Monday, the national sports media grieved as their prematurely anointed champions, the Green Bay Packers, actually lost a game. Seriously, the amount of hype that this team was/is getting was second to none. Apparently, performing well in the preseason elicits responses like “It’s just preseason!” or “The game didn’t even matter!” when the subject is any team other than the Packers and responses like “They’re in midseason form!” when the team is the Packers.

I get it, they put up 50-something points against the Indianapolis Colts in one of the many pointless preseason games. But please, can we stop riding the Packers bandwagon after every good exhibition game? The Packers are really good when teams don’t scheme for them, but as last season and the first three games of this season have shown, they do struggle in the regular season.

As always, we learn and grow from the victories and losses that occur on Monday Night Football, and seeing as how Tony is pointing out what we can all take away from the Bears win, I’m focusing on what we can take away from the losers. Below are the three main fantasy concerns I see when it comes to the Packers.

1. It’s all Aaron Rodgers, All the Time

So far this season, I would say that Rodgers has not been worth the first round pick that was probably used to grab him as the first QB overall, but he’s not exactly letting his owners down either. Three games into the season, Rodgers has steadily upped his yardage (188 to 255 to 316) each game while throwing 5 TDs and rushing for 2 more. If you take out those 2 rushing TDs however, then Rodgers’ numbers take a significant drop. He becomes little more than a decent fantasy QB.

It’s still early but it seems like the ridiculously high expectations for Rodgers and this offense are not going to be fulfilled. I heard projections of them challenging the scoring record set by the Patriots a few years back or of Rodgers threatening Brady’s TD record. It’s not going to happen. Rodgers is going to have to throw a lot for this offense to succeed (more on that in a little bit) so I do expect him to put up over 4,000 yards for the third straight year, but I’m also looking at around 28 or so TDs.

2. No Running Back is Worth Owning

I’ve seen enough; Brandon Jackson should not be starting for your team. The Packers RB clearly just lacks the talent and downhill running style that made Ryan Grant such a good fit for this offense. In the latter’s absence, the former has managed to rush for only 104 yards with a paltry average of 2.9 yards per carry and only 1 TD.

Sometimes in fantasy football, we just assume that when an injury occurs, the guy right behind the injured player will just step up and put up the numbers that the injured player normally would (mouthful). Clearly this is not going to happen in Green Bay. Honestly, I think that Grant’s injury could end up derailing the Packers’ season.

Some may say that Grant wasn’t that great of a back (which he wasn’t, but he fit what the Packers wanted to do) or that the Packers don’t need to run the ball since they have Rodgers behind center, but c’mon. Rodgers is not Tom Brady or Peyton Manning, the two QBs who win the most without much of a threat of a running game. Of course, the Patriots only actually won Super Bowls when they were a balanced offense and the same could be said about Manning (remember the Colts running the ball down the Bears throats?).

Honestly the RB on the Packers you want to start isn’t even currently a member of the team. I only advise making this move if your team or bench is reaaaaallllly weak, but recent reports have the Buffalo Bills finally coming around and being open to trade talks for their embattled former No. 1 pick, Marshawn Lynch. Now, the Packers and their GM aren’t exactly known for grabbing players in trades or through free agency, but they have to realize that they can’t go through an entire season with this bad of a running game. Lynch could be worth a waiver wire grab if only to see if any trade will occur. It’s not really that risky of a claim if you have the room and if Lynch does end up being traded to the Packers, then you’ll look like a genius (but me more so because I just advised you to do it).

3. The passing offense runs through Jermichael Finley

I don’t want any of the other Green Bay receivers. Rodgers distributes the ball well to all his targets, but the only guy who gets consistent numbers is Finley. Finley owns the statistical advantage on his Green Bay teammates by large margins, currently sitting at 17 receptions for 265 yards. He has yet to score a TD, however (his first was called back due to penalty Monday night). Only Donald Driver has more catches than Finley, and he only has one more. Furthermore, Finley averages a team-leading 15.6 yards-per-reception. The second closest figure is a full two yards below  his averages. So yeah, Aaron Rodgers loves him some Jermichael Finley.

However, I would consider trading him while his value is high, and my reasoning returns once again to the lack of a running game. Follow along with me for a second: teams eventually are going to realize that the Packers present no threat to run the ball (outside of Rodgers scrambling). Teams will probably start devoting more defensive calls to stopping the pass, i.e. playing more nickel and dime defenses. Donald Driver doesn’t really possess the breakaway speed or open field abilities that he did in his prime and Greg Jennings just seems to disappear for stretches at a time. So what’s stopping teams from putting their best defensive back on Finley and using the numbers advantage (created because the Packers can’t run) to cover the other WRs?

We’ll soon see if Finley is good enough to beat the extra attention that is sure to be devoted to him now. There are so many other good TEs in football though, so if someone in your league overvalues Finley, then you should see what you could get in return for him.