Emergence of Secondary Weapons Makes Packers Offense Complete Package

Aaron Rodgers threw six touchdown passes in the Green Bay Packers' 55-14 dismantling of the Chicago Bears on Sunday night—and they were all in the first half. 

Four were to the usual suspects: Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb and Eddie Lacy. Cobb now has 10 touchdowns on the season, the most among all NFL wide receivers, and Nelson is not far behind with eight TDs, including his pair of scores against the Bears. 

But Rodgers' first two end-zone completions were anything but usual. The Packers earned their first six points of the night when tight end Brandon Bostick caught a one-yard pass from Rodgers in the middle of the first quarter. 

Three minutes later, Rodgers found tight end Andrew Quarless in the end zone for his second touchdown pass. 

Bostick is listed as the third-string tight end on the Packers' official depth chart, behind Quarless and rookie Richard Rodgers. His touchdown catch was only his second reception of the season. Bostick and Quarless have four touchdowns between them on the season. 

Player	Receptions	Yards	Yards/Rec	TDs
Andrew Quarless	17	145	8.5	3
Richard Rodgers	9	117	13.0	0
Brandon Bostick	2	3	1.5	1

It's the same number of touchdowns Green Bay had at this point in the 2013 season, but three of those came from Jermichael Finley, who also had 300 yards. None of the three tight ends on this year's team has amassed that number of yards individually, and they haven't accounted for that total as a unit—a lack of productivity that has been most conspicuous in the Packers' inability to make plays down the seam.

That was, of course, Finley's calling card during his time with Green Bay, and his presence on the field opened up possibilities for Rodgers that did not exist otherwise. His presence as a pass-catcher also drew coverage away from Nelson, leaving him free to make plays. 

However, Sunday night's win demonstrated that the tide may be turning there.

Though neither Quarless, Bostick nor Rodgers has yet shown that he has what it takes to be heralded as the next Finley—a true go-to receiving threat a tight end—the group has made strides this season and some important plays, to boot. 

Especially now that Bostick and Quarless are beginning to show that they can be scoring threats in the red zone, defenders will soon need to account for them, which could free up Cobb and Nelson and make them even more lethal and unstoppable than they already have been in 2014.

It's a frightening thought for an offense operating at the level that Green Bay's currently is. The game Rodgers could have put together Sunday night had he not been pulled when the Packers held an insurmountable lead is something to think about.

It could have been one for the history books; Rodgers tied his personal best for touchdowns in a single game, with six; Green Bay's franchise record for touchdowns in a single game, which he shares with Matt Flynn. And became only the second player in NFL history to throw six touchdown passes in a single half. 

He did all those things by having a diverse and potent combination of weapons, connecting with five different players at three different positions for his six scores. 

Bostick has been healthy since Week 2, after a brief injury setback in the preseason, and Pete Dougherty of the Green Bay Press-Gazette calls the 6'3", 250-pound player, "the team's most physically gifted tight end." So why does he have fewer than 50 snaps on the season? 

Per Dougherty, tight ends coach Jerry Fontenot said Bostick is struggling in practice to master the finer points of catching passes, such as reading coverages and adjusting his patterns accordingly. Errors like those will certainly keep a player from being the No. 1 tight end, but with the way the Packers offense has developed in 2014, perhaps right now it doesn't need another Finley. 

The second-year Bostick demonstrated an ability to get big gains in his rookie season, averaging 17.1 yards per catch on seven receptions in 2013.

Mike Roemer/Associated Press

And Quarless is proving to be a more and more reliable target in 2014, especially down in the red zone.

"He's played well," offensive coordinator Tom Clements said of Quarless in early November, per Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "He was playing faster, getting more yards after the catch. He (has been) blocking better. Hopefully, he'll continue to improve and get better as the year goes along."

Green Bay's offense could benefit more from a more productive tight end group, especially when it comes to moving the chains, getting first downs. While extra end-zone targets are nice to have, they are luxuries on a roster that already includes Nelson, Cobb, Lacy and Rodgers himself. Though tight ends accounted for 12 of Green Bay's points Sunday, the three of them amassed only 17 receiving yards combined.

As the Packers look ahead to the Philadelphia Eagles, New England Patriots and Detroit Lions, being able to use Quarless and Bostick to expand the playbook and exploit the seam, especially when receivers outside the numbers are covered, would be useful ammunition as Green Bay makes its playoff push in the second half of 2014.