Karlos Dansby wants to play for the Packers

[Patler]

Because they couldn't get open and dropped passes?

But he had history with them.

This argument about not trusting his WR is really no excuse. He has to play with the guys on the field, like it or not.

[mraynrand]

But he had history with them.

This argument about not trusting his WR is really no excuse. He has to play with the guys on the field, like it or not.

Ya, I think it's pretty thin gruel - but you asked the question. Rodgers was not sharp last year, but there were mitigating factors.

[3irty1]

I don't think Rodgers's issues were injury related.

You saw the same kind of yips, indecision, and extreme risk aversion in 2014 against the good defenses we played: Seattle, NY Jets, Detroit, and Buffalo. In all cases the same patterns of the same dysfunction was there, it was just overshadowed by overall statistical success and some signature wins against Miami and New England.

Last year we played a lot of good defenses, and overall it seemed defense was ahead of offense as a league-wide trend relative to other seasons. Obviously the injuries we suffered to key guys, and Lacy's regression didn't help but Rodgers has some shit to figure out. I think he will though. You don't get to his level without being able to deconstruct and reconstruct your game.

[Tony Oday]

Cobb had a banged up shoulder all year.

[Fritz]

I keep coming back to three issues: Rodgers missing throws to wide open receivers, Rodgers not seeing guys who were open, and Rodgers refusing to throw into tight quarters like he used to.

[pbmax]

But he had history with them.

This argument about not trusting his WR is really no excuse. He has to play with the guys on the field, like it or not.

You have to state the whole critique. No trust to get open. He had no problem trusting Jones for 6 weeks, then Defenses put the clamps on him and he disappeared. Same with Cobb now that he had a #1 CB on him. The offense had clearly changed with no Nelson.

Nelson was the biggest Packer receiver, drew the best coverage and tilted the field toward his side. He competed for balls as well as any Rodgers era receiver and could be trusted along to sideline to make spectacular plays. When he went away, all of that attention shifted to other, less gifted receivers.

I also think there was a scheme component missing (Adams never filled his role) and I don't believe the no huddle helped.

Rodgers did make this worse after Week 6, helped right along by shoddy protection that, as he has done before, he made worse. There is a chance that Rodgers will struggle in the future without top line targets, but given his history with young Cobb, Jones and Nelson, I still think it was the available targets. In retrospect, feeding Jones that much early probably hurt the team later in the year.

I do think its obvious now that Cobb cannot be a number 1 receiver even though his contract is close to that category. He is a great complement in the slot. But paying top dollar for that position probably was not the best use of dollars given that the position has crashed in contract numbers. Given the WR corp, the Packers needed him more than most, so its understandable even in retrospect.

And while you can use the boxscore to tell you Cobb was available for 16 weeks, after he mangled his shoulder, it took him 4 games to get squared away. That he kept playing was probably a sign of how desperate they were.

My hope is that Supercoach Gentry solves the depth problem cause by Adams and Janis not being ready.

[pbmax]

I keep coming back to three issues: Rodgers missing throws to wide open receivers, Rodgers not seeing guys who were open, and Rodgers refusing to throw into tight quarters like he used to.

His accuracy is a fair critique, he looked like a different player, but I think a lot of that was uncertainty and timing miscues.

If you remember when Rodgers and Starks used to try to complete a screen pass, I think it was similar. How it looked like each thought the other had the wrong playcall.

[Fritz]

That's another thing that hasn't been discussed much: the book on Starks for the first two or three years in GB was that he couldn't catch shit with a basket. He supposedly had bad hands. Now he's the golden boy coming out of the backfield. This must be a case of a guy who turned a weakness into a strength.

I am hoping for not only better throws from Rodgers, I am hoping also for less eye-rolling and fewer gestures to the sky as if Rodgers is somebody's Jewish father-in-law ("So this you call a wide receiver?").

[pbmax]

^ I think Lacy is more natural, but Starks and Rodgers have gone from tire fire to adequate, which is remarkable.

[3irty1]

Wasn't Starks advertised as a RB who could run routes like a WR coming out of college? I was always waiting for that player to show up.

Rodgers in general has been inexplicably awful at routine dump off passes in the flat. Hits everybody in the feet which leads to a lost step by RBs at best and stupid looking incompletions at worst.

[Patler]

Wasn't Starks advertised as a RB who could run routes like a WR coming out of college? I was always waiting for that player to show up.

Yup, he was. I, too, expected Starks to be productive in the passing game. He had a lot of receptions in college, 126 in just 36 games. He was supposed to have good hands, too.

Somehow, it just took him a while to get untracked as a pro.

[Maxie the Taxi]

Yup, he was. I, too, expected Starks to be productive in the passing game. He had a lot of receptions in college, 126 in just 36 games. He was supposed to have good hands, too.

Somehow, it just took him a while to get untracked as a pro.

Part of this IMO is due to strategery. We used to run a lot of screens. Now we don't so much. Plus, it seems we rarely if ever have RB's running routes out of the backfield except maybe when Cobb's back there. Maybe it's personnel or the need for an extra pass blocker. IMO it's a neglected weapon we need, especially on 3rd downs and in the Red Zone.

[pbmax]

Wasn't Starks advertised as a RB who could run routes like a WR coming out of college? I was always waiting for that player to show up.

Rodgers in general has been inexplicably awful at routine dump off passes in the flat. Hits everybody in the feet which leads to a lost step by RBs at best and stupid looking incompletions at worst.

He is terrible at those short throws behind the LOS. You can even see it in some of the WR screens.

[SMBASS]

Rodgers has always looked like he has a case of, "Steve Sax syndrome" when making those short, dump off throws. I really don't get how a guy can thread a rocket ball into an almost non-existent window between two defenders 20-30 yards downfield but can't make a nice leading five yard pass over the shoulder of a guy that isn't even being covered by a defender.

[3irty1]

Rodgers has always looked like he has a case of, "Steve Sax syndrome" when making those short, dump off throws. I really don't get how a guy can thread a rocket ball into an almost non-existent window between two defenders 20-30 yards downfield but can't make a nice leading five yard pass over the shoulder of a guy that isn't even being covered by a defender.

Steve Blass you mean