GIL BRANDT---THE BIGGEST WINDOWS OF OPPORTUNITY FOR SUPER BOWLS

[mraynrand]

No, that is not at all what I have been saying.

I do firmly believe that in 2015, he did not play up to the standard we have come to expect. Not even close. I think that was a lot of the cause for the steep slide of the offensive performance.

A 'lot?' What percentage is 'a lot?' Just curious what % you would attribute to:

Rodgers
-injuries
-other
WR injuries
Fat Lacy
Offensive restructuring
Other

[Upnorth]

What I like was our secondary. It looks solid and a strength on the team. Second was the pass rush, not dominant but consistent, like a wist nightmare ol spray paint hairs defense worked decent.
As to our offense, I would like to get a good te in the draft. I think a solid te could take away many of the problems that were uncovered with Nelsons injury.

[Patler]

A 'lot?' What percentage is 'a lot?' Just curious what % you would attribute to:

Rodgers
-injuries
-other
WR injuries
Fat Lacy
Offensive restructuring
Other

"a lot" is more than "a little". It is probably "quite a bit" more than "a little". Beyond that, I can't quantify it.

I have a few games recorded going back to the Super Bowl. I've watched bits and pieces of a few recently. Time and time again Rodgers threw into very tight coverage, but put the ball where the WR could get it, but not the DB. The receivers were no more open than what we often saw this year, but this year Rodgers wouldn't throw. Couple that with his uncharacteristic inaccuracy on all types of throws, and I think Rodgers performance was the most important factor in the downturn.

All the other things you mentioned were factors, but if Rodgers had been Rodgers they at least wouldn't have looked as incompetent as they did on offense.

[RashanGary]

All the other things you mentioned were factors, but if Rodgers had been Rodgers they at least wouldn't have looked as incompetent as they did on offense.

I agree!

[pbmax]

Trust in the receiver. There was no shortage of throws to tightly covered James Jones.

[woodbuck27]

"a lot" is more than "a little". It is probably "quite a bit" more than "a little". Beyond that, I can't quantify it.

I have a few games recorded going back to the Super Bowl. I've watched bits and pieces of a few recently. Time and time again Rodgers threw into very tight coverage, but put the ball where the WR could get it, but not the DB. The receivers were no more open than what we often saw this year, but this year Rodgers wouldn't throw. Couple that with his uncharacteristic inaccuracy on all types of throws, and I think Rodgers performance was the most important factor in the downturn.

All the other things you mentioned were factors, but if Rodgers had been Rodgers they at least wouldn't have looked as incompetent as they did on offense.

Yes. Aaron Rodgers wasn't at all what I expected this past year.

I'm hoping that 2015 was that bad year that a star QB wil have and he'll be open for any help and turn it up in this upcoming season.

He's got to stop moping. He's got to look really more 'the Leader' on the field. That's why he gets paid so handsomely. If he doesn't smarten up he'll lose his OL and maximum support and effort.

I'm very concerned for the Packers future with Aaron Rodgers given all that cash TT awarded him with. He has to realize a lot more is expected of him. An awesome 'Hail Mary pass' here and there isn't going to cut it when it comes to the knowledgeable fans in Packer Nation.

I'm certainly a Packer fan that needs to see a much improved Aaron Rodgers in all aspects of what it takes to even look like a NFL Pro Football HOFer.

I need to see better from ARod in terms of LEADERSHIP.

He's got to realize that he has WR's NOT named Nelson and Cobb.

GO PACK GO !

[Patler]

Trust in the receiver. There was no shortage of throws to tightly covered James Jones.

From what I saw, compared to how he approached throws in other years, he did hesitate also on throws to Jones, and also Cobb. Perhaps more importantly, sometimes when he did throw, he missed badly, much more often than in previous seasons.

I think there was another factor at play that people don't want to mention. I think AR lost a bit of trust in himself. Trust to make the tight coverage throw. As much as he hates interceptions, any erosion of his confidence for putting the ball where he wanted it would cause him to hesitate, hold the ball and run, take a sack or throw it away; all of which we saw too often in 2015.

I think it all goes back to his less than stellar training camp when he was being intercepted almost daily, and by rookies.

Maybe it was still the calf, maybe it was the knee, maybe it was the harbinger of the latter part of his career. Only time will tell.

[Carolina_Packer]

Yes. Aaron Rodgers wasn't at all what I expected this past year.

I'm hoping that 2015 was that bad year that a star QB wil have and he'll be open for any help and turn it up in this upcoming season.

He certainly has spoiled our fan base. Aaron has a "bad" year and the team goes 10-6. Other QB's have a bad year and possibly the coach and GM get fired, and the team changes QB's. If he rights the ship next year, we'll know it was an aberration, which I think it is.

[woodbuck27]

He certainly has spoiled our fan base. Aaron has a "bad" year and the team goes 10-6. Other QB's have a bad year and possibly the coach and GM get fired, and the team changes QB's. If he rights the ship next year, we'll know it was an aberration, which I think it is.

The sarcasm is noted.

I'm otherwise in agreement and the rest of your post.

PACKERS and Super Bowl or BUSTED !

[pbmax]

He definitely was more inaccurate this year. There were reports of INTs during camp, but it really came to a head in Game 6. And he did come to not trust himself which is why a lot of those bad INTs were double clutched.

But he was not interested in making tight window throws much of the time and I think that comes down to trust. Often a tight window throw is a result of a timing route. If the QB had to spot the small window, they would a) not see it in time and b) not choose to throw it there.

Cobb doesn't get many throws on timing routes. He shakes and bakes to get open. He is a reaction receiver. Abby got similar action, but by reading the coverage right and getting to the right spot with a good route. Also had some slants which probably doesn't bode well for his long term health.

Oddly, once it was clear Adams was having a lost season, the next most common WR to get contested throws was Janis. Some were hail mary types, but he got several over the middle he had to fight for position to get. Including a few nice slants. Rodgers was the other getting contested throws, but not in tight windows, just against tight coverage.

I just hope Janis is not on the 5 year James Starks plan to improve as a receiver.

[Fritz]

From what I saw, compared to how he approached throws in other years, he did hesitate also on throws to Jones, and also Cobb. Perhaps more importantly, sometimes when he did throw, he missed badly, much more often than in previous seasons.

I think there was another factor at play that people don't want to mention. I think AR lost a bit of trust in himself. Trust to make the tight coverage throw. As much as he hates interceptions, any erosion of his confidence for putting the ball where he wanted it would cause him to hesitate, hold the ball and run, take a sack or throw it away; all of which we saw too often in 2015.

I think it all goes back to his less than stellar training camp when he was being intercepted almost daily, and by rookies.

Maybe it was still the calf, maybe it was the knee, maybe it was the harbinger of the latter part of his career. Only time will tell.

Since we found out he's had a procedure done on his left knee, it seems logical to conclude, as a friend of mine has, that maybe AR was off on a lot of throws because he didn't want to lean into a throw - he threw an awful lot off his back foot.

[yetisnowman]

Yes, that pot was 250,000 Units. The payout was $95,000 at the end of the tournament when I busted out in 5th.

See now you are just outright lying. I already explained to you I know about poker. Your story already sounded flimsy, but now I know for sure. You didn't finish 5th in the 2006 main event.

[ThunderDan]

See now you are just outright lying. I already explained to you I know about poker. Your story already sounded flimsy, but now I know for sure. You didn't finish 5th in the 2006 main event.

When did I say I finished 5th in the Main Event? I said I have made a final table at the WSOP. It was a $1,500 buy-in event in 2007.

I got air time in 2006 because I was at a table with Eric Seidel, Dan Pickle and Alan Colon during the Main Event. We had 3 ESPN cameras and 2 sound mikes. We were a corner table right in the middle of the room.

I cashed again in the Colossus WSOP Event this summer.

[Patler]

Since we found out he's had a procedure done on his left knee, it seems logical to conclude, as a friend of mine has, that maybe AR was off on a lot of throws because he didn't want to lean into a throw - he threw an awful lot off his back foot.

I can buy that, for the off season anyway.

[Patler]

He certainly has spoiled our fan base. Aaron has a "bad" year and the team goes 10-6. Other QB's have a bad year and possibly the coach and GM get fired, and the team changes QB's. If he rights the ship next year, we'll know it was an aberration, which I think it is.

Not only spoiled the fans, the staff, too, in a way. But that happens with all of the top QB driven teams. If the QB is stuck in neutral, the team will flounder a bit.

[Patler]

He definitely was more inaccurate this year. There were reports of INTs during camp, but it really came to a head in Game 6. And he did come to not trust himself which is why a lot of those bad INTs were double clutched.

But he was not interested in making tight window throws much of the time and I think that comes down to trust. Often a tight window throw is a result of a timing route. If the QB had to spot the small window, they would a) not see it in time and b) not choose to throw it there.

Cobb doesn't get many throws on timing routes. He shakes and bakes to get open. He is a reaction receiver. Abby got similar action, but by reading the coverage right and getting to the right spot with a good route. Also had some slants which probably doesn't bode well for his long term health.

Oddly, once it was clear Adams was having a lost season, the next most common WR to get contested throws was Janis. Some were hail mary types, but he got several over the middle he had to fight for position to get. Including a few nice slants. Rodgers was the other getting contested throws, but not in tight windows, just against tight coverage.

I just hope Janis is not on the 5 year James Starks plan to improve as a receiver.

One big difference this year was AR's unwillingness to throw into smallish opportunities after he had bolted from the pocket. In years past, he uncorked some unbelievable throws on the run, putting the ball in perfect places. This year he didn't commit on those. Time and time again the announcers would say no one was open as they showed a wide angle view; and many times I could pick out a player that AR would have hit with a laser shot in years past.

AR couldn't hit Janis on a long throws worth a darn this year. He over threw him a few times, but mostly underthrew him, some that ended up being long completions he stopped or came back for, and a couple ended up in PI calls. I am so accustomed to seeing Rodgers hit those that it was frustrating at times when Janis did get behind DBs but Rodgers couldn't get the ball to him. But AR threw those differently this year, putting much more air under them. Remember the one early in the year, about which Janis said he never picked up the ball because it was so high?

Far moe times this year than normal, Rodgers didn't see guys who were open. Remember the throw of the MS Surface? There was more than just a few of those.

[yetisnowman]

We have been to the NFC Championship Game 3 times in ten years. We won 1 and lost 2 in OT. Over that save time frame 2 other teams have made 3 NFC Championship games. That would be Seattle Seahawks and SF 49ers.

PS- I have won a $250,000+ pot in the WSOP Main Event checking on every street. You might have even seen me on EPSN during the 2006 Main Event coverage.

You said you won the pot in the main event. Then in another post you said you cashed in that tourney for 95,000. Sorry it was confusing.

[pbmax]

He made a read of Peanut Tillman on that play that turned out to be erroneous. Instead of Peanut jumping the hot receiver, the Packers got exactly what they wanted out of the route. He misread the D, that has happened before, though not as often as this year.

But having no time to reset and find someone else on that play was also something else that happened more often this year.

When he came off his first read and had time, he often did not find anything to his liking. That also happened more often this year.

When he found someone on a reset or on the move, his throw was more often inaccurate this year that previously.

The five percent increase in each event cascades, halts drives, depresses scoring and taxes the defense. But no one particular event is catastrophic. In years past, a 40 yard completion to Nelson reduces the number of plays needed.

[Fritz]

No, that is not at all what I have been saying.

I do firmly believe that in 2015, he did not play up to the standard we have come to expect. Not even close. I think that was a lot of the cause for the steep slide of the offensive performance. However, I do not know if that will continue into 2016 or not.

IF it does, the Packers will have to become a different team than they have been so far under Rodgers

IF he returns to form, or close to it, the offense will recover just fine.

However, there is no way to really know until we see him next year. He is at an age where his skills MIGHT begin to decline. Not all QBs can play effectively until 38-40. For some, it ends in their mid-30s.

The troubling thing to me is that there was talk during training camp that Rodgers was "off". Maybe his off season prep was different, and less effective. Maybe the calf was still an issue in his off season prep. Maybe the knee he had scoped was bothering from the start. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

There certainly is no guarantee. I think it was Boomer Esiason who said the off season does funny things to a player as they get older. Things were fine at the end of the season. They come back in August, and all of a sudden some things just aren't there. Maybe Rodgers had that this year, and he refused to acknowledge it, so did not adapt. Maybe even if "something" is gone, he can adapt this next season to compensate.

However, just as it has been for the last 25 years for the Packers, success next year will depend on the play of the QB. If Rodgers is no better or effective that he was this year, GB will not be a legitimate contender.

So yea, I think a lot hinges on Rodgers next year. But, at this point, I have no ide where it will go, up or down.

I said that exact thing to my wife the other day.

[ThunderDan]

You said you won the pot in the main event. Then in another post you said you cashed in that tourney for 95,000. Sorry it was confusing.

I have played in the Main Event 4 times. I have played in 9 other WSOP events. I play at the WSOP Circuit Event in Hammond, IN annually. Hadn't gone out to the WSOP for about 5 years since last summer because of the ban on online poker and not being able to get my nut together. Use to play at PokerStars and FullTilt a lot.