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Nobody is going to write this because it’s not the accepted narrative in the echo chamber.
And also if you write it, you are going to get a lot of fan backlash.
But one of the reasons Aaron Rodgers is struggling is the utter chaos and dysfunction around him on offense.
I am not a special pleader for Rodgers, just going by what I see.
Going over the Seattle game, what is going on around him is bad, man.
Both their star receivers, 1A and 1B, had two penalties EACH in the Seattle game.
The star running back fumbled twice, one recovered by Seattle.
Constant issues lining up properly. You have an offensive play-caller calling plays from somebody else’s playbook, because the former play-caller was demoted, perhaps due to outside pressure. That move has created a dysfunctional offensive mess. Nobody wants to talk about this because the echo chamber doesn’t allow you to say there was anything wrong with demoting Hackett. I’m not here to defend Hackett, but to have somebody else running Hackett’s playbook, is asking for operational trouble and that is what they got.
Before we get to the constant protection issues, here is something that is getting no attention coming out of the Seattle game.
There were some snapping issues from the center to Rodgers in this game, something that was an issue during training camp.
“He’s had a couple of weird snaps today,” Fox play-by-play man Adam Amin said during the broadcast.
And then you have all the protection issues, and there were plenty against Seattle.
Leonard Williams had three sacks in this game, but one was negated by him inadvertently grabbing Rodgers’ facemask as he took him down. On this play, he beat Morgan Moses.
Moses left after this series with a shoulder injury, and on the next series, edge-rusher Dremont Jones beat the new right tackle Carter Warren, with an inside move, and Rodgers had to dirt the ball before he got sacked.
Not to pick on Warren, because he’s a great kid and works hard, but he had a rough one out there.
Early third quarter, on third-and-eight, Rodgers under pressure when Warren got beat by Williams had to step up and somehow hit Tyler Conklin for a gain of 11. Then on third-and-13, Jones beat Warren with an inside move, and Rodgers rolled right and threw incomplete to Adams.
On the Jets’ final series of the game, an edge-rusher (didn’t catch the number) beat Warren off the edge, and Rodgers stepped up in the pocket and was sacked by Williams. Later on the drive, Williams beat John Simpson for a sack on third-and-10, and then on the last play, rookie running back Isaiah Davis missed a blitz pickup on cornerback Kobie Bryant, who crushed Rodgers as he threw incomplete to Garrett Wilson downfield.
Still don’t know why the Jets had Max Mitchell inactive, and went with Warren as the backup swing tackle. Mitchell has more experience with 12 NFL starts, and Warren had four starts entering the Seattle game.
Look, Rodgers can play better, but if you are a fair-minded person without an agenda, and you watch some of these games over again under a fine-tooth comb, you realize there is a lot of dysfunction around him, and the QB is the least of their problems.
Honestly, if you watch this stuff, and think Rodgers is the problem, I would not nominate you for Mensa.
But nobody in the media is going to cut him any slack, because it’s not good for clicks or they don’t like his worldview.
I think it’s a no-brainer for a new coach to bring him back next year, and give him the infrastructure to be successful.
Rodgers can still play, but not with a dumpster fire around him. He can’t carry a team like he did in his halcyon days, but you can win with him if you give him the requisite support on the field and the headset.
December 4, 2024
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