Green Bay Packers: Jordy Nelson Injury Stacks Deck vs. Cowboys

Jordy Nelson reportedly suffered multiple fractured ribs, putting the Green Bay Packers up against it in the Divisional Round.

The Green Bay Packers were nearly infallible in the second half of their Wild Card Playoff victory over the New York Giants. Though Aaron Rodgers and the offense were held in-check for most of the first half, the same could not be said in the second. However, their offensive attack—which has been lethal for essentially two months now—didn’t make it out of the game at Lambeau Field unscathed. Specifically, star receiver Jordy Nelson left the game early.

Early in the second quarter, Nelson was on the sideline when Giants cornerback Leon Hall delivered a big shot with the crown of his helmet to the ribs of the Packers receiver. The dynamic wideout was left in a ton of pain and ultimately didn’t return.

Now it appears that Nelson’s status for Green Bay’s Divisional Round matchup with the vaunted Dallas Cowboys is in question. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Jordy Nelson suffered at least two fractured ribs on the play. Rapaport also added that it would take something “incredible” for the receiver to take the field at AT&T Stadium on Sunday:

Rodgers has been fantastic and it’s worth noting that the Packers’ offensive explosion against the touted Giants defense came with Nelson sidelined. However, this injury puts Green Bay in an exceptionally difficult spot in the Divisional Round game against Dallas.

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Packers fans won’t soon forget the struggles of Rodgers and the offense last season. In 2015, Rodgers posted career-lows in completion rate (60.7), yardage (3,821), and yards per attempt (6.68) in his time as the starter in Green Bay. While he’s obviously been playing well above that level this season, the important thing to note is that Nelson happened to be absent for that entire 2015 season.

Granted, the Packers last season had more problems on offense beyond just missing Nelson. Davante Adams had not yet emerged as a reliable threat as a receiver. Moreover, they hadn’t found any consistency with their running game as Eddie Lacy’s decline affected them greatly. However, the injury that Ty Montgomery also suffered in the Wild Card Round could also leave the Packers with a similar problem against the Cowboys.

Before anyone gets this twisted, Rodgers is still going to produce and this doesn’t doom the Packers in any way. A loss isn’t certain when you have one of the best quarterbacks to ever do it at the helm. However, it does certainly increase the level of difficulty when it comes to beating Dallas.

By all accounts, the Divisional Round matchup between the Packers and Cowboys could wind up being a shootout. You have two high-caliber and high-octane offense battling it out against average-to-below defenses (though Dallas has been a bit better than that, at times). Therefore, a shootout becomes a distinct possibility. But if the Packers come into a shootout missing a bullet (Nelson) or potentially two (Montgomery) against a Cowboys team that’s both rested and full healthy, that’s a problem.

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Maybe Rodgers has more magic left without Nelson in the lineup. After all, he’s been pulling tricks out of his hat for seven weeks now and defenses are left with their hands thrown up in disarray. However, a tall task just grew a bit taller as they head to Dallas on Sunday.