Now that we are exactly at the halfway point of the season, it's a good time to talk about stats. Or it would be, if the Packers had more than one impressive statistic among them (I'm speaking, of course, of Clay Matthews' league-leading total of 9-1/2 sacks). I'm not complaining, because 5-3 is not a bad record considering all of the injury problems, and momentum is on our side coming off two big wins. But stats are part of the fun of sports, and it's a little less fun when there is so little to look forward to on the stat sheets. What happened?

1. Aaron Rodgers has been average this season, for a variety of reasons, one of which is that...

2. Jermichael Finley, our human stat machine of a TE, is gone for the season--a season in which he surely would've shattered every team receiving record for TEs. Also...

3. Greg Jennings has been kind of average, although lately he has been stepping it up a bit.

4. Charles Woodson has dropped at least two interceptions, maybe more, so he only has two so far.

5. The running game went into the crapper when Ryan Grant got hurt.

6. As of yet, nobody else has stepped forward with an unexpected statistical bonanza.

A good team stat that was pointed out by chrisbozzonerocks in his article on the home page is that our defense is #1 in the league in QB rating, meaning that opposing QBs have a worse rating against them than against any other defense in the league. Also, the defense is third in sacks and third in interceptions. That's pretty good. Any other noteworthy stats I'm missing?

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Plenty of great points, Greg.

I'm fairly certain that #12 will have a much better second half (not just statistically). Hopefully the team can work out the kinks in the passing offense (miscommuncations between the quarterback and receivers and such) to have a more productive offense the second half of the season.

I have noticed that ever since Finley went down, the miscommunications with the receivers have become highly noticable. Whether that's a coincidence or not, I'm not too sure, but I'm fairly certain the loss of him could be some of it. The fact that Rodgers doesn't have big #88 running laps around opposing defenses and making him rely on his other play-making receivers I think has made Rodgers a little lost at points.

It's kinda funny, considering that alot of people thought that Rodgers would be better off without Finley because he would get Jennings and everyone else more involved. Could very well be true this next half of the year if they work out some of the kinks, however.

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The question I have is why? Jermichael Finley hardly played a role in this offense at all in 2008, yet Aaron Rodgers' play was outstanding. Finley only began to emerge in the second half of 2009 as a force to be reckoned with, yet Rodgers' output was still outstanding. How did Rodgers become so dependent on Finley over the course of the offseason? And is this Rodgers' fault or some kind of gross schematic miscalculation on the part of the coaching staff?

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MM's teams never really show up before week 10. Sometimes not after that either.

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Could be a combination of both.

Not everything can be answered, it can really only be assumed. I don't think lack of Donald Driver helps in recent weeks, even if he had the case of the dropsies. From what I've gathered, the majority of the mistargets were in the direction of James Jones. Perhaps he's still trying to adapt to a bigger role in the offense, too. It's funny how the offense can click at certain points, and then all of a sudden look completely confused the next play.

I'm sure it's a problem that has been talked about plenty of times within the franchise these past weeks.

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As you said 5 and 3 is not bad. The only stat that matters is the Win to Loss ratio.

I am concerned about AR. Is the perceived drop off because he performed so well last year or because he is worried about the line? Or is it something else?

The loss of Grant hurt our running game but I think we are starting to find our groove.

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Even when the line played pretty well, Rodgers still has played subpar at certain points this year. Funnily enough, in 2009 when he suffered the worst pressure he's endured, statistically it will go down as one of his best seasons ever.

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When I think of successful teams it's usual not the teams that top the statistic categories individually but work together well as a unit. The Packers have done well as a group which overshadows individual efforts.

I'm still scratching my head over this as well. Something isn't quite adding up, even when Finley's injury and the O-line problems are taken into account. Is Rodgers pressing a bit due to the high expectations? His decision-making has not been as good as it was last year, and I've also noticed a decline in his accuracy on deep throws. On at least a few occasions he's thrown deep passes out of bounds, and he wasn't doing it on purpose.

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I do believe that undisclosed injuries are playing a role. I'm convinced that Rodgers has been toughing it out through more or less chronic ankle pain for some time now, perhaps since the latter half of last season. Rodgers has been walking around the weird with a weird pony-like high stepping gait most of the season. The past couple of games in particular, he has refused to plant his feet before throwing, resulting in wobbly passes that have oddly high trajectories. They look like they're practically slipping out of his hand at times. In the second half of the Jets game, he was patently hobbling.

Someone mentioned in the chat room last game that Rodgers' output took a steep nosedive following the concussion. It would be interesting to look at the numbers and see if this can be borne out. Is it possible he's throwing behind his receivers because he in fact is confused and genuinely doesn't know where they're supposed to go?

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