-- This isn't uncharted territory for the Green Bay Packers.

The mass hysteria surrounding their slow start to the 2018 regular season is fully understandable, especially given the uncontrollable -- and sometimes exaggerated -- emotions over an offseason under a new regime in the front office. Everyone expected more.

But as they sit, tied with the Cleveland Browns with a record of 1-1-1, reeling over what many would call an upset defeat at the hands of the Washington Redskins on Sunday, that hysteria is louder now than ever before.

It's not that the Packers have finally lost a game -- and it took a trip in the DeLorean back to 2012 for Adrian Peterson and Vernon Davis to establish their dominance over the Packers' defense for it to happen -- or that they tied a game the week prior when, in all likelihood, they should've won.

It's how they've barely survived in these games.

Staying alive.

It took 24 second-half points to defeat the Chicago Bears in the season opener after riding the one healthy leg of quarterback Aaron Rodgers through the obstacle of a 20-0 third quarter deficit.

It also took a plethora of missed penalties, all-around horrid officiating and the Packers essentially gift-wrapping the Vikings a handful of other opportunities to win the game just for them to leave Lambeau Field in a tie last Sunday. That doesn't even account for the three missed field goals from now-former Vikings kicker Daniel Carlson, who missed two in overtime.

At FedEx Field, the Packers beat themselves.

Randall Cobb, Rodgers' typically sure-handed and longtime receiving target, dropped two critical catches -- one on third down in the first quarter and the other on a 4th-and-2 -- and fumbled late in the game while the Packers were trying to claw their way into the 11-point gap between themselves and the Redskins.

Rodgers himself missed a few throws, which could certainly be expected from someone gutting through the presumed soreness of his left knee, which has kept him on a day-to-day basis in practice for the last two weeks.

On top of the miscues on offense, the defense flopped miserably in the first half, surrendering 214 passing yards to Redskins quarterback Alex Smith. The horrid safety play on a part of both Kentrell Brice and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, both of which are expected to be the last lines of defense for the Packers' secondary, only made matters worse.

Even despite Smith passing for just six yards in the second half and the Redskins going three-and-out on four consecutive offensive possessions, the Packers' offense couldn't capitalize at any point.

But we've seen this story before with a slow-starting Packers team.

Under coach Mike McCarthy, the Packers started three consecutive seasons with a record of 1-2 from 2012-2014.

That 2014 campaign, specifically, is worth highlighting.

Memory lane.

The Packers got dismantled in front of a national audience by the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, then fell into a 21-3 hole the following week to the Geno Smith-led New York Jets. It took heroics from Rodgers and a 28-3 run for the Packers not to fall to 0-2.

In week three, the Packers mustered up just 223 yards of total offense in a 19-7 loss to the Detroit Lions. From there on, the Packers would only lose two more games the rest of the season and eventually end up in the infamous NFC Championship Game against the Seahawks.

The conspicuous difference between then and now? Well, aside from the roster, the year and just about everything else. Rodgers wasn't playing on one knee in September 2014.

However, ever since returning in the second half against the Bears in week one, Rodgers has shown that the offense can certainly still fluctuate coherently for the most part and engineer success around keeping him secure. That just didn't show up in Washington.

As of right now, Rodgers is averaging 277.3 passing yards per game, which would rank as his third-highest season total average since becoming the Packers' starting quarterback in 2008. Even against the Redskins, he had shown signs of regaining some mobility, evidenced by rolling out of the pocket -- and even running for a first down -- and making throws on the run. 

It's going to take some time for Rodgers to regain full mobility, and this knee injury is likely something that's going to linger. For now, even despite flashes of their offensive capacity, the Packers have yet to show they can win while Rodgers is limited. The rest of the team has shown in several instances they can excel beyond expectations when they need to -- it's just a matter of putting that same product together for a full 60 minutes.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes.

The reality is, it's only week three. There are still 13 games left to be played; 13 games left for the Packers to figure out the identity of this team because as of right now, that's definitely a toss-up.

But this was to be expected. Throughout the offseason, and even after Sunday's loss, Rodgers emphasized that the offense is a work-in-progress. It's going to take time for this group to mesh and formulate consistent results.

For what it's worth, the Packers lost in the midst of what was a stunning Sunday across the league. The Buffalo Bills went into Minnesota and stomped on the Vikings, Matt Patricia's Detroit Lions annihilated the New England Patriots and made Tom Brady look his age and the Tennesee Titans beat the Jacksonville Jaguars by score that would only appear on MLB scoreboards.

The Packers are 1-1-1, but they could just as easily be 0-3. ... But, they could just as easily be 2-1. They're right in-between, which, given how these last three weeks have gone, isn't necessarily a bad place to be.