Aaron Rodgers Is a Star for Green Bay, But Do the Packers Know How to Win?

Aaron Rodgers is, hands down, one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. 

He has deadly accuracy, a strong arm and generally makes the right decisions with the football. Sure, you could argue that many quarterbacks in the league have the same attributes as Rodgers, but there is one thing that sets him apart. 

What makes Aaron Rodgers different from any other quarterback in the NFL is his poise. 

Never in my life have I seen a quarterback stare down pressure situations and big moments with the cool that Rodgers has in his young career.  

Snap after snap he just casually looks down the field, seemingly unaware of the fact that there are large, angry men running after him trying to rip his head off. Than, with a flick of the wrist he rockets the ball 30 yards down field right into the waiting arms of his receiver. 

Even when the pocket collapses around him, he seems to have an uncanny ability to free himself and find open space. All the while he never shows much anxiety or concern, even in the biggest moments of a game. 

This leads me to two very distinct conclusions: The man is either one of the most poised quarterbacks I have ever seen, or he is suffering a very lengthy and severe concussion that apparently nobody has diagnosed. 

I am leaning towards the first option. 

Aaron Rodgers went 26-of-35 passing for 344 yards and one touchdown against the Atlanta Falcons. The numbers might not seem that impressive, but when you factor in his 51 yards and one touchdown on the ground, and two critical fourth-down conversions, the latter being a touchdown to tie the game at 17, it would not be a stretch to say that Rodgers played a great game.  

There’s only one problem though; the Packers lost. 

I am only speculating here, but I am pretty sure that Rodgers would trade his stat line for a win in a heartbeat. Overall, the Pack played a solid game and had themselves in good position to force overtime with 56 seconds left in regulation. 

A devastating facemask penalty tacked 15 yards onto an already good return, and the Falcons took over at the Green Bay 49-yard line. Matt Ryan led the Falcons offense down the field in five plays, and Matt Bryant capped off the drive with a 47-yard field goal to put Atlanta up three and eventually win the game. 

At the end of the day, Rodgers was a star, but his team fell short when he needed them the most. 

It goes without saying that football is the ultimate team sport, and unfortunately for the Packers this game was a harsh reminder of that reality. They are a team that is filled with playmakers on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball, but they lack depth at many of the core positions. 

They also seem to have a knack for shooting themselves in the foot with untimely penalties. All four of the Packers losses have come courtesy of last-second field goals, including two in overtime. When you really look at it though, many of those game-winning drives were aided by stupid Packer penalties that pretty much gave the opponent the yards they needed to get into field-goal range. 

What I’m really trying to say here is that I think the Pack might be in trouble.

They have star power and explosive ability, but they seem to lack the basic fundamentals that most contenders possess. They have no running game to speak of, and thid absence has really forced them to be one-dimensional.

Consider for a moment that Rodgers was Green Bay's leading rusher against Atlanta, and they opted to go with a five-wide spread formation in goal-line situations. 

There is no feasible way for a team to make it through the playoffs without having a consistent running threat to balance out the passing game. The absence of anything that resembles a respectable running game has really caused problems for the Packers, and if they don’t fix this real quick it’s going to ultimately cause their downfall.  

Penalties are mental lapses that have also plagued this team throughout the year. Like I said earlier, all of the Packers losses have come on field goals, but it was their lack of composure that put them into those situations. The credit goes to Matt Ryan and the Falcons for capturing the win, but Green Bay practically handed them an easy field goal. 

If a team is beating themselves in critical moments of games, how can we ever expect them to beat their opponents when it really matters?  

I am truly starting to question if the Packers are a legitimate playoff threat. 

Green Bay is 7-4 on the season and is still looking up to see the Chicago Bears ahead of them in the NFC North. The season is winding down, and now every game is crucial.

They play the 49ers next week, and then have two tough road games at Detroit and New England. They finish the year with games against the Giants and Bears at Lambeau, and these will undoubtedly both be challenging. This is a team that has been consistently inconsistent, and they are in no way a lock for the playoffs. 

If the Packers intend on making the playoffs this year, they are going to have to do a lot of work to get back to the fundamentals of the game. They cannot continue to beat themselves with penalties, and obviously they are going to have to find a remedy for their depleted and often times useless running game.  

At times Green Bay has shown us why many had picked the team to be Super Bowl favorites earlier in the year. Throughout the course of this season though, the Packers have exposed us to their weaknesses, and given us reason to doubt their contention.

Overall, they are a good team, but not a great team. They have many weaknesses, but also have game-changing strengths. The Packers are filled with star power, but they lack many of the essentials a great team possesses. 

They need to get back the fundamentals, because in the end that’s why they lose.