Nonstopdrivel
15 years ago

Tom Oates: Rodgers clearly among NFLs elite quarterbacks 

By TOM OATES / Wisconsin State Journal | Posted: Saturday, November 28, 2009 11:45 pm

[img_r]http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/lacrossetribune.com/content/tncms/assets/editorial/6/48/433/648433e0-dca5-11de-90e8-001cc4c03286.preview-300.jpg?_dc=1259471382[/img_r]After the Green Bay Packers were done making the Detroit Lions look like turkeys on Thanksgiving Day, Louis Delmas, Detroit's rookie safety, told reporters that Aaron Rodgers was the toughest quarterback the Lions had faced since they saw Indianapolis superstar Peyton Manning during the exhibition season.

Considering that the Lions have faced New Orleans' Drew Brees, Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger and, yes, even Minnesota's Brett Favre since then, that was quite a compliment.

There was only one problem with it: Though clearly flattered, Rodgers wasn't buying it.

"It's high praise and I appreciate that," Rodgers said. "But before I start getting mentioned with Peyton, we've got to start winning some playoff games around here."

That's not false humility. Rodgers knows that NFL quarterbacks are judged on many things but that No. 1 on the list is winning.

Rodgers hasn't passed the winning test yet - his regular-season record since replacing Favre as the Packers' starter is 13-14 - but since his out-of-the-blue, three-interception performance in the Packers' upset loss at Tampa Bay, he's been acing many of the other tests an NFL quarterback faces during his formative years.

In a victory over Dallas, he finally won a big game against a good team. In a victory over San Francisco, he dissected a good, well-coached defense with the precision of a surgeon. And Thursday at Detroit - Green Bay's third win in 12 days - Rodgers' consistent playmaking lifted his team to victory over an upset-minded team despite a balky running game and an early deficit.

"He's playing well," offensive coordinator Joe Philbin said. "He's managing the offense well, he's making good decisions, he's showing good awareness on the field. It looks like he's playing fast but not rushed, if that makes any sense. He looks like he feels pretty comfortable out there."

That should be comforting to Packers fans. In those three games, two of which were televised nationally, Rodgers has demonstrated conclusively that he has everything he needs to be a winning quarterback in Green Bay for the next decade or so.

"He's the leader of our offense right now, and that's what you have to do," wide receiver Donald Driver said. "You have to step up, and he's stepped up for the last three weeks on a big stage in front of millions and millions of people and made the plays that he needs to make."

There are reasons for Rodgers' improvement that are beyond his control.

The return of Mark Tauscher and the emergence of rookie T.J. Lang has solidified the line and stopped the constant flow of sacks and quarterback hits that were getting inside Rodgers' head. The return of tight end Jermichael Finley and wide receiver Jordy Nelson from injury gave Rodgers as many high-end targets as any quarterback in the league. Finally, coach Mike McCarthy returned the offense to its West Coast roots with a steady diet of short, quick passes starting with the Dallas game.

In his last three games, Rodgers has completed 70.8 percent of his passes for 871 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions.

"I feel like I'm playing pretty well, but I still feel like there's things I can do better," he said. "I'm very critical of myself. Even in a game like (Detroit) where the stats probably look pretty good, I still left yards on the field. I made a couple poor throws, a couple poor reads. I'm still looking to have a very content feeling after the game. Being a perfectionist, it's not going to come that often."

Rodgers credits most of his recent success to improvement in the pass protection, which, he said, "allows me to feel very comfortable back there." He also said he getting the ball out quicker than he did earlier in the season.

"(He's) consistent," McCarthy said. "He's doing a very good job of running the offense. He's not taking chances."

Still, Rodgers hit the Lions with multiple long passes, a couple of them on improvisations, which is something he had eschewed while playing a controlled game against Dallas and San Francisco. Knowing when to go for it and when to play it safe could be a sign that he's putting it all together.

Rodgers is strong-armed, accurate, mobile, intelligent and diligent. But we pretty much knew that about him already. Lately, he's shown more of the intangibles that separate the winning quarterbacks from the merely talented quarterbacks.


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millertime
15 years ago
You need to change your sig. Where is the optimism???
Nonstopdrivel
15 years ago
Changed.
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zombieslayer
15 years ago
Let's be real Delmas. I love Rodgers. Everyone knows that. But Rodgers is not better than Favre or Brees.

I'd still slap the elite label on Rodgers though. Despite having the worst OL in the entire league, he's still managing unreal stats. After week 11, his TD to INT ratio is considerably better than Peyton Manning's, he's the best scrambler in the league, and nobody can deny his stats:
104.9	249	380	65.5	3136	285.1	8.3	22	5

My man Donald Driver
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(thanks to Pack93z for the pic)
2010 will be seen as the beginning of the new Packers dynasty. 🇹🇹 🇲🇲 🇦🇷
Nonstopdrivel
15 years ago
While I might agree with the premise of the article, I don't put much stock in this article. If Rodgers has a single bad game, these sportswriters will be off his bandwagon quicker than a frog off a hot griddle.
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zombieslayer
15 years ago
Screw them. It should be judged by the season. Like I said, put up 22 TDs vs 5 INTs to Peyton Manning's numbers. Let's also not forget that Peyton Manning has an elite OL and Rodgers has the worst in the NFL and still puts up those numbers. And let's also not forget that my Grandma is more mobile than Peyton Manning and Rodgers is the best scrambler in the NFL.

I'm not at all implying Rodgers is better than Manning, but just saying this year, he deserves a lot more cred than he's getting from these idiot writers.
My man Donald Driver
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(thanks to Pack93z for the pic)
2010 will be seen as the beginning of the new Packers dynasty. 🇹🇹 🇲🇲 🇦🇷
Silentio
15 years ago
Yeah. Rodgers is for real. Through 12 weeks, Rodgers has more yards (3,136) than Tom Brady (3,049) and a better passer rating (104.9) than Peyton Manning (102.5). Imagine if he had even a middling O-line in front of him.
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Dulak
15 years ago

Yeah. Rodgers is for real. Through 12 weeks, Rodgers has more yards (3,136) than Tom Brady (3,049) and a better passer rating (104.9) than Peyton Manning (102.5). Imagine if he had even a middling O-line in front of him.

"Silentio" wrote:



We only have to go back to the pre-season to see what he is capable of.
What was it 157 or 159 passer rating with 0 sacks.

I hope harris is back next season so we dont feel like we have to grab a top rated CB in the draft.

Get that OL plugged.
Rockmolder
15 years ago

Yeah. Rodgers is for real. Through 12 weeks, Rodgers has more yards (3,136) than Tom Brady (3,049) and a better passer rating (104.9) than Peyton Manning (102.5). Imagine if he had even a middling O-line in front of him.

"Dulak" wrote:



We only have to go back to the pre-season to see what he is capable of.
What was it 157 or 159 passer rating with 0 sacks.

I hope harris is back next season so we dont feel like we have to grab a top rated CB in the draft.

Get that OL plugged.

"Silentio" wrote:



Even if Harris isn't bad, we don't need to grab a top rated CB. It's just that injuries have been hard on us at the CB position.

Without Harris, the normal string of CBs would be : Woodson - Williams - Blackmon/Lee - Blackmon/Lee - Bush.

That's not an amazing line up and we'd still have quite a drop off from our starters to our nickel back, but it looks quite a bit better than free falling down to Bush, who has the ball awareness of a rubber duck.

As to this thread... I think I made my point quite clear in that other thread. I can't think of one single QB I'd trade him for right now.
Silentio
15 years ago

As to this thread... I think I made my point quite clear in that other thread. I can't think of one single QB I'd trade him for right now.

"Rockmolder" wrote:



Agreed. As exciting as it is to have Rodgers right now, I think the most exciting thing about having him on the team is the next 10 years. An established vet (Manning, Brady, Rothlisburger, even Favre) would be great to have, but they don't represent the kind of talent now AND hope for the future that Rodgers does.
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