Aaron Rodgers' Injury Hamstrings Packers Offense in Loss to Saints

Updates from Monday, Oct. 27

Aaron Rodgers insists the hamstring injury that restricted his movement in the Green Bay Packers' loss to the New Orleans Saints will not lead to a prolonged absence on the sideline. 

Jason Wilde of ESPN Wisconsin provides the latest:

"

I’m not going to miss any time. If I felt it, then I had to back off a little bit. We had to do a little more in the shotgun but it wasn’t a big deal, ultimately.

"

Original Article

Every so often, a football game is so clearly turned by a singular moment. 

The New Orleans Saints' 44-23 win over the Green Bay Packers Sunday night was one of those games, with the third-quarter hamstring injury suffered by Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers serving as the turning point in an otherwise competitive contest. 

Rodgers appeared to tweak his left hamstring on a seven-yard scramble with 9:12 left in the third quarter and the game tied at 16. Three plays later, Rodgers' third-down attempt to tight end Andrew Quarless was deflected and intercepted inside the red zone, and the rout was on for the Saints. 

Rodgers remained in the game but appeared to be significantly hampered by the injury. He struggled to get out from center, his patented mobility outside the pocket was clearly limited and he appeared reluctant to put any weight on his left leg when throwing the football. 

"It wasn't a big deal," Rodgers told reporters.

With the Packers suddenly sputtering to score, the Saints offense attacked a Green Bay defense that couldn't tackle running back Mark Ingram or cover anyone of importance. 

Ingram rushed for a season-high 172 yards, breaking through tackle attempts at every level to punish a Packers defense that came into the game ranked second to last against the run. Quarterback Drew Brees then sliced and diced as a passer, completing all 11 second-half attempts with three touchdowns as the Saints scored 21 straight points and 28 of the 35 after half time. 

The magic of the Superdome in prime time lives on. 

Receiver Brandin Cooks and tight end Jimmy Graham each caught scores in the third quarter. Ingram's 21-yard touchdown, in which he broke the tackle attempt of cornerback Davon House to the outside, finished the scoreline of 44-23 with 3:16 left. 

New Orleans had 10 total drives Sunday night and did not punt. In the process, the Saints ran their home winning streak during night games to 14 games. 

	Before	After
Cmp/Att	14/19	14/20
Yards	298	120
TD/INT	1/0	0/2
Passer Rating	133.1	45.8
Packers Points	16	7

The Packers defense will rightfully shoulder a large portion of blame, but Rodgers' hamstring issue certainly seemed to shift momentum New Orleans' way. 

Following the injury, Green Bay saw its next three drives end in an interception, turnover on downs and another interception, respectively. The Saints scored on all three ensuing drives to open up the contest. 

Brees connected with Cooks on 2nd-and-1 for a 50-yard score following the first pick. Four plays after taking over at the Green Bay 40-yard line, Brees threw another perfect ball, beating Packers cornerback Tramon Williams for Graham's only score. The dagger was all but thrown on the first play of the fourth quarter, when Brees found tight end Josh Hill wide open for a two-yard touchdown. 

Rodgers, who played exclusively from the shotgun after struggling to get out from center on a failed fourth-down play, led the Packers 80 yards for a score with 5:07 left. But even his uncontested 14-yard run for the touchdown looked like a physical struggle. 

Head coach Mike McCarthy told reporters he threw out a portion of the playbook because of Rodgers' bum hamstring:

However, the game-changing interceptions can't be fully placed on the injury. 

The first interception was the result of a good play from the defender, who separated the football at the catch point. The second will likely fall on the shoulders of rookie receiver Davante Adams, who stopped his route. However, Rodgers put no weight on his left foot on the first pick and he clearly had problems escaping the pocket on the second, which certainly could have had an impact on the final result.

On the fourth-down play, Rodgers awkwardly released from center and Eddie Lacy was stuffed behind the line of scrimmage. 

The Packers have a bye net week. Rodgers said afterward that he wouldn't miss any time: 

The first half was shaping up as a classic shootout between two Hall of Fame-bound quarterbacks. 

During the first 30 minutes, Rodgers threw for 278 yards and averaged 15.4 yards per attempt. He hit receiver Randall Cobb for a 70-yard touchdown on the fifth play from scrimmage, which put into motion a series of four straight Green Bay drives ending in points. 

The Saints matched the Packers score-for-score, finding the end zone on the offense's first series and matching each Mason Crosby field goal with a Shayne Graham answer. 

Everything unraveled once Rodgers reached for his left hamstring on Green Bay's first offensive drive of the second half. The offense promptly self-destructed, and the defense began hemorrhaging big plays.

Now, the Packers find themselves 5-3—one game out in the NFC North and with a week to get a bunch of big names, including Rodgers, healthy. 

While missing players is far from a viable excuse, the Packers did play Sunday's contest without three preferred starters on defense: defensive end Datone Jones, cornerback Sam Shields and safety Morgan Burnett. House and Micah Hyde struggled in place of Shields and Burnett, respectively.

Following the bye, Green Bay will welcome the Chicago Bears and Philadelphia Eagles to Lambeau Field in back-to-back weeks. Rodgers expects to play. Jones, Shields and Burnett could all return. Guard T.J. Lang, who left Sunday's game with an ankle injury, will also have ample time to recover.

Losing to the Saints in New Orleans, especially given all the circumstances of the situation, is nothing to panic about. And if there's a bright side to Rodgers' injury, it's that this problem—unlike the one that sidelined him for the better part of two months last season—is not expected to be a long-term issue. 

Still, in the short term, Rodgers' hamstring tweak represented the turning point in a game the Packers likely felt very good about for 35 minutes Sunday night. 

Zach Kruse covers the NFC North for Bleacher Report. 

Follow @zachkruse2