Question marks surround Rodgers
Not that he needs any outside piling on this season but, after a day in which the Chicago Bears did just that, quarterback Aaron Rodgers heard about his inability to deliver in the clutch from a former Green Bay Packers player.
“I mean, really, if you can’t out play Mitch Trubisky, how good are you?” tweeted LeRoy Butler, a safety who played for the team from 1990-2001. “Aaron’s only job is to OUT play the other QB! Agree? You will never win scoring 17 pts.”
He was right about that last part. Rodgers completed 25 of 42 passes for 274 yards and no touchdowns and threw his first interception in an NFL-record 402 pass attempts on a tip in the end zone, finishing with a 68.9 per cent passer rating in the 24-17 loss Sunday.
Meanwhile, Trubisky, the Bears’ quarterback, countered by completing 20 of 28 passes for 235 yards, two touchdowns and a 120.4 passer rating.
If there were stats for frustration, Rodgers would lead the league. He’s been intercepted only twice on 537 pass attempts, but has not delivered when it’s mattered most for the Packers, and their record of 5-8-1 is indicative of that.
To be sure, he had to fight his way through an injury he suffered in the season opener, but he has come under the kind of criticism to which he is decidedly unaccustomed. It came to a head Sunday, when the team was eliminated from the playoffs for the first time with a healthy Rodgers since 2008.
His stats have not been bad, they’ve just paled in comparison to the league’s youngsters. He has also uncharacteristically failed to deliver in the clutch, which was always his trademark. Green Bay has lost a number of close games (some with help from officials) they normally would have won.
Rodgers’ mechanics have come under fire, as has his decisionmaking. He’s been criticized for allegedly caring so much about the record for passes without an interception that he was unusually cautious with his throws. And there have been plenty of errant passes that were just purely overthrown, as was the case Sunday.
There was even ludicrously premature social media conversation about — gulp — Rodgers’ future at the age of 35.
The Packers and Rodgers returned to Wisconsin to prepare for final games against the Jets and Lions and an end to a season that, in retrospect, began ominously last February. That’s when Rodgers questioned the decision to fire quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt and signalled the discontent that mushroomed into petty remarks about play calling and the eventual firing of longtime head coach Mike McCarthy.
For the off-season, hiring the right head coach for Rodgers is essential, as is having a smart draft and shopping for reasonable free agents. Butler would say there’s work for Rodgers to do as well.