The media catches on: Rodgers playing to protect his stats (1 Viewer)

[ChaChingBaby]

Someone has finally caught on in the media and is criticizing him for what we've known for years.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.c...s-by-throwing-the-ball-away-at-a-record-pace/

The one thing Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is still doing well in this disappointing season is avoiding interceptions. In fact, if Rodgers keeps up his current pace, he’ll set a new NFL record for the lowest interception percentage in NFL history: He has thrown just one interception this season, on 463 attempts, for an interception percentage of 0.2 percent. The single-season record is 0.4 percent.

But avoiding interceptions isn’t quite so impressive when you’re doing it by throwing the ball away every time someone isn’t open. And that’s exactly what Rodgers is doing: As noted by Peter King in Football Morning in America, Pro Football Focus has been tracking throwaways since 2006, and Rodgers is on pace to have the most throwaways by any quarterback in any season in that time. Rodgers is throwing the ball away more than once in every 10 throws.

Rodgers has completed just 61.8 percent of his passes this season, well down from his 64.8 percent career mark — even though league-wide completion percentages are at an all-time high this year. When 10 percent of your passes are throwaways, you’re not going to have a good completion percentage.

Sports Illustrated also has this amazing run down of Rodgers' problems from last week where Andy Benoit highlighted the problems with his mechanics.

https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/11/26/green-bay-packers-offense-problems-mike-mccarthy-aaron-rodgers

This is where McCarthy is getting victimized. A great illustration of Rodgers’s unevenness came two weeks ago in Green Bay’s win over Miami. The Packers faced a 4th-and-2 near midfield. The Dolphins are a zone D that almost always plays nickel. Knowing their nickel would keep two linebackers on the field, McCarthy put in a fourth receiver and aligned Davante Adams in the backfield, so their top weapon could run his route against those overmatched linebackers. Adams did, breaking open on a short-angle route right in Rodgers’s immediate line of vision. The play worked perfectly. And Rodgers, for reasons not even Sigmund Freud could figure out, tried to break down and extend the play. A quick-strike play like this can’t be extended, though, and naturally, the protection cracked and Rodgers was sacked.

That creativity lately has shown up on other plays, too. In fact, this season, McCarthy’s offensive scheme has evolved dramatically. Early in the year, it was mostly just the simple spread formations that propagate isolation routes—that’s the unimaginativeness McCarthy has been dogged for over the years. Most likely he played this way because it accommodated Rodgers’s sandlot tendencies. It worked when the Packers had the right veteran receivers. But with an aging Jordy Nelson gone, James Jones long gone, and Randall Cobb either out injured or not looking like himself, the Packers this season have had to rely on callow, rookie receivers who are not yet capable of getting open on their own or finding the defense’s soft spots when Rodgers extends plays.

And now today, we learn that Rodgers was often changing McCarthy's play calls. This is something I speculated last year when he played against Carolina. Green Bay was averaging nearly 100 rushing yards with Hundley under center, then Rodgers came back and their run game suddenly disappeared in that game.

https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/12/03/aaron-rodgers-regularly-changed-mike-mccarthy-play-calls-packers

"[Rodgers changes plays] so often that it can be hard for McCarthy to get into a rhythm as the play caller," Kahler wrote. "McCarthy might call the same play three times in a game, without the play actually being run as he called it. And if McCarthy calls a play that Rodgers doesn’t like early in the game, that can sour the mood for the rest of the game."

The media is starting to wake up. He's being criticized now for playing to protect his stats and not take chances.

If he won't listen to his long time coach in McCarthy and has now gotten him fired, who will he listen to?

 

[ThibodauxSaint]

Its crazy how Green Bay went from Favre to Rodgers, two qb's with opposite mentalities. I remember Favre talking about his interception record and saying how he felt it was as important to him as his TD record at the time because it meant that he didn't play scared and he took risks. Now you have statistical evidence that Rodgers is protecting his stats.

 

[Cajun Mike]

Told y’all Rogers is the problem

 

[someone]

After he donated $1 million to the California wildfires, his own brother called him out for doing it for selfish reasons. Everything Aaron Rodgers does is for selfish reasons. Compare his reaction to Drew's if a receiver makes a mistake. It's all about Aaron. For us, it's all about team.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Packers now win out all of the sudden so Aaron can make sure to make McCarthy the scapegoat, even if it means throwing a few interceptions.

 

[ChaChingBaby]

After he donated $1 million to the California wildfires, his own brother called him out for doing it for selfish reasons. Everything Aaron Rodgers does is for selfish reasons. Compare his reaction to Drew's if a receiver makes a mistake. It's all about Aaron. For us, it's all about team.

I hate to defend Rodgers, but I will stick up for him here.

What did his brother donate for disaster relief? A T shirt and a mug from his time on the Bachelor.

We have no idea what goes on in that family and if he won't talk to them, there is probably a reason why. Many of us have that side of our family we don't like to talk to. I have a better relationship with my wife's family and in laws than I've ever had with one side of my family with the same last name. We don't know what happened with Rodgers' family and he probably is justified in cutting contact from them.

 

[someone]

We don't know what happened with Rodgers' family and he probably is justified in cutting contact from them.

So we don't know what happened, but he is probably justified. Got it!

 

[Axehandle33]

So we don't know what happened, but he is probably justified. Got it!

I mean, yea. It’s his family, not ours, and we have no idea what’s going on internally. Therefore it’s really not any of our business, and so to us at least, it is justified. I mean we can’t just make stuff up on why they have problems, or take just one side of the story. If people don’t like AR that’s fine, but as far as his relationship with his family, that’s nobody’s concern but them.

 

[ChaChingBaby]

I mean, yea. It’s his family, not ours, and we have no idea what’s going on internally. Therefore it’s really not any of our business, and so to us at least, it is justified. I mean we can’t just make stuff up on why they have problems, or take just one side of the story. If people don’t like AR that’s fine, but as far as his relationship with his family, that’s nobody’s concern but them.

This is what I was trying to say. We have no idea what really happened with them. There could be a history of abuse and the way his family is acting, it's like they're guilty of something. People who haven't had to deal with the ugly side of a family take this for granted.

This topic is about his selfish play, not his personal life.

 

[ChaChingBaby]

Its crazy how Green Bay went from Favre to Rodgers, two qb's with opposite mentalities. I remember Favre talking about his interception record and saying how he felt it was as important to him as his TD record at the time because it meant that he didn't play scared and he took risks. Now you have statistical evidence that Rodgers is protecting his stats.

True here.

Favre was a gunslinger though and those types of QBs are far more prone to throwing picks than anyone else.

I don't agree at all with the statement people make, like Colin Cowherd whom has called Rodgers a gunslinger. He's the complete opposite, as a pocket passer. Pat Mahomes is a gunslinger and we see that with all the risky throws he makes down field.

Favre actually fares better in TD/INT ratio than other traditional gunslingers (Terry Bradshaw, Ken Stabler and Chris Chandler for examples).

Favre ranks so much higher on comeback wins, 4th quarter game winning drives and OT wins. Rodgers plays to protect his stats and don't bother taking many risks in those scenarios.

 

[someone]

I mean, yea. It’s his family, not ours, and we have no idea what’s going on internally. Therefore it’s really not any of our business, and so to us at least, it is justified. I mean we can’t just make stuff up on why they have problems, or take just one side of the story. If people don’t like AR that’s fine, but as far as his relationship with his family, that’s nobody’s concern but them.

I could give a rat's arse about his family dynamic. My point was that when your own family shuns you and calls you selfish then there's probably something there. And from what we've seen repeatedly on the field, he's a very selfish player, confirming his family's beliefs. The donation was just the most recent episode, which is why I used that as an example. And when you're a public figure as he is, you lose your right to complete confidentiality. Either you want to be in the spotlight or you don't. You can't have it both ways.

 

[ChaChingBaby]

I could give a rat's arse about his family dynamic. My point was that when your own family shuns you and calls you selfish then there's probably something there. And from what we've seen repeatedly on the field, he's a very selfish player, confirming his family's beliefs. The donation was just the most recent episode, which is why I used that as an example. And when you're a public figure as he is, you lose your right to complete confidentiality. Either you want to be in the spotlight or you don't. You can't have it both ways.

If you could give a rat's butt about it, why are you still ranting on and making all these posts about it? You're the only one doing it.

And you keep bringing up his donation, but what did his brother donate? Just a T-shirt and a mug from his time on the Bachelor. If anything, that makes Rodgers' brother look worse than him. After all, his brother did use his famous name to get on a reality show.

Let's get back to talking about football please and not a dysfunctional family.

 

[renegadewa]

I hate to defend Rodgers, but I will stick up for him here.

What did his brother donate for disaster relief? A T shirt and a mug from his time on the Bachelor.

We have no idea what goes on in that family and if he won't talk to them, there is probably a reason why. Many of us have that side of our family we don't like to talk to. I have a better relationship with my wife's family and in laws than I've ever had with one side of my family with the same last name. We don't know what happened with Rodgers' family and he probably is justified in cutting contact from them.

That may be.........but it also may be that his family may be justified in calling him out and cutting ties with him as well.

We don't know the whole story but the arrogant abrasiveness that Rodgers often displays may run in the family and then again it may not.

I have a brother who is sort of like that and it's totally different from anyone else in the family. We often joke about how he must have been adopted and it chaps his backside big time........the only time he likes a joke is when it's on someone else.

I'm willing to cut Rodgers some slack but given his narcissistic history he won't get much slack from me.......................not that it matters anyway!!

 

[BlackandGoldXLIV]

And if McCarthy calls a play that Rodgers doesn’t like early in the game, that can sour the mood for the rest of the game."

What about scripted plays? Do Rodgers and McCarthy not collaborate on this?

I mean a QB and O.Coordinator communicate the plays they like and don't like when formulating a game plan. Right?

 

[Madmarsha]

Aaron Rodgers has at least 140,000,000 reasons he doesn't give a crap.

 

[BooBirdSaint]

Crazy that he's only at 64% completion for an "elite" QB. Meanwhile Drew has owned or set the completion % record 3 or 4 seasons in a row and its a footnote.