Expect a much different, more focused Aaron Rodgers during final five game stretch
Aaron Rodgers has been getting a lot of negative attention lately regarding his play on the field and rightfully so…His stats say that he’s been having a great year: 3,271 yards, 20 touchdowns, 1 interception, and a passer rating of 101.7. Dive deeper though, and you’ll find that this season has been anything but great for him and the team as a whole. He’s been missing easy throws and also has been throwing the ball away at an alarming rate (46 pass attempts; leads NFL). He was asked on Wednesday about his mechanics being criticized, to which he responded: “You know, I don’t really put a lot of weight into a pundit on ESPN talking about my fundamentals.” “I listen to my quarterback coach & my offensive coordinator, my head coach; I study myself; I’m very critical of my own film.” “I’m not playing any different fundamental wise.” That makes it seem like Rodgers is trying to block out any and all negative noise in regards to the media about him.
He was also asked about Green Bay’s slow start & what he believes may be the biggest misperception regarding this team. “No, I mean, I think this is kind of normal; you know, when you’ve had sustained success for a long time & you know, we’ve seen this over the years.” “We saw it in 2009 when we were 4-4, we saw it [20]12 when we started slow, in [20]16 when we were 4-6 & this is the new cycle.” “We haven’t been playing as well as we have in the past & these are the types of stories that are going to come out.” Again, Rodgers is acknowledging that if you play bad (and Green Bay definitely has been), then you’re going to get criticized. He’s obviously very upset with the state of the team & at 4-6-1 through 11 games, he should be.
If Rodgers knows how bad this team is playing, he will definitely adjust accordingly and has also said that he will “let it all hang out” during this final stretch. He knows he must take more risks in order to drive the team to win. What does he have to lose at this point? Randall Cobb was also asked about finally coming back from his hamstring injury and was quoted as saying: “I’m excited to get back out there because I know with all the noise that’s been said over the past week about him, he’s getting ready to light everybody up, it’s gonna be a lot of fun & I look forward to helping him out.”
The elephant in the room has been addressed, Green Bay once again finds its back against the wall sitting at 4-6-1 with 5 games left. 2016 saw them run the table with one of the greatest 8-game postseason runs I’ve ever seen, can Rodgers and company do it again? I sure hope so. They’ll need some help along the way to secure a wildcard playoff spot though. They’ll first need to win their final five games, then have Philadelphia lose 1 of its final five, Seattle lose 2, Carolina lose 2, Washington lose 2, and Minnesota lose 3. That’s what makes it tough for Green Bay to get in, even if they win out.
We all know anything can and does happen in the NFL though & Green Bay made the playoffs in each season they started slow under Aaron Rodgers (2009, 2012, and 2016). The moral of the story here is that even when things are looking bleak, never count Green Bay out with Aaron Rodgers as your quarterback. As long as he’s under center, Green Bay always has a chance. Expect him to look a lot more like his old self come Sunday afternoon.
#ParkerMoes @ParkerMoes #DHPF @DieHardPackrFan
