Aaron Rodgers Remains Hopeful Of Saving Packers But It's Become Impossible To Buy
The Detroit Lions gambled and lost and eventually Aaron Rodgers got the football at his own 43 yard line with two minutes to play on Sunday. The Green Bay Packers needed a touchdown to win this game and maybe save the season for another week.
If this were 2011-2021, we all know what would probably happen next.
Rodgers would do something amazing.
What happened Sunday was Rodgers walked off the field in defeat. He threw four consecutive incompletions inside the Detroit red zone and was left shaking his head when the final attempt sailed into the corner of the end zone where there was no receiver.
Stunning.
And not stunning. Not this year.
Because this year Rodgers has been, well, unRodgerslike. And Packers fans are quickly losing confidence in him and the reeling Packers.
Think about that tweet by a strong and well known Packers fan. It has 18,000 likes.
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers had his best moments against the Lions Sunday when he was handing off.(Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
'Too Many Mistakes' By Packers Aaron Rodgers
The Packers, which had not lost more than 4 games under coach Matt LaFleur, have now lost 5 consecutive games. And Rodgers is no longer the solution to all that ails that team.
Rodgers was actually a major problem on Sunday.
Rodgers threw 3 interceptions -- something he hasn't done that since 2017.
"Too many mistakes," LaFleur said.
Rodgers was so bad LaFleur was asked if he considered a quarterback change.
"No," he said.
"Yeah, had some s----y throws for sure," Rodgers admitted.
Two of the interceptions were in the red zone. All three were were picked inside the 5 yards.
Two weeks ago LaFleur said the next couple of games would tell everyone what kind of team the Packers are. The Packers lost two games after that proclamation.
So we understand what kind of team the Packers are consider that Sunday happened against a proven terrible defense.
The Packers were facing the Detroit Lions, who have allowed 32.1 points per game this season. That's the most in the NFL.
They were facing the sixth-worst pass defense in the league, allowing 266.4 passing yards per game.
And yet the Packers managed only 9 points in this 15-9 loss
"Yeah, apparently we got to do some better things schematically," LaFleur said.
And Rodgers left the field after having delivered a 53.5 quarterback rating. Yeah, he threw for 291 yards but that was mostly second half work that led to, well, very little.
This has been bad for a while for the Packers and there is nothing that suggests it's going to get better.
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers admitted he made some bad throws against the Detroit Lions (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
Aaron Rodgers Says Not Over For Packers
Despite the terrible day, Rodgers seemed unmoved publicly about the Green Bay situation.
"It's not over," he said. "Still a lot of games left. We'll be counted out probably by many and we'll see how we respond."
The team came into the game encouraged it was as healthy as its been recently but then that turned against them.
The Packers had nine players leave the game. Romeo Doubs left and did not return. Rashan Gary left and did not return. Aaron Jones left and did not return. Left tackle David Bakhtiari left the game for two quarters and returned only for the final two minutes in hopes of helping a rally that never materialized.
The question becomes if Rodgers is so over this that he'll simply retire after this season.
Rodgers was visibly frustrated throughout the game on the sideline. His body language on the field after the interceptions and other failed plays was bad. And, by the way, everyone knows he's the player who the last two offseasons has talked repeatedly about retiring.
"Well, I'm sure he's extremely frustrated as we all are," LeFleur said. "You know, I don't think we've been in this situation. I know since my time here we haven't been in this situation and I don't think he's been in this situation too many times in his career, obviously.
"It's disappointing and frustrating. But, I think, we all probably could do a better job of controlling that frustration."