Packers Stock Report: OMG the Packers just lost to the Lions at home edition
Early in the season,I wrote that Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has a permanent place in the rising category of the weekly Packers Stock Report. Readers of this fine website were to assume Rodgers was a riser every week,until told otherwise.
Well,spoiler alert: Rodgers has lost his permanent spot and winds up in this week’s falling category.
I’m not flabbergasted that the Packers have lost three straight games started by Rodgers. Even though the Packers typically respond well to regular season adversity,it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that a a prolonged slump could be caused by defensive ineptitude or special teams meltdowns.
But bad quarterback play? Nah,that’s not going to happen. Rodgers is human — he’ll have a bad game here and there — but he won’t struggle over an entire month.
That’s what I thought,anyway. And I guess I thought wrong.
Rodgers’ receivers are having a tough time getting open,and when they do break free,Rodgers has been missing them. The Packers offensive line has sprung a few leaks,but when the line holds up,Rodgers often dances out of the pocket anyway with his eye on the pass rush instead of downfield.
Rodgers’ fundamentals in the pocket are also out of whack. We’re seeing sidearm flings with both feet off the ground instead of strong throws where everything is pointed at the target.
Even Rodgers’ postgame press conference game is off. Instead of adequately addressing questions about why his team just lost to the @#%^&%$ Lions at home,Rodgers made a political statement on Sunday. Hey,good for Rodgers for calling out that idiot “fan,” but could you at least answer the football-related questions before climbing up on your soapbox?
Everything about this Packers team has been weird since the bye week,including the quarterback.
There are seven games left to play,which is plenty of time for things to turn from weird to normal again. And by normal,I mean the Packers start rolling over inferior teams like the Lions again and seizing control of the NFC North.
If that’s going to happen,Rodgers needs to re-claim his permanent spot in the rising category.
On to the Stock Report:
Rising
Justin Perillo
He might look like the aging drummer from an 80s hair metal band you listened to as a kid,but just like Ratt with their 1984 release “Out of the Cellar,” Perillo has brought it recently. When Rodgers needs a to make a play in the middle of the field,he’s not afraid to sling it to one of the oddest looking players in the NFL.
Damarious Randall
I shuddered every time I saw Randall line up in single coverage against Calvin Johnson,but the kid held his own.
Steady
T.J. Lang
Lang has been the most consistent Packers offensive lineman all season and his steady play continued against the Lions.
Falling
Aaron Rodgers
I want to blame Rodgers’ skittishness and disappearing fundamentals on the offensive line’s struggles,but Rodgers has had bad lines before and still managed to more than hold his own. For most of Rodgers career,we saw teams sitting back in a cover-2 shell,scared to death of blitzing. Now,everyone is stacking the box against the Packers and blitzing Rodgers like he’s a rookie 7th-round draft pick making his first NFL start. Nobody is scared of the Packers offense right now,and until Rodgers get back on track,expect that unfortunate trend to continue.
Randall Cobb
Catch. The. Damn. Ball.
Julius Peppers
The Packers haven’t recorded a sack in their last three games. Those games have been against the Broncos,Panthers and Lions,all teams whose offensive lines do not exactly resemble the mid-90s Cowboys. Dom Capers’ blitzes aren’t getting home and Mike Daniels has been the only defensive linemen to get much of a push. Julius Peppers has also dropped off the face of the Earth. Has age finally caught up with ‘ol Julius? Or is he just in a weird rut like the rest of this Packers team?
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