Packers hanging on as Rodgers heals

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

Barely, but the Green Bay Packers somehow survived without Aaron Rodgers.

They just need to do it for one more week.

With Rodgers on the verge of returning from a broken collarbone after missing seven games, the Packers (6-6) have stayed in the hunt for a spot in the NFC playoffs without their starting quarterback and can’t avoid a letdown today against the Browns, who may be winless but are also dangerous.

“We need to win the game,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said this week, wrestling the spotlight back from Rodgers’ impending return after he practiced in pads this week. “We’re 6-6. We need to be seven wins when we get on that plane coming back from Cleveland.

“Nothing else matters.”

Green Bay’s season — and any Super Bowl talk — appeared doomed when Rodgers was taken down in an Oct. 15 loss to Minnesota, breaking his collarbone so severely that 13 screws were needed to repair it.

But despite scuffling to two wins in six games without their leader, the Packers can not only salvage 2017 but make it special.

First, though, they have to handle business with the Browns (0-12), who have four games left to get a win and avoid infamy by joining the 2008 Detroit Lions as the only teams to go 0-16.

Cleveland’s record can be deceiving. While they haven’t won, the Browns have been competitive and it may be just a matter of time before they avoid the big mistake, string four quarters together, and shock someone.

The Packers are wary. If nothing else, Rodgers’ injury has taught them not to take anything for granted.

“Anytime you lose your best player and a guy who pretty much makes the team run, it is obviously a difficult situation to be in, one that requires you going through a lot of adversity and games that are a lot closer,” linebacker Clay Matthews said. “You really have to persevere and grind these out. We are not overlooking the Browns. I think it would be foolish to look at their record and think that we are going to win because this is a young team that is competing and has some playmakers.

“I think it will be a competitive game. Hopefully, we come out on top. In the meantime, he can get healthier, and perhaps the following week, he is back for the final three-game stretch and we have a very real chance of making these playoffs and getting hot.”