Aaron Rodgers is sacked on the 9 yard line by Arizona Cardinals inside linebacker Kenny Demens in the 3rd quarter. Credit: Rick Wood

By of the

Glendale, Ariz. — If things weren't bad enough for the Green Bay Packers offense — and they're really, really bad as it is — the offensive line has become part of the problem instead of the solution.

The passing game has been a mess all season, but the line has at least been an oasis during the rare times coach Mike McCarthy sticks with the running game and complements it with multiple screen passes.

Not any more.

Injuries have sucked the life out of the line and general manager Ted Thompson's backup choices were complete failures in a 38-8 turkey shoot won by the Arizona Cardinals Sunday at University of Phoenix Stadium.

As a result, quarterback Aaron Rodgers was sacked eight times and backup Scott Tolzien once on 37 pass attempts, meaning the Packers gave up a sack about once every four times they dropped back to pass. Unofficially, the Cardinals had 12 total quarterback knockdowns in the Packers' worst offensive performance since a 29-10 loss at Denver on Nov. 1.

It was the most times Rodgers has been sacked since the "Fail Mary" loss against Seattle in 2012, when he was also sacked eight times.

"I'm very concerned about the quarterback hits," McCarthy said. "That's not the way we play. We knew we were coming against an aggressive defense. You cannot let your quarterback get hit. I take that very personal.

"That's not a good job schematically, execution, anyway you want to shake it. We can't hold the ball either and all of the things that come with that. We've got to get open quicker, we've got to beat man-to-man and we've got to quit worrying about plays. We need to focus on execution."

And they need to get their offensive line healthy.

The day started with left tackle David Bakhtiari (ankle) on the game-day inactive list, meaning backup right tackle Don Barclay would have to start on the left side. The rest of the line was in place, including center Corey Linsley, who returned to the starting lineup after missing two games with an ankle injury.

But really, the line is ailing.

Right guard T.J. Lang has a shoulder injury that he said would have to be surgically repaired after the season. Guard Josh Sitton has a back injury that prevents him from practicing much during the week and is clearly affecting his play.

Right tackle Bryan Bulaga has been battling a knee injury much of the year and he was knocked out of the game after twisting his ankle. And Linsley aggravated his injury, although he was able to return to the game.

Things completely fell apart in the second half when McCarthy brought in Josh Walker to replace Bulaga and tried to protect Rodgers with a tackle tandem of Barclay and Walker. Barclay gave up multiple sacks and committed two blocking penalties and Walker gave up a pair of sacks and was eventually replaced by center JC Tretter.

"It's tough," Lang said. "We had a lot of different combinations out there today. You try not to think about it too much. You just have to go out there and trust the guy next to you and trust yourself. Today obviously was a bad performance for us."

On two of the sacks Rodgers suffered, he fumbled and the ball was returned for a touchdown. He fumbled on another sack but recovered the ball himself.

All told, the Packers gave up six sacks in the second half as the Cardinals poured it on, knowing the only way Green Bay could get back in the game was to throw the ball. In the first half, Rodgers held the ball too long a number of times and took unnecessary hits, but in the second half it was a drag race to the quarterback.

"That's No. 1, as long as we're giving Aaron time, he's going to make plays," tight end Andrew Quarless said. "The O-line is struggling a little bit injury-wise. It's tough. You have to grind through it and what we do."

McCarthy came into the game with a fairly diverse game plan against a Cardinals defense missing both of its starting safeties. He used a combination of Eddie Lacy and Randall Cobb in the backfield, but the offense could not generate enough first downs to keep drives going.

Cardinals defensive coordinator James Bettcher quickly moved to a single-high safety attack that allowed him to put an extra player in the box and make it difficult for the Packers to run the ball. It's what the Oakland Raiders did the week before after watching the Packers run for more than 200 yards against Dallas.

"You take away the run and you get them in a one-dimensional game," Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said. "Obviously, the score had something to do with that. That was the perfect storm, to get ahead and get them throwing the ball. It's going to be tough coming in here with our crowd and try to throw the football.

"And then when they lost their tackle — both of their tackles — then we should be sacking the quarterback."

Despite the eight-man fronts the Packers were facing, McCarthy never lined up with two tight ends or a full-house backfield and tried to ram it down the Cardinals' throats. He still has a belief that the Packers can be consistently successful passing the ball.

But they have shown absolutely no sign of being able to do that.

"We've been not great for a while now," Sitton said. "Kind of feels like the same old thing every week. Looking around the locker room you feel confidence in everybody in the locker room. We have a lot of talent here.

"It's just crazy how it's gone. It seems like somebody on every play messes up."

Getting Bakhtiari back would help matters against Minnesota, but it's not a panacea especially since Bulaga is now a question mark for next week. Lang's shoulder, Sitton's back and Linsley's ankle aren't going to get much better and the Packers do not have a playoff bye in the future to help them out.

Somehow McCarthy is going to have to find a way to best use his line and keep Rodgers upright.

"We have to hold ourselves to a high standard and play better," Rodgers said. "Everybody has to play better. I can't turn the ball over that many times. We have to protect better. We have to catch better. And we have to do better on third downs."

Bob McGinn of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.