Green Bay Packers Passing Problems Not All on Offensive Line

Scott Boehm/Getty Images

Four seconds. You've heard this all before.

It should be as blaringly loud as the alarm that wakes you in the morning, jarring you to action.

Quarterbacks are supposed to have clocks in their heads that, four seconds after the snap, should start a siren song that spurs the player to throw the ball, pull it down and scramble, or throw the ball away.

There are quarterbacks who violate the four-second rule on almost every play.  Look at Ben Roethlisberger.  He routinely holds onto the ball and runs around trying to make something out of nothing.

When he succeeds, it's easy to forgive his violation. Luckily for Roethlisberger and fans of the Black and Gold, he succeeds almost every time.

There are also quarterbacks who, for whatever reason, don't seem to know how to get rid of the football.  When the alarm goes off, they hit the snooze button and stand still in the pocket.

Maybe it's that Jurassic Park mentality.  You remember the line...as the T-Rex stops ever so close to the helpless visitors.

"Don't move. He can't see us if we don't move."

Maybe that's what Aaron Rodgers was thinking during half of his sacks in yesterday's game against Minnesota.  If he stayed perfectly still, maybe the Vikings' defenders wouldn't see him.

Whatever Rodgers' rationale was for standing stone-like in a crumbling pocket, it backfired badly.

A lot of blame for Rodgers' league-leading total of 31 sacks has been lavished on the Packers' offensive line.

Maybe its time that Rodgers gets part of it, too.

Green Bay does not have a good offensive line.  They have injuries and they've been ineffective, particularly against good edge rushers like Jared Allen. 

But the offensive line can't help it when Rodgers drops back and stops.

During the first half of Sunday's game, Rodgers twice dropped back, rolled slightly to his right, and waited. He didn't pump, he didn't adjust by scrambling, he just waited for someone to get open.

Sure enough, he started to take off only after a defender laid his hands on him.

Down he went.

Looking back through the Packers' seven contests, Rodgers has routinely done this same type of thing. If his receivers don't come open quickly, he either will have no time to find them later or will not show any ability to scramble out of danger.

He takes too many needless sacks.  Both of the first half instances Sunday found him well outside of the tackle box, meaning he could have thrown the ball away with no penalty.

Rodgers is a good quarterback, but he has to take care of himself.  He takes too many hits that are avoidable.  His sack total wouldn't quite be cut in half, but it would be significantly decreased if he learned how to get rid of the ball rather than stand still and be slaughtered.

The Packers lose too many drives to sacks. It's time to get proactive about correcting this flaw in their quarterback play before Rodgers ends up on injured reserve because he's been hit one too many times.

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