There are going to be a lot of defensive coordinators who watched the Packers offense against Miami from this weekend and start throwing shit around their office, or promptly go out and get a drink.
Aaron Rodgers has a new weapon
The Packers quarterback is already one of the best players in the league, and now he’s got a new toy in an already scary surrounding cast.
Mike Ehrmann
Why, you ask?
Well the Packers have given their All-World starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers a pretty good offensive line, a decent running game with Eddie Lacy and James Starks, a better-than-average receiving tight end in Andrew Quarless and two excellent wide receivers in Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb. All those guys are hard enough to defend -- and now after Sunday's win it appears rookie second round pick Davante Adams might make that three excellent wide receivers in Rodgers' back pocket very, very soon.
I am not sure if the Dolphins game was meant to be a coming out party of sorts for Adams, but Rodgers did throw to him on the first two plays of the game. He caught both passes for 5 and 18 yards, respectively. Rodgers also showed faith in him by throwing his way on an early 3rd and 9, which he converted for an 11-yard reception.
Of course the biggest sign of all that he already has Rodgers’ trust is that it was Adams who caught that fake spike play at the end of the game with less than 30 seconds to go. There were a lot of different negative things that could have happened with that play and only maybe three potential positive things. Still, out of every eligible receiver on the field on that play, Rodgers chose to throw the ball to Adams.
I think that says a lot about what Rodgers thinks about Adams only six games into his career. I also believe that it will give Adams a little more confidence in himself going forward knowing that Rodgers trusts him with the game on the line. Adams ended up with 6 catches for 77 yards, both of which were new highs in his young career.
As a practical matter, having another true legitimate outside wide receiver will allow Cobb to work out of the slot more where he can really get busy. It will also eventually prevent teams from rolling their coverage to Nelson as they are some times wont to do. I say “eventually” because Adams is going to have to burn a few cats one-on-one first to convince them leaving him singled up is a very bad idea. From what I saw on Sunday, that shouldn’t be too hard.
Half the time Rodgers plays like he has all the cheat codes, and the talent around him already made him damn near unfair. If Adams continues to develop at this rate the Packers offense is going to be giving defensive coordinators ulcers for years to come.
Sidenote: I certainly noticed Adams' fellow rookie second round draft pick, Dolphins wide receiver Jarvis Landry, and his play Sunday against the Packers. He isn't in nearly as good a situation as Adams, in my opinion, but he had six catches of his own for 75 yards and a touchdown. He also averaged 45 yards on two kickoff returns. I knocked him a couple of weeks back for his poor decision as a punt returner, but that kid is also a baller and definitely worth keeping an eye on.
*Also: When I say Aaron Rodgers is unfair, what I think of is how he does guys like Dolphins left defensive end Cameron Wake, who also happens to be one of my favorite pass rushers. Wake had a tremendous game on Sunday -- 1.5 sacks, including a forced fumble on one and a ton of pressures. But I bet he woke up today thinking about a 4th-and-1 play in the middle of the third quarter, when he had Rodgers all but wrapped up and the Packers QB still found a way to complete the pass to Nelson for a first down.
Or how about Olivier Vernon, who also had a 1.5 sacks, beating left tackle David Bakhtiari clean with an inside swim move on a later fourth down and running right through Rodgers' chest only to look up and notice he still completed the pass, again to Nelson, for not only a first down, but also put Green Bay in position to score that final go-ahead touchdown.
That’s what I mean by unfair!
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