I've seen that question raised in a lot of threads. Thought I'd do some analysis of the top 10 QBs (by rating) in the league (you wouldn't want to compare him against the bottom of the league, right?).
ESPN in their Splits analysis breaks out the passes by downs, etc, and one of the categories they break out by is length of pass down field. They show attempts, completions, yardage, interceptions, etc. ESPN breaks it out for behind line of scrimmage (BLOS), 1-10 yds, 11-20, 21-30, 31-40, and 40+. For simplicity (and room), I'm breaking them up into short (BLOS - 10 yds), medium (11-30), and long (31+).
Here's the number of attempts for the top 10, followed by the % of total attempts, starting with our own Aaron Rodgers, with the rest in order of their rating :magnifyglass: :
Rodgers GB
S: 140 (62%)
M: 70 (31%)
L: 15 (7%)
Tot: 225
Brees NO
S: 136 (59%)
M: 81 (35%)
L: 13 (6%)
Tot: 230
Voldemort (He who shall not be named) MIN
(ok, Im a smart ass :ahole: . Please, please, please dont ban me, Z2C)
S: 181 (71%)
M: 60 (24%)
L: 14 (5%)
Tot: 255
Manning IND
S: 168 (64%)
M: 79 (30%)
L: 16 (6%)
Tot: 263
Roethlisberger PIT
S: 159 (68%)
M: 62 (27%)
L: 12 (5%)
Tot: 233
Brady NE
S: 191 (70%)
M: 68 (25%)
L: 14 (5%)
Tot: 273
Schaub HOU
S: 195 (69%)
M: 84 (30%)
L: 4 (1%)
Tot: 283
Romo DAL
S: 152 (66%)
M: 68 (30%)
L: 10 (4%)
Tot: 230
McNabb PHI
S: 91 (68%)
M: 36 (27%)
L: 6 (5%)
Tot: 133
Rivers SD
S: 133 (56%)
M: 88 (37%)
L: 17 (7%)
Tot: 238
It appears that the perception that we've abandoned the short passing game isn't supported by the stats.
It's pretty apparent from looking at the stats that we're in the ball park with the other teams /QBs (for passes that Rodgers hasn't gotten sacked on). With the number of examples where there have been guys open underneath and Rodgers doesn't dump it off to them it's apparent that he's not always taking advantage of the short game when it is available to him, so you can't lay that all on McCarthy, either.
All in all, I'd say this myth is BUSTED.