A Tale of Two Players

The Season of Our Discontent

This season of our discontent can best be reflected by the play of two key players on the offense, quarterback Aaron Rodgers and running back Eddie Lacy.

Aaron Rodgers Confident in the Pocket Against the Seahawks

Something is wrong with Rodgers and it's not Olivia Munn or a shoulder injury. Mentally he is screwed up. He was candid about being scared at the end of the Panther game explaining why he missed seeing a wide open Randall Cobb in the endzone (that may have been the last time Cobb was open this season).

He continues to miss open receivers (the rare times they are). He throws to the wrong side of a receiver as he did to Jones at the end of the Vikings game last week. He overthrows the long ball (something he was the best at). He doesn't throw the back-shoulder pass anymore (something else he was the best at).

Who would have thought the greatest quarterback in the league today and a surefire Hall of Famer would be suffering from shellshock?

Say what you want about Brett Favre, but he took more punishment that any quarterback in the league, but never did he blink. Even that year he threw 29 interceptions most of them were just trying to make a play when he was the only offensive weapon the Packers had.

If Rodgers was having a normal season for him the Packers would be a Super Bowl favorite after going 16-0 or 14-2 at worse. The defense is playing better, not great, but good enough if the offense and Rodgers were playing their normal game.

But now it is Rodgers and the offense, not the defense and special teams, that has let down the Packer fans. Who would have thunk it?

The first three games Rodgers was his normal self completing 67 of  91 (.736) for 771 yards with 10 TD passes and 0 interceptions. He posted quarterback ratings of 140, 116.9, 138.5.

Then in the next three games (all wins) something began to happen. He completed 57 of 91 (.626) for 720 yards with 5 TDs and 2 interceptions, both against the Rams (his first interceptions at Lambeau Field since 2012). His quarterback ratings dropped to 99, 82.8 and 107.7.

That 107.7 against the Chargers in week six was the last time Rodgers has been over 100 this season - a stretch of 10 games. He has gone from a low of 62.4 against the Bears to a high of 99 during that stretch. For the season he finished with a 97.2 quarterback rating - the first time since his first year as a starter when he finished at 93.8 he was below 100.

Is Aaron Rodgers Shell-shocked

Since the bye when the Packers have gone 4-6 Rodgers has completed 223 of 390 (.572) for 2,330 yards with 16 TD passes and 6 interceptions. In addition, Rodgers has thrown an interception in each of his last three games. This is the first time since 2012 he has thrown an interception in three consecutive games.

After coming into the season with 39 games of 300 or more passing yards he has just two this season (333 against the Chiefs and 369 against the Panthers). Last year Rodgers had eight games over 300 and has never had less than five in a full season (he had four in the nine games he played in 2013) since his first year as a starter when he had three.

Aaron Rodgers Needs to Get Up and Get Back to Normal For the Packers To Win Sunday

Eddie Lacy is a mystery, but what has happened may not be. Lacy is one of those runners who punishes the defender and gets more yardage in the second half than in the first if he continues to get the ball.

This could be considered a lost season despite rushing for 758 yards. He has left two games with injuries, missed a game because of the second injury, was benched twice before games and twice during the last three games.

Lacy's first two seasons saw he carry the ball 284 times (19 per game) his rookie season and 246 times (15 per game) last year. He started every game except one when he was sidelined with a concussion and averaged 17 carries a game overall. However this season he has started only 12 of 15 games and averaged 12.5 per game on a career low 187 carries.

This season when he has carried the ball 17 times or more (only four games) he averaged 5.2 yards a carry topping the 100-yard mark three times and rushing for 90 the other time. When it was below that he has averaged just 3.1 yards in the six games he started and finished.

Lacy started off with 19 carries against the Bears, but the next week he suffered an ankle injury against the Seahawks after only three carries.

'Injured Eddie' Carted off Against the Seahawks

He then started the next three games against Chiefs (10-for-46), 49ers (18-90) and the Rams (13-for-27), but had his starting streak of 36 straight games snapped against theChargers. He came in late gaining 3 yards on 4 carries and catching two passes for 17 yards.

Coach Mike McCarthy explained, "We're a one-two punch team It's really no different than the way we operate. We went with James first just because he's been playing extremely well, and Eddie has been a little banged up."

However, Lacy said, "My ankle is all right. It was OK. I spatted it for like a mental thing. My choice." I think he was saying McCarthy benched him to shake him up.

After the bye he started against the Broncos gaining 38 yards on 11 carries, but suffered a groin injury against the Panthers in third quarter after just five carries for 10 yards and missed the first Lions game with that injury.



'Off The Bench Eddie' Against the Vikings

The following game against the Vikings James Starks was still the starter, but Starks was benched and Lacy came off the bench to gain 100 yards on 22 carries. He then regained his starting position against the Bears and gained 105 yards on 17 carries.

However, due to stupidity he was benched the next week against the Lions for a curfew violation that resulted in his best friend Alonzo Harris being cut. He got in the game late gaining 4 yards on 5 carries. In fact he finished that game with one yard on six touches after catching one pass for negative 3 yards.

'Starter Eddie' Lacy at His Best Against the Cowboys

He came back to start against the Cowboys and had his best game of the season (24 carries for 124 yards and a TD with one catch for 24 yards). He has started ever since, but his production has dropped off considerably. He was benched against the Raiders after carrying the ball 11 for 23 yards, but had had a better game against the Cardinals (12-for-60).

'Benched Eddie'

However, he was benched last week against the Vikings gaining just 34 yards on 13 carries touching the ball just six times in the third quarter (6 carries for 13 yards) before Starks replaced him for the final possession and  the Packers went to just a passing game in the fourth quarter.

Lacy is a workhorse who only gets better as the game goes along. While I think he has been misused I also think something is wrong with him. He seems unmotivated at times. When he is hitting the hole between the tackles hard and fast he is the best in the business, However, when he is tentative and slow to the hole he is almost always dropped for no gain or a loss.

'Off-Tackle Eddie'

And don't get me started about off-tackle plays. Lacy is a north-south and not an east-west runner. That damn play, especially to the right side has to be torn out of the playbook and burned. I don/t know how many times a drive has been stalled with that play. 1st down: Lacy up the middle for 6 yards. 2nd down: Lacy off tackle for negative 3. Third down: incomplete pass or sack. PUNT. That pretty much sums up the offense this season.