Aaron Rodgers Appreciation

[Badgerinmaine]

I'm delighted with his play, and would gladly take a few extra sacks over a few extra picks.

[MichiganPackerFan]

I've been pretty pleased with his play so far. Could get rid of the ball faster some times. He's made the comebacks, only to have the defense give it right back. A bit better play from the O-Line and improved defense will win some games. Shouldn't be expected to put up 30+ per game in order to win...

[g4orce]

I've been pleased with most of his play, but at what point is he held somewhat responsible for missed opportunities (taking sacks, not audibling to the right plays, missing open WR's and throwing deep, ect...) I mean, I know we should've expected a drop in our offense when Favre left, but we really can and should be even better than what we are.

[mraynrand]

I think it's great that A-Rodg has been putting up the big numbers, but what has it gotten him in the W column? How many times has he had the ball in his hands and has had the opportunity to march down the field and lead our team to victory these past two season? Several! How many has he actually won? One, and that was against Chicago this year when the corner fell down and left Jennings wide open. I never get the vibe that when we get the ball with the game on the line that he is going to win the game for us. We used to have a QB like that.

There was a radio station in Milwaukee that spent 30 minutes debating whether or not A-Rodg was HOF bound...are you kidding me??? I think us pack fans are giving him WAY too much credit and little to no blame. Truly great players never need their fans to constantly deflect blame for them. We are now 10-13 since he took the reigns.

I just don't see the fire and will to win from him, hopefully someday we will.

yea because Aaron Rodgers allowed the Vikings to score 38 points. Aaron Rodgers is not the problem, its the play calling.

I would suggest you need to look at 3 first downs and 47 yards contributing to poor defensive field position in the first half. Some of that is on Rodgers. There were open receivers on several Rodgers miscues.

Its kinda hard to find those open recievers when your running for your life. MM play calling with horrible. We all know Aaron Rodger had a bad first half, well how about try running the ball instead? We are so predictable on offense it makes me sick.

At least on two occasions, Rodgers was running for his life because he didn't get the ball out when he should have - both were cases where Jones was clearly open. Those were on Rodgers. There may be more. I don't know because I don't have the coaches tape of the secondary. But I'll look with what I have.

But with all playcalling, I challenge you to prove it was horrible, other than the result. Was the proper play called for down and distance, for defensive alignment and for offensive and defensive substitution? Did the players properly execute the play (for at least two plays I know Rodgers screwed up). What do you know for sure? Let me know what your analysis shows. I'll be very interested.

I'm tired of seeing shotgun formations when its 3rd and 1.

A very big play in the game when its 2nd and 2 down by 5 inside the 30. Instead of switching it up and running the ball we decide to pass it once again and what happens? Allen goes up blocked and sacks AR to make it 3rd and 8. We don't pick up the first down next play and fail to hit a 51 yard FG after that.

We run the ball on 2nd and 2 there and most likely we pick up the first or its like 3rd and 1. Even if we don't make it on 3rd down atleast you have another chance at making it on 4th and short, but we never got that chance because MM always gets away from the running game and we always have to work with 3rd and long plays.

Yes AR does hold onto the ball alittle long but its MM job to run the damn ball and take some pressure off the guy. I can see us not running the ball when we are down by 21 but when its a one score game and we have plenty of time. We drafted Quinn Jonhnson for a reason, get his that big mofo back there to block for Ryan Grant a couple times. Instead MM has him out there on passing plays out of the backfield.

This seems like a pretty fair critique to me. Good observation on the 2nd and 2. On some of those 3rd and ones, Stubby goes for the (wait for it) FULLBACK DIVE!

It's weird how Stubby can get on a kick and run an entire series (at Cleveland) with the exception of one pass, and then turn around and have drives with all passes (like the drive down 31-26 v. Minnesota). I don't know what the reason is, but it seems like he completely forgets about balance. Holmgren was really good a going agaist tendancy - run on passing downs and the reverse. It seems like Stubby hardly does that at all. There's something bizarrely wrong there, but I can't put my finger on it. He seems like a clever competent coach, able to run all sorts of different plays out of similar formations, and it often works to confuse defenses. But it seems like he gets all stubborn and at times BY GOD he's going to RUN THE BALL, and then later forgets about it completely. I don't get it.

[th87]

I have a bit of a worry:

Will all these hits he's taken negatively affect his confidence? If he keeps getting beaten up, will it rattle him to the point that his pocket presence suffers?

We need desperately for his pocket sense to improve for him to reach elite level status. If he's constantly checking to see whether the o-line is doing its job, I'm afraid that it could take away from his development as a QB.

I think some of that happened in the first half of the game. With him constantly looking to see whether he was in trouble, he kept getting thrown off of his rhythm, and had to look to throw out of sync. And since he's careful, he doesn't want to take needless risks, and so he'd decided not to throw out of sync.

In the second half, he stopped worrying as much, and went off of instinct. It worked well until the last drive, when we saw that lack of trust in the o-line and his instincts again.

I think if the o-line gets better, Rodgers can stick to his careful approach, and we'll be just fine. But if they don't, Rodgers will need to let loose and trust his instincts some more.

It's kind of like when Obi Wan was teaching Luke about trusting the Force. I think in time Rodgers will attain a better grasp of the game, and will rise to elite status. Right now, he can't be afraid to "experiment" with that a little.

[bobblehead]

I have a bit of a worry:

Will all these hits he's taken negatively affect his confidence? If he keeps getting beaten up, will it rattle him to the point that his pocket presence suffers?

We need desperately for his pocket sense to improve for him to reach elite level status. If he's constantly checking to see whether the o-line is doing its job, I'm afraid that it could take away from his development as a QB.

I think some of that happened in the first half of the game. With him constantly looking to see whether he was in trouble, he kept getting thrown off of his rhythm, and had to look to throw out of sync. And since he's careful, he doesn't want to take needless risks, and so he'd decided not to throw out of sync.

In the second half, he stopped worrying as much, and went off of instinct. It worked well until the last drive, when we saw that lack of trust in the o-line and his instincts again.

I think if the o-line gets better, Rodgers can stick to his careful approach, and we'll be just fine. But if they don't, Rodgers will need to let loose and trust his instincts some more.

It's kind of like when Obi Wan was teaching Luke about trusting the Force. I think in time Rodgers will attain a better grasp of the game, and will rise to elite status. Right now, he can't be afraid to "experiment" with that a little.

I think everything you mention will play a partial role in him improving, not one of these things is an instant fix.

The point about his confidence getting rattled....he's more likely to become addicted to vicodin like another young QB who's line wasn't great, and his inexperience made him hold the ball too long at times. That guy came around pretty well in time, and hopefully this guy will too.

[Fritz]

Brandon, here's what you wrote a few posts ago:

"I'm tired of seeing shotgun formations when its 3rd and 1.

A very big play in the game when its 2nd and 2 down by 5 inside the 30. Instead of switching it up and running the ball we decide to pass it once again and what happens? Allen goes up blocked and sacks AR to make it 3rd and 8. We don't pick up the first down next play and fail to hit a 51 yard FG after that.

We run the ball on 2nd and 2 there and most likely we pick up the first or its like 3rd and 1. Even if we don't make it on 3rd down atleast you have another chance at making it on 4th and short, but we never got that chance because MM always gets away from the running game and we always have to work with 3rd and long plays.

Yes AR does hold onto the ball alittle long but its MM job to run the damn ball and take some pressure off the guy. I can see us not running the ball when we are down by 21 but when its a one score game and we have plenty of time. We drafted Quinn Jonhnson for a reason, get his that big mofo back there to block for Ryan Grant a couple times. Instead MM has him out there on passing plays out of the backfield."

I don't often agree with you, but I do in this case. I'm so tired of MM not even having a running back in the backfield on short down and distance situations. I've also been giving that same example - 2nd and 3, end of game, need a t.d. to go ahead. Run the ball! Cripes, if you gain a yard on it, you end up with 3rd and 2. Then you have options and the defense is guessing.

I don't think MM's playcalling has put this team in a position to be successful very much this year.