Power Rankings: Packers in a free fall

The Green Bay Packers continue their freefall down the USA Today NFL Power Rankings after their loss to the New Orleans Saints this past Sunday.

The Packers find themselves No. 24 after their 26-17 loss and with a bye week coming up this weekend, you can expect them to remain hovering around the cellar for at least another week.

Here’s what USA Today had to say about the Packers:

Maybe instead of barking at reporters, Mike McCarthy, you could now acknowledge Colin Kaepernick would have likely produced more than Brett Hundley.

Elsewhere, Elliot Harrison drops the Packers eight spots to No. 23 in his latest power rankings for NFL Media:

From Harrison:

The Brett Hundley era, for however long it will last, started and then stalled (often) on Sunday. The defense kept the Packers in their game against the Saints throughout (with two early picks of Drew Brees), but Hundley simply could not get the Green Bay machine moving. Rookie running back Aaron Jones did his part, piling up 131 yards on 17 carries. Twitter was raving about the explosion on Jones' first run from scrimmage. Hundley showed burst of his own on that long touchdown scamper. But a severely reined-in game plan, combined with an underwhelming line (12 of 25 for 87 yards) from Hundley, doomed the Pack.

Side note: Agree with colleague Chris Wesseling -- Blake Martinez has become a nice player at ILB for Mike McCarthy.

NESN has the Packers coming in at No. 22, dropping four spots from No. 18:

They also have some faint praise for Brett Hundley:

Brett Hundley didn’t look awful, so that’s something positive for the Packers.

Chris Simms drops the Packers seven spots to No. 24

From Simms:

The Green Bay Packers put forth a valiant effort against the New Orleans Saints, considering Brett Hundley was making his first start at quarterback.

It was encouraging to see the offense get the run game going, but the Packers are going to have to continue to do that if they want to win any games. Running the ball with Hundley more to add some creativity to the offense might not be a bad idea.

As I've mentioned in the past, the Green Bay pass offense isn't great. It isn't a complex system that will create openings down the field. There isn't a guy opposing defenses are worried about doubling. It's always been about Aaron Rodgers making chicken salad out of chicken crap.

Hundley has some physical skills, but he's raw and lacks experience. The Packers defense is solid, but it isn't good enough to overcome the stale offense we're going to see over the next few weeks until Hundley gets comfortable and gets the passing attack going.

Rodgers might not be out for the season, but if the Packers cannot figure out a new formula for winning without him, that isn't going to matter. Hopefully, the team's Week 8 bye will give the Packers a chance to start figuring things out.

ESPN drops the Green and Gold to No. 22:

From their website:

13.2 percent. Entering Week 6, the Packers were nearly a 65 percent favorite to win the NFC North, according to FPI. Just two weeks later those chances have dipped to 13.2 percent. That's how big of an impact Aaron Rodgers' injury has made.