The Green Bay Packers are set to take on the Washington Redskins in a playoff game on Sunday, but their team is not looking too strong. The Packers were reeling for a good chunk of the season, and after starting the year 6-0, they finished the year on a 4-6 streak, which was the worst finish of any of the 12 playoff teams. Unsurprisingly, a lot of the team’s problems have been blamed on their franchise quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who has had a down season by his standards.
However, Rodgers is being blamed too much for the Packers’ issues. While Rodgers has not done well since the midseason mark, it really is not his fault that the team’s offense is faltering. In fact, the whole unit around him should be blamed for the underachieving.
The worst of the units on offense has been the offensive line. Despite having relatively solid players at each individual position, the team has lacked depth which has ruined the unit. The only starter who has played all 16 games this season has been Pro Bowl guard Josh Sitton. In the absence of their other starters, the Packers have had to rely on mediocre talents like Don Barclay, Josh Walker, and JC Tretter. As a result, Rodgers has been under a lot of heat, and has barely had any time to get the ball to his receivers.
Speaking of the receivers, they have not played well this season either. After Jordy Nelson was lost for the season in August, it was expected that Randall Cobb would be the go-to option for the team. That has not been the case. Cobb has been significantly worse than he was last season, having fewer receptions, 400 fewer yards and half as many touchdowns through a full 16-game slate. At times he has looked slow, so perhaps he is playing through an injury.
It does not help that the players across from Cobb have done poorly. Davante Adams seemingly dropped every pass thrown to him while James Jones has been inconsistent at best. Rodgers could not rely on any of them and that really hurt him during this season.
The final nail in the coffin for Rodgers was that the run game has not supported him. Eddie Lacy has been sluggish at times while James Starks just was not capable of carrying a full load. They could not take any pressure off of Rodgers, so he had to carry the team by himself.
Many have said that Rodgers’ performance has been reason for the Packers’ downfall. Frankly, it has not been. It has been the performance of everyone else around him on the team. And maybe Rodgers did have a down year for the team, but he certainly is not the main person to blame for the collapse. Rodgers is still a top-five NFL quarterback when it is all said and done. He just happens to be surrounded by a very weak offensive unit.
