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Juli
2019

last year,� Rodger said, via Demovsky. �I wish I had j

Is the Packers offense close? Maybe. Maybe not. What we know for sure is they have enough talent on the field and knowhow off it to be an elite offense. It�s time for the foundational pieces of the Green Bay offense to show why they�re so essential to this team. Mike McCarthy to save his job. Aaron Rodgers to protect his legacy. Davante Adams to complete his star turn. And Aaron Jones to begin his. There are no declarations of running the table Womens Paul Hornung Jersey , no catching soundbites to throw on ESPN and NFL Network. To borrow from McCarthy, it�s like anything: if you want to be considered great, you have to go out and prove it. The Packers� offensive tentpoles haven�t done it consistently this season. If they can�t change that, questions and criticisms will only mount. Play-to-play the Packers offense has been fine. They�ve been good even. They�re tied for seventh in yards per play and sit ninth in total DVOA on offense. Green Bay has one of the best rushing attacks in the league on a per attempt basis and despite some fumble issues, they�re still a top-10 team avoiding turnovers overall. But in critical situations, on third down and in the red zone, the structure breaks down. It�s not just on McCarthy, who has been an uneven playcaller this season. Give-up plays on third-and-long, especially in the red zone doom this offense to settling for a notch below greatness. How can Aaron Rodgers be Aaron Rodgers if the coach is taking the ball out of his hands? McCarthy demonstrates the opposite flaw on third-and-short. On third-and-four or fewer this season, the Packers have thrown it 21 times to just eight rushes this season according to Sharp Football. But when they�ve run it, they have a 75% conversion rate and just a 62% conversion rate when they pass. Aaron Jones leads the league in yards per carry and the leaky pass blocking of the Green Bay interior moves much better coming downhill to open lanes in the run game. Give Jones a chance to be the star his limited sample size suggests he can be. The bizarre part of the Packers struggles on third down is Rodgers has been the most efficient quarterback in football on third down, boasting a 116 passer rating and averaging over 10 yards an attempt, easily the best in football. On the other hand, he�s been sackedat one of the highest rates in the NFL, and even when he scrambles, hasn�t had the same success finding open receivers as Packer fans are used to seeing. How much did losing Jordy Nelson affect that second-reaction timing with his receivers? That�s impossible to know. On the other hand Oren Burks Jersey White , it shouldn�t take those improvisation plays to get the ball in the hands of the Packers best playmaker. Davante Adams needs more looks on third down.Take a look at Adams vs. Michael Thomas. Thomas YPC: 12.6 Adams YPC: 12.6 Thomas average YAC: 4.8Adams average YAC: 4.7 Thomas rating when targeted: 128.9Adams rating when targeted: 128.1 Thomas is going to be first-team All-Pro with basically identical rate stats to Adams. The big difference comes in creating first downs. In 79 targets, Thomas produced 46 first downs this season. In 81 targets, Adams only has 32 according to Pro Football Focus, despite having just one more drop. The problem is two-fold: No. 1, the Packers have to do a better job designing and calling the offense to feature Adams, and the 25-year-old out of Fresno State has to convert more of his opportunities. Against the Patriots, Adams had a number of contested catch opportunities and failed to haul them in. Those were balls he regularly took down in college and that skill still hasn�t quite translated in the NFL. For him to be mentioned in the conversation with DeAndre Hopkins and Antonio Brown et al, those are the plays he has to start making. If he can, Green Bay would also likely take a step forward from a middling red zone offense. The Packers are 17th in points per red zone trip and 21st in touchdown percentage in the red zone. Everything already discussed goes doubly in the scoring area. Mike McCarthy hasn�t been able to consistently dial up plays that make life easier for his offense. Rodgers, statistically the best red zone quarterback ever to walk the planet, has been downright awful in the red zone. Green Bay is 32nd (there are 32 teams) in completion percentage inside the 30. Last. That�s impossible, yet it�s true. Completions are harder in the red zone. Nearly every quarterback�s red zone completion percentage falls from average, but not like that. Rodgers has been late to make throws, off target (he�s been one of the most inconsistent quarterbacks in football to this point in the season when it comes to accuracy) and unable to create often once the play breaks down. Getting healthy hasn�t helped as much as one might expect, though Rodgers did find Adams last week on a score on a second-reaction play. Life for Rodgers might get easier if the Packers played with any semblance of balance in the red zone. They�re the most pass-heavy team in football, throwing it 69% of the time and that is definitively not a nice ratio. Much like on third down Womens Kenny Clark Jersey , there�s an intuitive desire to give the ball to Rodgers in those situations, but the confluence of poor playcalling and sloppy execution from both the quarterback and offensive line in pass blocking have held the passing game back as the windows close down. On Green Bay�s 47 passing plays in the red zone, they�ve had a successful play just 36% of the time according to Sharp Football. That success rate � a play that keeps the offense on schedule � running the ball jumps to 52% but McCarthy dials up runs less than half as often. Running the ball more would given the Packers a better chance to hit play action, something this team needs to deploy far more often in all areas of the field. The message is simple: the head coach, quarterback, and top receiver all need to be better, which would also mean the running back gets more chances. That, in turn, makes life easier for the first three to be more successful. It�s a simple calculation the Packers have convoluted with extra variables thanks to inconsistency. There�s still time to turn things around, but if they don�t do it in a hurry, it won�t matter how they�re playing if they�re out of the playoff race. Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers haven�t missed the playoffs as a starting duo since 2008, their only such black mark with Rodgers as the regular starter. Neither want that on their resume, McCarthy for the sake of gainful employment and Rodgers for his historical greatness. For whatever fans think of the head coach, we know he can be better. We�ve seen it. But it�s up to stars and future stars of this team, McCarthy included, to push them back to where they should have always been. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has broken his silence. In a major way.Appearing on radio with Jason Wilde and Mark Tauscher of ESPN Milwaukee Lance Kendricks Jersey , Rodgers decried last week�s exhaustive article from Tyler Dunne of BleacherReport.com as a �smear attack.�Here�s the full money quote, from Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com: �This was a聽smear attack by a writer looking to advanced his career talking with mostly irrelevant, bitter players who all have an agenda whether they鈥檙e advancing their own careers or just trying to stir old stuff up.�Rodgers specifically addressed two specific aspects of Dunne�s report, including one that as of Friday afternoon was destined to be handled by Rodgers.�The two main things I think I really want to talk about and just clear up, which are really central themes to the article, the first is the [Packers CEO] Mark Murphy conversation because part of the article seems to want to say the Packers are worried about me as the leader of the football team moving forward,� Rodgers said. �And before I get into what actually happened in the conversation with Mark, I want to say two things: One, if they knew that, why would they offer me a contract last year? And two, which goes into my second central thesis point that I鈥檓 going to take down, is if I really disliked Mike [McCarthy] so much, why would I re-sign knowing that if I play and we do what we do around here � we made the playoffs eight straight years and then I got hurt and we missed the playoffs � it鈥檚 going to be me and Mike my entire career. So if I really disliked him that much, do you think I鈥檇 re-sign. Is the money that important to me? I鈥檒l tell you it鈥檚 not. Quality of life is important.�Via Tom Pelissero of NFL Media, Rodgers said that the report that Murphy told Rodgers �don�t be the problem� is �ridiculous� and �100 percent false.�As to Rodgers� reported rift with former Packers coach Mike McCarthy, the quarterback admitted that they �had issues Jake Ryan Jersey White ,� but he said that those issues always got resolved and he denied a grudge dating back to the 2005 draft, when McCarthy and the 49ers passed on Rodgers. Rodgers also made a plea for positive treatment of McCarthy in the community.�I think we need to honor Mike and respect him the right way,� Rodgers said, via Demovsky. �We had a hell of a run. We had 13 years, four NFC championships, one Super Bowl, eight straight playoffs, 19 straight wins. . . . So, instead of trashing this guy on the way out, let鈥檚 remember the amazing times that we had together. Packer fans, remember this, especially those of you who live in Green Bay: Mike lives here. Mike has young kids here. So Mike has to be here. Think about how difficult it is for him. My favor that I would ask of you, strongly, is if you see Mike, shake his hand. Tell him thanks for the memories. Tell him thanks for the coaching job that he did. Tell him how much you appreciate him being a part of what we built here. Things change from 鈥?6 to 鈥?8. We came off of a bad season in 鈥?5 and we built something special and had sustained success, so instead of trashing this guy on the way out � last year was tough Womens Marwin Evans Jersey , no doubt about it � but let鈥檚 honor him and his legacy as the second-winningest coach in Packers history. If you see him, please, just show him the respect that he deserves. Not only does he have to live in Green Bay, he wants to. He loves it here. He鈥檚 going to be here. So, if you see him, do him that favor and show him the respect that he deserves.�Rodgers expressed regret for publicly complaining about the team�s offense after a lackluster win over the Bills.�I wish I hadn鈥檛 said anything after the Bills game last year,� Rodger said, via Demovsky. �I wish I had just gotten with him in person. I wasn鈥檛 trying to be disrespectful to him but I know how it came off. That鈥檚 what I told him when I met with him face to face.�Rodgers opted to address these issues not via the shotgun feeding frenzy of a press conference or locker-room scrum, but in a radio interview that was conducive to a more reasoned and deliberate conversation, with Rodgers able to address all items that he wanted to cover. While that doesn�t mean the issues won�t be rehashed if/when Rodgers meets with reporters during the first week of the team�s offense program, much of the ground already has been covered.