Packers need more from Aaron Rodgers and offense as they face Eagles on Yahoo Sports app
Aaron Rodgers might finally have a championship-caliber defense with the Green Bay Packers again.
And suddenly we don’t know if Rodgers’ offense is going to be good enough to make it back to a Super Bowl.
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As the Packers get set to face the struggling Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday night, a game that can be live-streamed on the Yahoo Sports app, things would appear just fine in Green Bay. The Packers are 3-0 and have already banked wins against NFC North rivals Chicago and Minnesota.
Yet, there are concerns about an offense that is far from impressive to this point. Rodgers knows that can’t continue.
Packers’ offense hasn’t been impressive
The schedule was set up for a slow start from the Packers’ offense. The Bears and Vikings have stellar defenses. Green Bay played the Denver Broncos in Week 3, and while the Broncos’ defense has mysteriously struggled this season, there is still talent in that group.
Still, it’s strange to see an offense led by Rodgers fail to generate much. The Packers are 23rd in points and 28th in yards through three games. Aside from avoiding interceptions — Rodgers has no interceptions in 93 attempts — the offense ranks below average in just about every significant offensive stat. The Packers had a 21-point outburst in their first three drives against the Vikings, but other than that the offense hasn’t been good.
“It’s time for us to do our part on offense,” Rodgers said, according to Packers.com. “Moving forward, we’re going to play a stretch of really good football teams. At some point, we can’t expect our defense to shut everybody down. They have been but, at some point, the offense is going to have to wake up and start making some plays.”
It’s probably good that Rodgers and the Packers acknowledge the offense needs to improve despite a 3-0 start. It’s harder to figure out if the problems are fixable.
Many factors in offensive struggles for Green Bay
There are many factors involved with the sluggish start by the offense, and the schedule is clearly one. It’s not the only one.
New coach Matt LaFleur brought along a new system, and the only other time he ran an offense was last season with the Tennessee Titans. Tennessee ranked 27th in points and 25th in yards last season, albeit with injury issues to quarterback Marcus Mariota. Still, LaFleur doesn’t have much of a track record. Perhaps we’ll look back and realize LaFleur wasn’t as great his reputation. We don’t know yet.
There are also questions about Rodgers. He turns 36 on Dec. 2. His 2017 and 2018 seasons were filled with injuries and while he wasn’t bad when he played, he hasn’t been up to his normal standards. That has continued this season, and he’s healthy.
The supporting cast is off to a slow start too. Davante Adams has been mostly quiet, with 198 yards and no touchdowns, and Jimmy Graham has just three catches for 30 yards. Rodgers said the Packers need to get both of them going.
Green Bay’s defense has been fantastic through three games. That’s the reason the Packers are 3-0. If the Packers want to keep the good times rolling, the offense needs to show up, too.
“We’ve never wanted to just manage the football game around here,” Rodgers said, according to the Packers’ site. “The standards are very high for us. We’ve got to play a lot better on offense. We’ve played some good defenses, no doubt about it, but the standard and expectations are very high here, and we haven’t met them on offense.”
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Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
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