Green Bay Packers: Most Overlooked Weakness Heading into 2012

As I come out of my post-NFL season hibernation and look back on the Packers' 2011 season, I feel like many Packers fans and stat guys are really missing an obvious flaw in this squad.

And it's not getting attention because the pass defense was historically awful and there was no pressure on the QB. Not to mention Collins' injury and a myriad of other defensive problems. Yada Yada Yada, everyone is on the same page with the Packers' D.  

I'm done hearing all this smack talk about the defense.  The most overlooked weakness for the Green Bay Packers of the 2011 season was, drops.

Here's why: 

1. The Packers had a total of 38 drops over the course of the season (including playoffs.) That turns out be right around the average for all 32 teams.  However, in the Pack's two losses they had a total of 13 drops—five against the Chiefs and eight against the Giants.  For the sake of argument, I'm planning to focus on the eight dropped passes in the divisional playoff game.

2. Aaron Rodgers' average completion during the regular season was a little more than nine yards. So it would be safe to say, during this game, Rodgers threw eight footballs to his wide receivers, tight ends and running backs, the passes were entirely catchable and, on average, traveled the distance of a first down, and yet, were dropped.  These drops would have equaled seven to eight first downs and roughly 70 more passing yards for Aaron Rodgers, minimum.

3. Essentially, eight downs were wasted by lack of execution and poor execution.  Plays that were destined to gain yards turned out to be momentum killing drive-enders.  

Why, during the 15 victories, did the Packers have only 25 drops (an average of under two drops per win), and in two losses amass a total of 13 drops?

Clearly drops happen, but eight drops by one of the most talented receiving corps in the NFL during a playoff game? I couldn't really wrap my mind around it.  So I investigated.

Turns out, drops aren't covered all that well and are generally pretty relative.  Some drops are worse than others but count the same.  So if you want to check out the drop rate of certain players that I'm basing this off of, go here.

The Packers' wide receivers were all over on the drop percentage list.  Most shocking to me, Donald Driver was tied for sixth worst in the league with a drop percentage at 17.78 percent;   ironically, he had the best receiving day against the giants.

James Jones had the 14th-worst drop percentage at 13.64 percent (no surprise here).

It's not all bad news, though.  Jordy Nelson and Greg Jennings ranked sixth and 17th, respectively.

Jermichael Finley was fifth-worst in the league with 11 drops (that's a generous 11).

So what do these guys have to do to catch the ball?  I can't really answer that.  But I'll take a stab and say in a year or two, the Pack will have some new receivers lining up next to Jordy Nelson and Greg Jennings.

So quit ragging on the defense.  It played exactly how we knew it was going to play. Defense didn't lose this playoff game; the D did what it had done all year long.

Dropped balls is how the Packers lost to the Giants, and it is a weakness that needs to be addressed and corrected before next year.

Maybe I'm being too harsh on the offense?  Let me know, please! This is my first article and I would appreciate any feedback. Positive or negative.