A negative record at this point in the NFL season – superstars Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers are not used to it at all. But after seven games, both the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Green Bay Packers have a streak of just three wins and four losses. In Florida and Wisconsin, the question therefore arises: What is going on there?

“Nobody’s feeling good about where we’re at right now,” said a visibly contrite Brady after Sunday’s almost shocking 3:21 draw against the Carolina Panthers — a team that had lost 12 of the 13 previous games that started with the third quarterback was, in which Christian McCaffrey had given up their best player days before and was looked after by an interim coach. Brady’s trainer Todd Bowles probably commented because of this: “We will now see how many people can deal with resistance, it can hardly get much darker than now.”

Things haven’t gone at all as hoped for Brady since stepping down from retirement. Just 40 days after retiring, he decided to return to the NFL for another year with the clear goal of winning the Super Bowl for the second time with the Bucs and the eighth time in his historic career. Nobody in the Florida team sees a title candidate at the moment. “Nobody feels good about how we played or what we do. We’re in this together and we have to pull ourselves out of it,” Brady said.

The fact that the play-offs are not yet in acute danger is solely due to the weakness of the competition in the NFC South, in which no team currently has a positive balance. The Bucs are therefore even in first place ahead of the Atlanta Falcos, who also have three wins and four losses.

The Green Bay Packers, on the other hand, are only second in the NFC North after the 21:23 against the Washington Commanders with three defeats in a row and will probably no longer intercept the Minnesota Vikings, who have had no chance in direct comparison for years. They’re on five wins and one loss – the Packers, on the other hand, have to look in the rear-view mirror and keep an eye on the Chicago Bears.

Rodgers’ future was also not clear after discord between him and those responsible in Green Bay in recent months. Nobody could have foreseen a situation like this, when further cooperation with the quarterback, who was voted the most valuable player of the season four times, was fixed. Many of his trusted pass recipients left before the season, including not only Davante Adams to the Las Vegas Raiders, but also German-American Equanimeous St. Brown to the Chicago Bears.

Rodgers sees the fact that the Packers are now dealing with the strong Buffalo Bills as an opportunity: “Maybe it’s good for us and what this team needs that nobody trusts us and we’re the outsiders.” It’s always unusual.