There’s no need to go over Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ subpar 2015 season again. We’ve beaten that into the ground.
One thing that was unsettling about it was Rodgers’ lack of accuracy. QB1 seemingly went from the most accurate passer in the game — maybe in history — to just run-of-the-mill in that category in the space of a year. You saw it when you watched him play and the evidence is also right there in his career-low 60.7 completion percentage.
What was the issue?
Rodgers said it was footwork.
“The times when I am not perfect with my feet are the times when I am not going to be as accurate,” Rodgers said. “It’s trying to continue to strive for perfection with balance and rhythm and footwork. When I do that, I am at my best and I am very accurate and I can throw around 70 percent. When those things slide, when the rush affects me, when I don’t stand in some throws, occasionally there is going to be a lack of accuracy, and when you pair that with some drops and some missed assignments that we had last year. Then you’re going to have some of the poor plays that we had. I have always been a rep player and the more times I work on those fundamentals, the better I am going to be when the games roll around.”
It always pains us a little bit to hear Rodgers pass the buck as he did with the “some drops” and “some missed assignments” comments there.
You can look at that one of two ways. Like Greg Jennings and Donald Driver have in the past — that Rodgers doesn’t stand up for his guys or take pressure off them. Or, that he’s a perfectionist and expects everyone else to be as meticulous as he is.
Frankly, both are true.
Rodgers has established a high standard and as he’s matured, he’s been vocal about holding his teammates to that standard.
Regardless, if Rodgers is going to return to form in 2016, the accuracy needs to return as well.
We expect that it will.
More new stas just came out, saying in 2015 Rodgers had a record number of passes going for 5 yards or less, and also a record number of completions for a loss or no gain – 18 I think. If we were to take away those 18 completions, he’s down to 57.5%.
More bits of reality just came out.
Why would Rodgers need to throw a record number of passes going for 5 yards or less? Any clue my friend?
Rodgers cited one of the reasons being the rush. Defenses were teeing off on the Packers O-line last year. When opposing defenses have no concerns about your run game, when they know your receivers are slow and undermanned, what do you think the defenses are going to do? They are going after Rodgers…HARD. This isn’t that hard to grasp.
Rodgers isn’t making excuses, he’s telling you the cold reality of trying to pass against those circumstances. It’s not all that simple trying to find a receiver, set your feet, and throw accurately and under duress , a lot of times in under 1.5 seconds.
I’ll repeat what i posted back during last season. Rodgers can overcome a weak line, he can overcome a weak set of receivers, but he cant over come both at the same time. Even as good as Rodgers is, we can’t expect him to perform at a HOF level when the offense surrounding him is crumbling. But even as that all was happening, he still put up the kind of stats that a lot of other QB’s would consider a career year, but because it’s Rodgers, we have some Packer fans who say he sucked. As a matter of fact, you had some fans posting on here that Rodgers career was over, that he was finished.
PACKATTACK
01/03/2016 at 9:17 pm
“I’m sorry to say it —- but it’s the hard cold truth. Rodgers is finished. He just doesn’t have it anymore.”
ICEBOWL
01/03/2016 at 9:27 pm
“Man packAttack that’s an amazing tirade….
Sadly I can see truth in a lot of it…
Afraid #12 is done…”
Then there is the voice of reason…
“If you can’t run the ball, and you don’t have time to throw a decent pass because of pass rush, what kind of offense do you have? One like we did for most of the second half of the season.” – THE REAL RUSS LETLOW
Rodgers isn’t a flawless QB. But what QB would have done better?
I might be the only person in the world who actually like Aaron Rodgers approach to holding his teammates to high standards. Sorry, just because every other team does it, doesn’t make it the right thing to do. The fact remains that if his receivers aren’t doing their job, then they deserve blame for not doing their job. I can’t be the only one who’s sees that am I? And if I recall correctly, this approach has lead to one of the most effective and successful offenses in the league.
Thank you Chad. Driver disappointed me with that comment. (You expect it from Jennings…) Just do your job; don’t expect someone else to make excuses for you.
Exactly….And for a team not known for holding people accountable, if Rodgers feels the need to hold the receivers accountable, then so fucking be it, i think he’s earned it. Who else is going to do it, McCarthy? I don’t see it. I can remember Holmgren getting in receivers faces though.
A completion is a completion. You cannot take them away after they are made. If you do take them away to massage a stat, then I wonder how many passes each year Rodgers throws away, or throws to a less than ideal spot to avoid running a receiver into a hard hit. I have seen Rodgers throw a pass away from the receiver to Lessen or avoid a hit several times in games. Some of those passes are incompletions and some are out right throw always. So should those be counted as potential receptions? Hell no. Just like a negative pass should not be factored in as an incompletion. It all works out in the end.
Rodgers said it like it was. Last year everyone on offense had down years with many drops, fumbles, poor fundamentals, and missed assignments except maybe Lang and Tretter. Rodgers said such and the only player he called out by name was himself. There is nothing wrong with that. By the way the receivers should appreciate Rodgers for watching out for their health rather than his completion percentage stats.
“I have always been a rep player and the more times I work on those fundamentals, the better I am going to be when the games roll around.”
Yet he acts like getting reps and working on fundamentals in the preseason is a waste of time.