Green Bay Packers 2021 Season Review: Quarterbacks
By Paul Bretl
Now that we as Green Bay Packers fans are fully emersed in the NFL offseason, it’s time to take a closer look back at the season that was.
One way that I will be doing that is by going position by position and player by player through the Packers roster. We will be discussing their play, the overall impact on the team, and what lies ahead for each player in 2022.
Up first is the Green Bay Packers quarterbacks, of course.
Green Bay Packers Quarterback: Aaron Rodgers
What else is there to say? Aaron Rodgers is on his way to claiming his fourth MVP award after another fantastic regular season.
Rodgers finished the season completing 68.9 percent of his passes, which was the second-highest mark of his career as a starter, trailing only his performance from a season ago. He would throw for 4,115 yards and averaged 7.7 yards per attempt with 37 touchdowns to seven interceptions–the fewest in football.
Rodgers would play his best football heading into the playoffs. Over the Gren Bay Packers final seven games of the regular season, he would complete 72 percent of his targets while averaging 8.2 yards per attempt with 20 touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 124.4.
He would also go on to break Brett Favre’s franchise record for most career touchdown passes, and he was also named a first-team All-Pro, all while battling a toe injury and missing quite a bit of time on the practice field.
Unfortunately, in the divisional round against San Francisco, Rodgers would have perhaps his worst performance of the season given the magnitude of the game. The quick passing game that Rodgers and this offense had relied on so heavily during the regular season vanished as Rodgers held on to the football–not to mention that he also became a bit too locked in on Davante Adams, which resulted in him missing other open pass catchers.
Despite numerous opportunities to put San Francisco away, Rodgers and the offense couldn’t convert–similarly to the 2020 NFC Championship Game. The play of the offense, of course, doesn’t all fall on Rodgers either–Matt LaFleur’s play-calling was bland, while the run game struggled to get going, and the new offensive line configuration had troubles of their own. Also, let’s give credit to the 49ers’ defense as well.
Now, as we look ahead to 2022, Rodgers’ status with the Green Bay Packers is up in the air, with him returning, being traded, or even retirement all being on the table as options. Recently, Ian Rapoport would report that there is “cautious optimism” within the Packers organization that the MVP will return.
With that said, I’m not sure anyone really knows which way Rodgers is leaning. On the Pat McAfee Show, he would mention making a decision by late February, when the window to franchise tag players opens up for NFL teams.