A-Fraud- Rodgers and the GB offense

[Phaded]

With all fairness, I wouldn't read too much into how Mike Nolan felt.

[Pullo Vision]

Certainly preferring Smith seems odd/wrong, but he did get a whiff of an attitude in his one on one with Rodgers.

[Factory of Sadness]

Rodgers' bad habits have calcified. They may have been borne of the frustration of playing in Mike McCarthy's scheme, but now they seem engrained. There are between 5-10 plays a game - and sometimes more- when he skitters around in the pocket waiting for his predetermined read to come open, before throwing the ball away and returning petulantly to the huddle. The vast majority of those plays would be run of the mill, easy completions for Tom Brady. 1st read, beat, 2nd read, beat, check-down. 1st read, beat, soft toss to a crosser, first down.

His second favourite target of recent years behind Davante Adams is the sideline because he simply refuses to follow the design of the play. To put this into some perspective, Rodgers, for about four years now has played the way that Mayfield did to open this season. Frenetic in the pocket, too greedy for the big play, off schedule and making things look difficult. Three games of this and Kitchens clearly kicked his bleep, got him in structure, on time, staying in the pocket and he looked hugely improved. Yet Rodgers with more than a decade of experience - and vastly more arm talent- simply doesn't get out of his bad habits.

He has ridiculous talent, so he makes great plays. He's jealous of his stats, so he's too careful to throw picks. The offense splutters, but Rodger's talent is visible. His stats look good. Few points are scored. The impression given is of a great QB being held back by his team. I don't buy this any more. I just don't think you can build a consistently successful offense around the player he has become. Next time the Pack are on, watch the field carefully - on the rare occasions the broadcast allows you to - and imagine Brady or Manning are playing. Hell, these days you could imagine Dak doing it. You'll see just how many times he leaves an easy completion on the field.

If I were the Packers, I'd be looking to annoy him - which shouldn't be difficult - and get him to agitate for a trade. He still holds value, but he's not taking them anywhere. I loved him as a player for a long time, and he really didn't used to be this guy, but he has regressed to the point where you're just not going to consistently win with him.

[notweswelker]

If I were the Packers, I'd be looking to annoy him - which shouldn't be difficult - and get him to agitate for a trade. He still holds value, but he's not taking them anywhere. I loved him as a player for a long time, and he really didn't used to be this guy, but he has regressed to the point where you're just not going to consistently win with him.

Yeah they could probably get some good draft capital from the Browns, and then the Browns could have a good starting QB for once.

[ArrylT]

Man I had a hunch that the Packers would lean on Aaron Jones this week - I just did not expect him to turn into Aaron Ekeler.

[Pac_Eddy]

Man I had a hunch that the Packers would lean on Aaron Jones this week - I just did not expect him to turn into Aaron Ekeler.

Did you watch the game? Were the Pack focusing on the run game or was the usual pass attack just not working?

[ArrylT]

Man I had a hunch that the Packers would lean on Aaron Jones this week - I just did not expect him to turn into Aaron Ekeler.

Did you watch the game? Were the Pack focusing on the run game or was the usual pass attack just not working?

No unfortunately I only got to see the highlights. From what I could tell the O-Line played really well.

[Phaded]

With no Adams, it's no surprise they leaned on Jones as much as they did.

What was surprising was how the Cowboys did not gameplan for that.

[Vcize]

With no Adams, it's no surprise they leaned on Jones as much as they did.

What was surprising was how the Cowboys did not gameplan for that.

Even without Adams, why would a team gameplan for Aaron Jones over Aaron Rodgers? Jones hadn't even cracked 2ypc in weeks.

[Phaded]

Because there is no one for him to throw to.

[moishetreats]

Two thoughts (followed by some more explanations):
1) The Packers changed their run scheme this past week.
2) Aaron Rodgers had his best game of the season.

The Packers had been using more of a zone running scheme with the idea to get Jones to be able to find a space to run around or outside the tackles. Yesterday, they ran up the gut much more. In fact, that was their primary method of attack. I don't know why they made that change -- if it was a shift in offensive philosophy, a purposeful way to attack the Dallas defense, or simply an if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it thought-process in-game. Whatever the reason, it was highly effective. Clearly.

Rodgers played a brilliant game. He made quick reads and accurate throws to the open player rather than trying to hold on for the big play. The fact that he didn't have any touchdowns is as much variance as anything. Sometimes you run the ball when close to the goal line, sometimes you pass. The run was working so well that Rodgers himself, in-game, told LaFleur to keep calling running plays (that came out in press conferences later). Rodgers did miss one pass to Allison that would have gone for six, but he otherwise played an excellent game. It's also fair to wonder if missing Adams helped force Rodgers to buy into the system more. Don't worry: Adams will still get his (the WRs only caught four passes this past week), but the game that Rodgers played was simply better yesterday. That should only be a good thing for when Adams comes back healthy.

Two more noteworthy points. First, after every Jones TD, you could see how giddy Rodgers was, jumping in the end zone with a huge smile on his face. Second, and correlated, Rodgers also said after the game that he's past needing to care about stats. He has had all the statistical success that he needs to prove anything, and he wants to help the team win. That might mean defense first and running second with Rodgers as the third option. A damn good third option, to be sure. Rodgers also said that this team is tighter and closer than any team that he has been on. For anyone still somehow doubting the LaFleur-Rodgers relationship, I hope that we can put that to rest.

Putting it back into fantasy football, the Packers winning and Rodgers throwing for 260 or fewer yards will likely correlate. The Packers losing and Rodgers throwing for 300+ yards will also likely correlate. If you're buying the Packers as a good football team -- and I am -- then I wouldn't expect top-5 numbers from Rodgers. He's a low QB1. If you think that the Packers are more of a fools-gold team (like vs. the Eagles), then pencil in Rodgers for top-5 QB fantasy numbers. From a skills perspective, he has shown this season that he still has the full skill set that made him the most complete and unique QB arguably in NFL history (Mahomes might make a run at that). But gone are the days that the Packers winning will be correlated with Rodgers' monster stats.

[DLF3000]

Because there is no one for him to throw to.

Thought MVS would fare better, though with Jones destroying the Cowboys defense, there was no need to pass the ball much.

The Pack keeps looking more and more like the '18 Titans every week. Is that a good thing? At 4-1, guess so.

[Blueboy]

Because there is no one for him to throw to.

Thought MVS would fare better, though with Jones destroying the Cowboys defense, there was no need to pass the ball much.

The Pack keeps looking more and more like the '18 Titans every week. Is that a good thing? At 4-1, guess so.

Was really hoping MVS would work as a flex play this season, but he's not capitalizing on his opportunities thus far.

[notweswelker]

With no Adams, it's no surprise they leaned on Jones as much as they did.

What was surprising was how the Cowboys did not gameplan for that.

To be fair, Jones put on an effing clinic. He was making Sean Lee and Vander-Esch look like absolute clowns grasping at air all game.

The TDs were great, but Jones' elusiveness is something special to behold.

[Goddard]

With no Adams, it's no surprise they leaned on Jones as much as they did.

What was surprising was how the Cowboys did not gameplan for that.

Not having Williams was probably even more beneficiary for Jones than not having Adams. With both out, they had no one else to really feature and worked out great for Jones owners.