Packers are turning back into Aaron Rodgers’ show, and that’s a bad thing
Aaron Rodgers was terrific in the Green Bay Packers victory over the Baltimore Ravens and continues to make a strong late-season push for his fourth MVP award. He carried the team to victory in the second half, and that’s a bad thing for their Super Bowl hopes.
Rodgers has been on fire over the last four games and has carried the Packers to a three-game winning streak (their only loss in that four-game span came when the defense gave up 34 points in a three-point loss to the Minnesota Vikings). That’s resulted in Green Bay suddenly being all alone at the top of the NFC with an 11-3 record.
During this stretch, Rodgers has at least three touchdowns in each contest while totaling 14 total touchdowns and 1298 yards. This has also propelled the Packers to averaging nearly 36 points per game. Oh, and he’s doing it all with a fractured left pinky toe that has left him visibly limping during and after each contest.
The Green Bay Packers are turning back into the Aaron Rodgers’ show, and that’s a bad thing for their Super Bowl chances.
This hot streak is great news for the Packers’ offense. They struggled at times before this, but are in complete control at this point. They absolutely need Rodgers to be clicking on all cylinders in order for them to maximize their chance to get over the NFC Championship hump and back to the Super Bowl.
The bad news is he and the offense are doing it all by themselves.
The Packers’ defense has quietly slipped back to below-average while their special teams remains a total mess.
Over the last four games, Green Bay has given up 34, 28, 30, and 30 points against the Vikings, Rams, Bears, and Ravens, respectively. You can somewhat understand giving up that many points to the Vikings and the Rams, but their performance these last two weeks has been completely unacceptable.
Green Bay’s defense continues to play the soft coverages that plagued Mike Pettine’s tenure and are seemingly okay with giving up five yards on every reception. This has allowed opposing offenses to move the ball up and down the field on them and get into high-percentage conversions on third downs.
Despite Joe Barry’s mantra of keeping the ball in front of them, the Packers defense has also allowed numerous big plays over that span as well. Over the last four games alone, they’ve given up a 43-yard reception to Mark Andrews, a 54-yard touchdown reception to Damiere Byrd, a 46-yard touchdown to Jakeem Grant, a 79-yard touchdown pass to Van Jefferson, a 54-yard touchdown pass to Odell Beckham Jr., and a 56-yard reception to Justin Jefferson. That’s bad for any defense, nonetheless one that tries to keep everything in front of them.
The good news is the Packers’ defense is hoping to get some reinforcements down the stretch of the regular season. Kenny Clark was out against the Ravens and should be back at full strength as soon as next week. Jaire Alexander has been practicing for two weeks now and will hopefully return soon. Za’Darius Smith is also still lurking out there and we’ll find out about his availability as time goes on.
The same hope can’t be applied to special teams. They’ve been a walking disaster each and every week and are good for at least two boneheaded plays a game. It’s not like you can count on even one unit on the special teams either, as each one is at risk of making a game-changing mistake at any time.
All of this puts a lot of pressure on Rodgers’ shoulders to be perfect. It’s a far too familiar script for the Packers and one they’ve tried to work through since they won their first Super Bowl with Rodgers at the helm. Every year, inevitably, it seems to come to a head in the postseason when Rodgers isn’t able to play Superman and the other units can’t step up to the plate.
Next. Packers beat Ravens: The good, bad and grades. dark
After a mid-season stretch in which the Packers only gave up more than 21 points one time in seven games, it appeared the defense was finally ready to carry their weight this season. Unfortunately, they’ve come back down to life over the last month and are at risk of being exploited deep in the postseason once again. Will this season end in a repeat of the last decade or will the Packers, as a team, be able to rise to the occasion?