This is a perfect example of the difference between MVP Rodgers and today Rodgers. Today Rodgers made several errors that MVP would not have made. See, this is not just an MVP guy that made a bad play; it is the play of a guy who has substantially forgotten how to play QB in the system. And Smokey, it is sabotage, according to this long-winded SOB đ [BTW, that was funny as hell and kinda true]; that is why Iâm so pissed at the guy.
Yes, there is a tiny bit of speculation; but it entirely based on the belief that Jordy ran a correct route.
Cobb is in backfield, he goes to sticks and curls in.
Davis is wide left, [he is the âcrosserâ open after clearing Kendricks].
Cook inside left, he runs a deep In mirroring Cobb route just 1 line deeper.
Abby was slot right, he ran a deep fade.
Nelson Wide left, ran an in-stop at sticks [Warhawk your Nelson cutting of his route theory is innovative thinking and possible. I dont think this is the case because: Jordy made his move for separation, so the ball was coming right then and there; if Jordy sees DAvis, he dont know if Rodgers is throwing his way and cutting off the route is risky as the ball might be on its way. Plus typically when McCarthy has WRs crossing toward each other, they are not running at the same level, because it means, for example if Jordy catches the ball, he'd be running right into the Will trailing Davis, guaranteeing Jordy's decapitation].
Read #1: was to Nelson. He was WIDE freakinâ open, there was a throwing lane and Rodgers didnât even look his way. This a shame because with the single deep and only one other defender on that side of field if Nelson breaks a tackle he could go a long way. When Nelson was not targeted he is supposed to go to SL maybe 10 yards so as to interfere w/ 3rd read or deep fade.
Read #2a-2b: was to Cobb or Cook who ran parallel routes 1 line apart. There should only be one guy, the Mike, to cover the inside move of both of these guys and he cant.
Read #3: was to Davis after he clears Will [This was Barr who wasnât there because he blitzed].
Rodgers was supposed to look right, and throw to Nelson. The secondary objective of looking right was to draw the safety right to cover Abby running the deep route, the safety at this point should have to guard against the post, he does not know Abbyâs running a fade. A third objective was to gather intel to see how the Safety reacts and adjust the play in the second half.
Rodgersâ failure to look at Jordy and stare down his 2nd read caused the safety to crash down and double Cook who was not open; but Cobb was open! On TV this play was 2nd Q at 8:49, the replay shows Cobb had a step on his man, but Rodgers couldnât throw because he didnât have a lane. Also, if he had thrown it, because he was starring Cobb down, the Mike [Kendricks] was drifting toward Cobb and would have popped him.
Then Rodgers needed to man-up, stand in the pocket and deliver the ball to the 3rd read, who was open. And if he had delivered the ball to Davis, Rodgers would not have gotten hit. His fear was unjustified.
3rd and 4, all three reads were open, and 2 WIDE open, and we have to punt. Ridiculous!
Hereâs Rodgers' mistakes:
1. Like a stupid rookie he starred down his target.
2. Like a stupid rookie he skipped his progressions.
3. Like a stupid rookie he sabotaged the gathering of intel; that might lead to a big play in 2nd half.
4. Like a good college QB w/o the stomach for the NFL, he too frightened of the rush to make next read.
5. He dealt with the blitz like a stupid rookie.
If this was pre-2015, Rodgers would have seen Barr blitz and instantly processed which WR would be open because of it. MVP Rodgers would have realized that Davis was gona be WIDE open after clearing Mike and he'd be off to the races. Can hear Collensworth now, âthatâs why ya donât blitz Aaron Rodgers, heâll make ya pay... Rodgers looked the safety left and look at those blocks by Jordy and Abberderis, this is one well coached team, every one doing their job.â
Yes, WRs and OL will occasionally screw-up, but that only kills one play; ya got 2 more shots at the first down in that drive and 8 more drives to score. This offense is not simple; the receivers get open as well as any teamâs receivers and there is ONLY ONE GUY on this O that is routinely screwing up and often to the extreme. Anyone who thinks the sputtering offense is due to anything but Rodgers is simply in denial.
Iâd also love to know if this play was one of the âscriptedâ 3rd and 5ish plays, a play that during the week was worked on over and over. If so Rodgers is even a bigger dung head. The only screw-up other than multiple Rodgersâ ones was Taylor not clearing a lane for throw to Cobb; but thatâs a tall order against DT Johnson. This play was executed very well, look how perfectly Nelson, Cook and Cobb choreographed their routes. First Jordy comes open and a split second later, the time for a progression to occur, Cook and Cobb look like a couple of Olympic synchronized swimmers. It was poetry. This is a well coached team!