Green Bay Packers: Can team solve its road issues at Seattle?

While the Green Bay Packers remain in the playoff picture, Mike McCarthy’s club continues to have its issues away from Lambeau Field.

Once again, we are in the middle of another unpredictable NFL season. But in the case of the Green Bay Packers, it’s been pretty easy to figure out what is going to happen with this team on a weekly basis.

Through nine games, Mike McCarthy’s team has not lost a game at home (4-0-1) and has failed to come up with a victory (0-4) on road. The reasons have been numerous, but the bottom line is that the Pack must find a way to get a win away from home or it will be a second consecutive season with a losing record in another non-playoff appearance. The last time Green Bay failed to qualify for the postseason in consecutive years was back in 2005 and ’06.

The Packers battle the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday night in the Pacific Northwest. That game is followed more than a week later by a Sunday night visit to the Twin Cities for a rematch with the Minnesota Vikings. The team is very much still in the NFC North race with every club sporting at least three losses to date. On Sunday night at Soldier Field, the Bears take on the defending division champion Vikings. So it’s about to get even more interesting in this division.

Back to Green Bay. So what exactly what has gone wrong for this team away from home? Two of those four road losses have been by double digits — at Washington (31-17) and at New England (31-17). The club gave up exactly 31 points in three of those setbacks and 29 in that heartbreaking loss to the Rams at Los Angeles. The Packers have turned over the football just 11 times in nine outings – six of those in those four defeats.

And make no mistake. From quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the offense to Mike Pettine’s defense and some shaky special teams. It’s been a real disaster. Then again, many would be hard-pressed to make a case that the Packers’ overall performance this season — regardless of where they have played — has been up to playoff standards.

This was a team that change both its offensive and defensive coordinator this offseason and did spend a little money in free agency with additions such as defensive and Muhammad Wilkerson (now out for the season) and tight end Jimmy Graham.

Still, Rodgers and company are very much in this divisional race and the postseason chase as well. If they can manage a win against the Seattle Seahawks team that is playing much better these days. The Green Bay Packers will be a well-rested club that heads to Minnesota in Week 12. But it has to start sometime soon. Maybe Thursday night?