ARod underrated

[Scott Campbell]

ARod is not nearly as accurate as he was last year, and I'm basing that on my eyes, not on his completion percentage.

I'm seeing that too. And I'm seeing way more miscommunication with his receivers.

[pbmax]

I think Drivers sub-par year mixed with Finleys injury has messed with the entire seasons identity of a middle passing attack opening up the outsides. The lack of a run threat also does this.

I think its more than just one WR. At the beginning of the season, it looked like Driver would hit his numbers but Jennings was lost. Now that DD is injured, its Jennings that looks like a world beater. The whole WR passing game looks like they just met during game week.

I do think Finley being gone has cost them their normally reliable third down conversions.

[pbmax]

I've already got most of the formations figured out and I have only watched the games live this year.

Post them. I have not noticed that (except for the obvious empty backfield and Kuhn at TB in short yardage).

[mmmdk]

ARod is not nearly as accurate as he was last year, and I'm basing that on my eyes, not on his completion percentage.

I'm seeing that too. And I'm seeing way more miscommunication with his receivers.

I think the fact that AR has befriending Cutler actually dumbed him down...

[HarveyWallbangers]

Anybody else notice that QB ratings are really down league-wide--except for a few exceptions? The only two QBs in the NFC with a QB rating over 90 is Tony Romo and Drew Brees (whose 92 QB rating is well below last year).

[superfan]

Funny, I was thinking earlier this week that ARod is actually overrated this season, in terms of on field production compared to preseason expectations. But maybe my/our expectations were too high. Still, nice to see the vote of confidence from the rest of the league.

I've already got most of the formations figured out and I have only watched the games live this year.

Post them. I have not noticed that (except for the obvious empty backfield and Kuhn at TB in short yardage).

Absolutely not. Chilly trolls this site for coaching advice, we shouldn't tip our hand.

[mmmdk]

Anybody else notice that QB ratings are really down league-wide--except for a few exceptions? The only two QBs in the NFC with a QB rating over 90 is Tony Romo and Drew Brees (whose 92 QB rating is well below last year).

Spot on!

I think the whole level of football is way down this season. When was it this bad?

I mean, the 2010 AFC powerhouse Jets, gets beaten 9-0 at NY by an injury plagued Packers team. If you're not a Packer fan then this game sucks big time.

But I am a Packer fan & wins are beautiful in all shapes and forms - just like women after enough beer. Heck, I'd text...

[Joemailman]

Anybody else notice that QB ratings are really down league-wide--except for a few exceptions? The only two QBs in the NFC with a QB rating over 90 is Tony Romo and Drew Brees (whose 92 QB rating is well below last year).

Some of it is that 2009 was an anomaly. Five QB's with a passer rating of over 100. Unheard of. Another thing is that Favre, Brees, Rodgers and Rivers have all lost key weapons to injury or other reasons.

[denverYooper]

Some love from Vandermause(!)

(!)

http://packersnews.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20101103/PKR07/101103199/Mike-Vandermause-column-Rodgers-has-ethic-attitude-to-right-offense

Remember, too, the knock on Rodgers for not being a winner. Halfway through last season, his record as a starting quarterback was 10-14, and there were whispers that while he posted nice-looking statistics, it didn’t lead to enough victories. Rodgers answered those skeptics as well. His 12-4 regular-season record since the middle of last season is the best among NFL starting quarterbacks.

[packerbacker1234]

Driver was having far from a subpar year prior to this quad injury flaring up. When he and Finely were both healthy, people tend to forget that Driver and Finley were neck and neck for the lead in team receptions, and both made a share of of b ig down field plays. Driver honestly just needs rest. I love that he is a warrior and toughs through it, nit rest is going to allow that quad to recover fully, and then he can come on like a possessed man the rest of the year. It's not like JJ or Nelson have really done anything to take his spot away. Driver was even out performing Jennings whe n he was healthy.

The issue with AR is what many have pointed out... and then some I think. His accuracy is definitely down, but I think it's his head that is in the wrong place.

He isn't looking safties off nearly as much, and he seems to really be eyeing in on his one guy. It's odd, he was hit a lot more last season and never seemed to be jittery, yet this year, getting hit far less, and having time... he is making poor throws and improper reads.

It's weird. It's like he went from being "elite" to being a "good rookie". Not really sure what to think of him.

I wont blame finely either. AR didn't look good when Finely was here, and AR still looked great last year when Finely was gone.

So....


No idea. AR just looks lost out there.

[vince]

I think Drivers sub-par year mixed with Finleys injury has messed with the entire seasons identity of a middle passing attack opening up the outsides. The lack of a run threat also does this.

Yup. Rodgers has said that Finley's absence has allowed teams to play almost all cover 2 with only 7 in the box, which is tough to beat outside.

They run on obvious running downs and pass on obvious passing downs. I've already got most of the formations figured out and I have only watched the games live this year.

For better or worse, and it's almost always been for better, McCarthy's offense has never been about tricking the defense by running in passing formations and vice-versa.

McCarthy uses probably more more different personnel packages and formations than any team in the league to force scheme and personnel mismatches rather than trickery. Defenses (hopefully) have to match up and/or show what they are doing and the Packers then attack the weaknesses, which the defense knows about too.

I think the fact that defenses often have a good general idea what they're going to get based on personnel and formation is why the offensive line is stressed more than most in both the run and passing game. The o-line has that disadvantage from the start, which makes their job that much tougher (Hence the disrespect for Campen's coaching, but that's for another thread).

In today's game, points are scored with explosive plays in the passing game, and it's obviously tougher to take shots when defenses can get away with sitting back and defending against them. McCarthy and Rodgers both have to keep working to adjust to become more effective without the built-in mismatch and coverage dictator that is Jermichael Finley.

Finley is such an athletic freak that Michael Lombardi, who has headed up a number of NFL personnel departments and worked with some of the all-time greats including Walsh and Bellichek, said last night on The Top 100 roundtable discussion that he is one of the young players that could break into the list of the 100 best players of all-time. That's some friggin' high praise. Not having him has a huge impact on Aaron Rodgers and the rest of the players too for that matter. Everyone's just magically better when he's in there and worse when he's not, including the coaches.

[Pugger]

Rodgers has had problems with INTs and such and having his recievers dropping balls isn't helping him much. But I do wish MM would go back to using short passes and slants more! With our anemic running game he should be using these difficult to defend throws. This year in particular MM seems too enamored in the long ball/home run, especially on 3rd down. When you go 3 and out so often no wonder the offense can't get into any sort of rhythm.

[TennesseePackerBacker]

Our eyes can decieve us. I'd rather trust the stats.

Rodgers had a career year last year. NFL QB play isn't all roses, and this year of parody has proven that. Look at the decline in Brees, Rodgers, Favre, Romo(had comparable numbers to Arod last year), and others.

Last year was the year of the QB. Secondaries have tightened up. Several of the QB's above have been plagued by drops and inconsistency at WR.

I'd chalk your percieved short-commings of Arod up to high expectations. He is still only in his 3rd year. He lacks poise at times; I agree with that. But, he's still a young quarterback.

Let's give the guy time before we pass judgement. We are only half way through the season.

[denverYooper]

Our eyes can decieve us. I'd rather trust the stats.

Rodgers had a career year last year. NFL QB play isn't all roses, and this year of parody has proven that. Look at the decline in Brees, Rodgers, Favre, Romo(had comparable numbers to Arod last year), and others.

Last year was the year of the QB. Secondaries have tightened up. Several of the QB's above have been plagued by drops and inconsistency at WR.


I'd chalk your percieved short-commings of Arod up to high expectations. He is still only in his 3rd year. He lacks poise at times; I agree with that. But, he's still a young quarterback.

Let's give the guy time before we pass judgement. We are only half way through the season.

I've been wondering about the bolded statement above. Have defenses changed the way they play some of these QBs this year and muted their effectiveness? It has been said that teams are blitzing Rodgers less and instead playing more Cover-2 with man under to reduce his effectiveness.

Now, you can point to factors with each QB -- Favre finally hit the wall, Brees has missed Thomas/Bush, the Cowboys line sucks ass, and Rodgers lost Finley and Grant. But then there's Peyton Manning who continues to eat defenses alive despite playing with a 3rd string TE and 5th string RB(?). I can only hope Rodgers learns that kind of ability to read a D.

Whatever the case may be, I think that Rodgers has played pretty well for the most part even if his stats are not up to last year's. To the halfway point this year, he is doing better in the only stat that matters -- WINS!

[packerbacker1234]

Rodgers has had problems with INTs and such and having his recievers dropping balls isn't helping him much. But I do wish MM would go back to using short passes and slants more! With our anemic running game he should be using these difficult to defend throws. This year in particular MM seems too enamored in the long ball/home run, especially on 3rd down. When you go 3 and out so often no wonder the offense can't get into any sort of rhythm.

SIlly excuses are silly.

Drops are DOWN from last years pace. WR's are dropping less balls, though the number may be up to last years pace if rodgers was actually getting the ball TO the reciever.

He has more time in the pocket, less drops, and really the same sort of recieving core he had last season sans finley, who was hurt last year fo a stretch and AR still played fantastically. Rodgers has Zero excuse for his poor play other than looking int he mirror and going "why the hell am I not playing well".

I pointed out a few things already, and people have noted his happy feet... which is rediculous that he has them. He isn't really getting hit this year and he acts like he should of acted last season. It's so odd. Best protecting he has ever had and he plays worse.


I know what we need to do. Shoot clifton in the leg so he is done for the year, and then box up and ship sitton off to Germany. Rodgers can only play well if he is going to get hammered every play.