The nature of football is straightforward: score at least one more point than your opponent to win the game.
There are two schools of thoughts on how to design and build a team. The first thought is through defense because if the opponent cannot score against you, you don’t have to score a lot to win. The second one is with an offense because if you have an unstoppable attack, you will always be able to score.
In recent memory, the Green Bay Packers have been known to be an offensive juggernaut. They have had some spectacular seasons, capped off with magical playoff wins; however, the 2011 Green Bay Packers had the greatest offense in NFL history.
Revisiting The 2011 Green Bay Packers: The Greatest Offense in NFL History
Points and Wins
Aaron Rodgers and co rewrote the Packer franchise record books and ranked favorably amongst the league’s best offenses.
They scored a total of 560 points, which averages to 35 per game, both of which rank third all-time. The Pack scored over 40 points six times, including a back-to-back 45 burgers in weeks nine and ten. They failed to score 30 points six times including the agonizing playoff loss to the New York Giants.
At home, they obliterated their opponents 321-171. The lowest scoring output was the 20 points scored in the divisional round loss. In the regular season at home, their worst scoring game was in week six against the then-Saint Louis Rams, when they “only” scored 24 points. Otherwise, in the seven other home games, they scored 30 or more.
On the road, they scored 239 points and allowed 188. They topped 30 points four times, including a 45-point win shootout against the then-San Diego Chargers.
Quarterback Play
The key to an offense is the triggerman, and 2011 was Aaron Rodgers’ best. He threw 45 touchdowns to a mere six interceptions and set a league record with a 122.5 passer rating. The Packers steamrolled their competition on their way to a 15-1 record, which included 13 wins to start the season.
Aaron Rodgers completed 68 percent of his passes and threw for a total of 4,643 yards. The craziest part about all of his stats is that he sat out the final game of the regular season. In week 17, the Pack hosted the Lions, and from the sideline, Rodgers watched his backup, Matt Flynn, torched the Lions to the tune of a franchise record 480 passing yards, six touchdowns and a 45-41 victory over Matthew Stafford.
“During one three-week stretch of the 2011 season, Aaron Rodgers threw 11 touchdowns, zero interceptions and just 18 incomplete passes in 86 attempts,” writes Mike Tanier in his ranking of the greatest offenses in NFL History for bleacherreport.com, “Four of the incomplete passes were drops, and one was a spike to stop the clock. So really, Rodgers went almost a month in which he was as likely to throw a touchdown pass as he was to throw an even slightly off-target pass.”
Rodgers set a franchise record for passing touchdowns in a single season (45) and set an NFL record in passer rating (122.5). The Pack established franchise records for total points scored (560), touchdowns (70), total yards (6,482), and passing yards (4,924).
The Cast
The Packers had an armada of talent around Rodgers and Flynn. The wide receiver position was loaded with talent: Greg Jennings, Donald Driver, Jordy Nelson, James Jones and Randall Cobb. To that group, add big bodies, play-making tight-ends Jermichael Finley and his backup Andrew Quarless.
The Pack had five playmakers with six or more touchdowns. Nelson had 15, Jennings (nine), Finley (eight), Jones (seven), and Driver (six). They had three players with over 50 receptions, including two with 60+ in Nelson (68), Jennings (67), and Finley (55). Green Bay also bolstered six players in the top-100 in yards per receptions with Nelson (18.6), Jones (16.7), Cobb (15), Jennings (14.2), Grant (14.1), and Finley (13.9).
Conclusion
The Packers had high expectations as reigning defending Super Bowl champions, and they smashed through their competition. They demolished their opponents to the tune of averaging 35 points per game. They scored 40+ points six times. Once with their backup quarterback. Moreover, they did all of that despite playing with a below average running game and one of the worst defenses in the NFL. What makes it incredible is they scored a ton of points in summer, winter, day games, night games, at home, and on the road. There is no weakness to this offense.
