Green Bay Packers fans appeared to cheer Aaron Rodgers as he entered the Monday Night preseason game as a starter (was watching with the sound off, so I can’t say for certain). He proceeded to have more ups than downs during the first quarter of his first start.
The first drive got off to a rough start with a false start on first down. He followed up with a six yard pass and then was sacked on a blitz. On third down he hit a receiver in the hands (again, not sure who because the sound was off and I didn’t get a number written down fast enough) but the ball was dropped, bringing up fourth down.
Rodgers was picked on his second drive when a reasonably well-thrown ball hit a receivers hands but was then stolen away by a Cincinnati defender. But on his third and fourth drives he showed promise. A long pass on second down went just off the hands of, I believe, Ruvell Martin. Rodgers was right on and a better timed dive might have come up with the catch.
On the next play he hit Martin again on an over-the-shoulder catch for about 30 yards. The pass set up a field goal. Finally with about 30 seconds left in the first quarter after a solid drive he hit James Jones. Jones got popped by a defender, losing his helmet in the process. But he bounced off the tackler and sprinted for the end zone on a 30 yard TD. It ended up being Rodgers’ final play of the evening, as Brian Brohm (My pick for the Packers’ true quarterback of the future) replaced him in the second quarter.
Rodgers ended up 9 of 15 for 117 yards with a touchdown and a pick that appeared catchable to me. In fact those numbers could have been considerably better with some help from his receivers.
I’m still not completely sold on Rodgers as the long-term replacement for Favre, especially with Brohm – of whom I am a huge fan – on the roster. But for start number one Packers fans can take more positives than negatives from Rodgers’ performance. It’s only preseason but if he plays like that when the lights shine for real on Sept. 8 the Packers can expect to win a lot of games this season.
ADD: The talking heads at ESPN during the halftime show gave Rodgers kudos not only for his play (they agreed that the receivers could have helped him out) but for his demeanor as well. This is something I meant to mention and forgot about. He looked calm and confident. He came back well after his receivers didn’t catch the ball a few times. And he really did hit a couple nice passes after that as well.
All in all a good start.
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Brohm had an inauspicious start…throwing into triple coverage. There’s no place to go but up…
Very true – Brohm didn’t look great coming out of the gate tonight.
I still like him as the long-term starter, but Brohm – like almost every quarterback – will benefit from not having to play as a rookie.
I didn’t like Rodgers when he was drafted. But one thing that has elevated his status in my eyes is the chance he had to observe for a few seasons on the sidelines. That’s ALMOST always the case.
The ESPN talking head also claimed that “everyone” thought Green Bay was going to fall apart. Really??
Certainly it will be interesting to see how they can do without Favre, but I don’t know anyone who thought the team was just going to sit in the locker room and cry all season.
I also appreciated the insight that one should “win the division” to make it to the playoffs.
Ahh, Sir Whoopass ripping on someone besides the hosts of Zoneblitz. Very refreshing. Have to agree with him on both points – very few people I have talked to think the Packers are going to fall apart this season – they have a very solid team with or without Favre.
And yes, every team, going into the season, should spend at least a few weeks thinking they have a chance to win their division… except Miami, Baltimore and Chicago, who really should sit in the locker room and cry all season.
Yes, but those WR would have caught those passes had Favre thrown them, because they would have been thrown harder, and because they wouldn’t want to let Favre down.
Just ask John Madden.