play of the game.

The Vikings’ Cordarelle Patterson had returned a kickoff well past midfield and was threatening to score when Green Bay’s veteran kicker dove and stripped the speedy third-year player.

The football popped high into the air before the Packers recovered the fumble.

As early as last year, Rodgers would’ve seemed to have been able to easily march Green Bay down for a touchdown.

But this year, with this offense, and Green Bay’s 4-5 record in its last nine since a 6-0 start, the Packers showed little promise, even with the two-time MVP Rodgers.

Rodgers converted a couple first downs before Minnesota’s defense came up huge on the last-ditch Hail Mary throw.

It was the second straight week Green Bay trailed by three or more scores in the second half.

Lack of motivation?

The fact that Green Bay had a chance to play the unproven Washington Redskins instead of the almighty, red-hot Seattle Seahawks had to have been on the minds of the Packers’ players.

The players’ body language was far from awe-inspiring, especially from the so-called leader, Rodgers.

I apologize for the hateful tone, but this Packers lifer is fed up and can’t really take it anymore.

The eye cancer that calls itself the Packers’ offense currently lacks any semblance of a run game, offensive line, capable receiving corps and relevant tight end.

Maybe Green Bay tried to lose so they could play Washington, which has actually been on a roll lately.

Kirk Cousins is playing out of his mind at quarterback, and the Redskins have big-play weapons in DeSean Jackson, Pierre Garcon and Jordan Reed.

The problem is I don’t see any life in this Green Bay squad.

Shouldn’t they already be looking forward to the offseason, getting some new weapons and getting Jordy Nelson back healthy?

A once-powerful team that started 6-0 is just plain bad right now.

Nobody can get open, Rodgers points fingers at his own players and McCarthy is back to his conservative play-calling ways.

I’d be disappointed in a loss Sunday against the Redskins, but I wouldn’t be surprised, even though Green Bay has a better record (10-6 to 9-7).

The last time Green Bay was 10-6, they snuck into the playoffs with two wins late in the season. That squad turned on the gas in the playoffs and won a Super Bowl.

But don’t get too excited, Packers fans, the 2010 team had Nick Collins, Charles Woodson, Donald Driver, Greg Jennings, Jermichael Finley, Desmond Bishop and several more top-tier talents.

The 2015 team experienced zero completions to a wide receiver in nearly the entire first half against the Vikings Sunday night.

Rodgers’ quarterback rating and completion percentage are career lows despite 31 touchdowns and eight interceptions.

As much as I want to say it will be all rainbows and rose petals, Green Bay is in for a dogfight this coming Sunday.

I know, I could have it as bad as all you western Kenosha County Chicago Bears fans, but I’ll take my Packers over just about any team any year.

Good or bad right now, Green Bay has a great organization, strong veteran players and an elite quarterback, Aaron Rodgers.

May the force be with Aaron as he embarks on another uphill climb, in honor of all this Star Wars hoopla.

The Packers are the No. 5 seed and could play No. 6 Seattle in rematch of the 2015 NFC Championship Game, which was won by the Seahawks over the Packers.

How glorious would that be?

I’m dreaming vividly, falling asleep at the keyboard about how this thing plays out. My dreams have become nightmares this season when the subject matter is the Packers, though.

We’re officially desperate, so fake punts, fake field goals, reverses and passes from people other than #12 will be welcome.

Don’t run any routes. Keep that backyard ball going and let Aaron be Aaron. At the end of the day, Aaron is the problem just as much as everyone else, whether he’d like to accept it or not.

Unfortunately, Green Bay, and Aaron Rodgers, have nothing left.

Here are my picks this weekend:

Washington 24, Green Bay 21

Kansas City 20, Houston 14

Seattle 35, Minnesota 23

Pittsburgh 33, Cincinnati 21