Two weeks in is no time to panic. Still, the Green Bay Packers have one glaring flaw: they have a tendency to start slowly. They were losing at half time against the Seattle Seahawks. They were getting blown out against the Atlanta Falcons. Aaron Rodgers started off slowly in both games. And while both of these games saw revived efforts, but still, it is becoming a trend.
Aaron Rodgers Needs to Start Faster
Rodgers’ Slow Start at Home
Against Seattle, Rodgers started off completing 15 of 24 first half passes. Those resulted in in 158 yards and an interception, giving him a rating of a meager 64.2. This game actually started off well. Rodgers and the Packers moved 51 yards to the Seattle 32 yard line. Sadly, this is where the strange interception happened. Rodgers tried to drop off a short dump off pass with a side arm throw, but the pass ended up in the arms of defensive end Nazair Jones.
The Packers punted every other drive of the half. While their defense held the Seahawks very well, there was one drive with a few big plays. A good pass and a long run by Russell Wilson set up a field goal that gave the Seahawks a lead.
After half time, he completed 13 of 18 passes for 153 yards and a touchdown. That means he completed 72.2 percent of his passes and had a rating of 116.2. The Packers scored two touchdowns in the second half. In fact, the Packers punted only once in the second half.
Rodgers’ Slow Start on the Road
Rodgers completed just 10 of 20 passes to start his first half in Atlanta. This 50 percent completion rate let to just 110 yards and another interception. The interception and slow play led to a 24-7 deficit at half time with Rodgers garnering a 45.8 quarterback rating. Finally, Rodgers fumbled a ball that was returned for a touchdown.
After being down at half, the Packers outscored Atlanta 16-10 the rest of the way. Yes, part of this is clearly that the Falcons were trying to run out the clock. Yet, Rodgers completed 23 of 30 passes for 233 yards and two touchdowns. This was good enough for an ending rating of 120.5 rating.
Short Trend
In these two games, there has been a rather large gap between Rodgers’ first halves and second halves. In the first 30 minutes, he has completed 56.8 percent of his passes for 268 yards, two interceptions and no touchdowns. This results in a rather mediocre quarterback rating of 55.9.
Rodgers turns this all around in the second half of games. He combines for a 75 percent completion percentage, 356 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions: good enough for a 118.9 rating. Although not a long trend, it is dangerously close to becoming one.
This is a rather large drop off. Part of this might be the fact Rodgers sat through most of the preseason and only attempted 13 passes. Rodgers has been a little off early. This has been a common trend in recent seasons. The hope is that the veteran signal caller will pull out of his funk soon. The next several games will be against considerably easier competition than Atlanta and Seattle.
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