You might want to burn clock and keep their RB off the field, no? Keep our defense off the field, and prevent them from wearing down?
Move the chains. Score points. Dominate time of possession.
Originally Posted by: nerdmann
You are arguing two different issues.
1. You said Rodgers is a stat whore because he throws the deep ball when a player is open because he wants to get a lot of yardage into his stats.
2. Now you are saying he doesn't run the clock effectively.
They are two separate issues.
1. It makes no sense at all to check down to a short pass if you can see a receiver coming open further down field. It is stupid football to ignore him and throw a short pass for the sake of the clock. Why take 10 plays to move the ball the same number of yards against a struggling secondary that you can get in 3? The goal is to score not to see who can consume the most time. When you trail in a game the goal is to score as quick as you can. ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU ARE DOWN BY 2 OR MORE SCORES.
Taking 10 plays instead of 3 allows for more mistakes to occur. (Incompletions, interceptions, not getting the required yards for a first down and having the clock run out on you before you score.) Ultimately you move the ball the same number of yards. Nothing changes in Rodgers stats very much. He ends up with more attempts and completions. Maybe his completion percent is higher. Nothing you suggest makes him a stat whore. He ended up the year 8th in total yards. Not much of a stat whore.
2. Time of possession. It is the OC or HC that gives the QB the plays. Aaron Rodgers just works with what he has. If Mike was more concerned with the clock than scoring he would call more running plays. They could use up 2 min and not even get 10 yards. Big deal. He wants the ball in the endzone. Thus they pass the ball instead of running it. Sure Rodgers can audible to a run but MN secondary is weak. They had players come out of the game making them more susceptible to the pass. Why change to a run and burn clock when you can move 30 yards down field in a single play?
Ultimately Aaron is working with whatever the defense is giving him. If they put 8 men in the box he doesn't run he passes. If they go cover 2 with deep safeties he runs or throws short. If they pull the safeties up and have single coverage outside he is looking deep. Until you have studied film for hundreds of hours on the other team's tendencies and then stand behind the center and see what the defense doing you can't say jack. Watching the tv does not give you the whole story.