4) These experts obviously feel the Packers will have the 0line problems fixed that haunted them early on last year and Aaron Rodgers will have a full year to perform upright.
"warhawk" wrote:
While this is no doubt true, I'm not convinced it is relevant. Consider the season Aaron Rodger had. He was sacked more than any other quarterback in the league -- and more than any quarterback in Packers' history -- yet he still managed to put up the fourth-most passing yards in the league and the second-most in Packers' history. Had he stayed on the field for the remainder of the game in Week 17, he easily would have shattered the Packers' passing-yardage record. (For Zombieslayer's sake, I'll point out that Green Bay also scored the most points in team history, with Rodgers throwing for the fourth-most TDs in the league.) This despite running for the most yards of any quarterback in the league and helming a team that was 8th in the league in total rushing yards. And that's not even taking into consideration the fact that this same quarterback went on to participate in the highest-scoring playoff game in league history, bringing his team back from
21 points down to tie it in the final minutes.
So clearly, this season was a statistical outlier. What more can we realistically expect him to do even if the offensive line manages to, say, cut the sacks in half? It's not probably that he will break the 5,000-yard mark, for example, or that he'll throw for 45 touchdowns, though it is theoretically possible.
I'm not saying that Ted Thompson should ignore the offensive line woes simply because it's not likely to improve our quarterback output. It's vitally important that the front office shore up the offensive line, if only to preserve the longevity of our quarterback.
But it wouldn't surprise me in the least to see Rodgers' output decrease somewhat as the quality of the team improves overall. I'd rather see his output trend moderate slightly and watch him slip on a couple of rings than watch him have a Marino-like career that never ends in a championship run.