Corys Corner: The OL must limit Aaron Rodgers' hits
Like the rest of the NFL, the Packers have been gutted by injuries. But even though Rodgers isn’t “coming back to save this team,” he will be pushed by a Carolina defensive front that will flush him out of the pocket.
Everyone is confident.
People are breathing a sigh of relief as they kick up their Packers slippers.
Aaron Rodgers is back and Packers fans are chuckling at how much better Rodgers is than Cam Newton, Case Keenum and Matthew Stafford. Rodgers is in a different latitude and longitude than those three. It isn’t close.
The difference is up front. The Packers have played five offensive tackles this season — including some guy named Ulrick John. They have also played four guards this year including some guy named Lucas Patrick.
Like the rest of the NFL, the Packers have been gutted by injuries. But even though Rodgers isn’t “coming back to save this team,” he will be pushed by a Carolina defensive front that will flush him out of the pocket.
Many will automatically point to Rodgers if the offense and the Packers bob and weave into the postseason. However, it’s completely up to the offensive line. Green Bay has allowed 85 quarterback hits this season — that’s ninth in the league. You know what team is No. 8? The Eagles who just lost their franchise quarterback last week, crashing and burning their season.
It’s obvious that Rodgers isn’t 100 percent. If he were, there wouldn’t have been a decision. The Packers obviously weighed the pros and cons and decided to get after it this season. I give Rodgers a lot of credit for getting back on the saddle when he knows that Las Vegas is giving the Packers a 28 percent chance to make the postseason.
The hardest thing for a football player returning from injury is to mimic being hit. It’s a paradox because the player is handled with kid gloves in practice and the moment he is declared ready, he hasn’t stared a 275-pound bull rush in the face in weeks. That isn’t easy.
In order to make that transition easier, the offensive line needs to at least be the Robin to Rodgers’ Batman. That’s a big ask vs. a team that is third in the league in sacks. And of the Panthers’ 40 sacks, 32 have come from the defensive front.
What makes Rodgers stick out is his ability to throw deep and accurately on the run. Normally defenses are content to get a quarterback out of the pocket and out of the supposed comfort zone. However, Rodgers has an innate ability to complete passes with weird arm angles while under duress.
The silver lining has been the last seven games. Brett Hundley is fourth in the NFL in time to throw at 2.95 seconds — much higher than Rodgers’ 2.67 seconds through six games. Hundley got more time than many think, the problem was that he had no awareness and vision and often got caught in a thicket of bodies as opposed to stepping up and making the throw.
Rodgers will not only step up but he will also sidestep. What the Panthers are going to try to do is hit him as often as possible. They are going to try to give Rodgers’ collarbone a conscience and make Rodgers think about what could happen vs. what will happen.
And the only way around that is with a stout offensive line.
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Cory Jennerjohn is a graduate from UW-Oshkosh and has been in sports media for over 15 years. He was a co-host on "Clubhouse Live" and has also done various radio and TV work as well. He has written for newspapers, magazines and websites. He currently is a columnist for CHTV and also does various podcasts. He recently earned his Masters degree from the University of Iowa. He can be found on Twitter: @Coryjennerjohn
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Comments (26)
marpag1
December 16, 2017 at 07:03 am
Groundbreaking stuff.
Bearmeat
December 16, 2017 at 09:04 am
.... I ALMOST commented with equal snark marpag. But I LOL'd and upvoted you instead after reading your mic drop.
marpag1
December 16, 2017 at 10:28 am
Looks like you commented one way or the other. ;
Qoojo
December 16, 2017 at 01:38 pm
Let's "think" outside of the box, do they really need to protect their franchise, and future HoF QB, that is almost the sole reason for them being competitive?
TarynsEyes
December 16, 2017 at 10:49 am
Every contributor here at CHTV writes about what is obvious to most already. and most comments, regardless of article usually gravitate to the same rhetoric over and over.
It all comes down to ' what if's..if only's....you're not a fan...kool-aid...etc.
Every article is like watching game film....everyone reads and sees it differently.
Thegreatreynoldo
December 16, 2017 at 10:52 am
Way too much snark. It is kind of a reflex now for Cory's articles. There were several interesting nuggets of information in the article. QB hits, time to pass of a whopping 2.95 for BH (4th in the league) and 2.67 for AR, and 32 of Carolina's 40 sacks coming from the DL (allowing them to drop 7 in coverage) were all interesting.
GB has allowed 85 QB hits, 24th in the NFL. 69 is average. Nota Bene: 35 hits were in the first 5 games with AR at QB, or an average of 7/game. We average 6.25/game with BH at QB. League average is 5.3 QB hits/game. We are 29th in sacks allowed with 43 (3.3/game), while 30 (2.3/game) is what the 16th ranked team allowed.
Not good on the surface. Note that AR was sacked 19 times in the first 5 games, a 3.8 average. This is due to both OTs being out and playing a really makeshift, 4 guard line. We gave up 24 sacks in the next 8 games with BH at QB, or an average of 3, despite BH being terrible at avoiding sacks and QB hits. Still, the stats with BH are still below average, but OL personnel and BH's inability to avoid sacks and hits has to be considered.
http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorystats?tabSeq=2&offensiveStatisticCatego...
CoryJennerjohn
December 16, 2017 at 12:42 pm
Coming from you Marpag that means...nothing.
NickPerry
December 16, 2017 at 07:16 am
The absolute best thing that could happen Sunday is they continue to run the ball successfully. How many times have we watched McCarthy try and run the ball maybe 8-10 times without much success and then completely bail on trying to run. The Packers can't afford to be one dimensional against the Panthers and next week against the Vikings for that matter. Nothing slows down a pass rush better than a running game. If Williams and Jones can continue to have success on the ground that will go a long ways in keeping Rodgers upright.
Tundraboy
December 16, 2017 at 08:18 am
Me thinks the OL is going to have a big chip on their shoulders this week. Run the ball a lot. Pass defense like hell, and let's see what happens. GPG
Tundraboy
December 16, 2017 at 06:58 pm
Did I piss someone off.
dobber
December 16, 2017 at 07:05 pm
Just a bunch of 'unlikers' who are thumbs-downing comments.
We still like you.
Thegreatreynoldo
December 17, 2017 at 01:28 am
Content seemed fine. I generally see methinks as one word. I'm just happy to see it from time to time in print. My son used the word on a paper in middle school and his teacher downgraded him because she said it wasn't a word. Me being me, I sent her a list of 17 books in which the word appears, including several by Shakespeare, and copies of dictionary definitions. I suggested that using an admittedly archaic word for stylistic purposes or for emphasis should be perfectly fine. She agreed.
Have a couple of thumbs up to even things out a bit.
Tundraboy
December 17, 2017 at 11:06 am
Yes one word.
Tundraboy
December 17, 2017 at 11:03 am
Yes 3 semesters of Shakespeare at my Jesuit school.
Tundraboy
December 17, 2017 at 11:05 am
Deleted
Tundraboy
December 17, 2017 at 11:05 am
Thumbs up Dobber.
Big T2
December 16, 2017 at 09:12 am
Rodgers is an adrenaline freak. No one else in the league would attempt to play behind the packers O-line. Rodgers knows after every snap he could be snapped in half. He loves the challenge of a porous O-line. He knows he is playing behind the worst O-line in football and it excites him. He is a beast with gigantic balls to play the way he does. Just imagine Rodgers with an O-line he would probably have 5 rings right now.
marpag1
December 16, 2017 at 10:26 am
Hundley took a lot of sacks, and the O-line has been banged up this year. But in the past five years or so, the Packers have consistently fielded some of the very best PASS BLOCKING lines in the entire league. Anyone who says that ARod has been playing behind a "porous O-line" doesn't have a clue.
You can think what you want about PFF, but here is how they ranked the Packers O-line for pass blocking over the past five years.
2012 - 11
2013 - 3
2014 - 1
2015 - 5
2016 - 1
Thegreatreynoldo
December 16, 2017 at 12:05 pm
Agree, Marpag. Moreover, I think these stats should be adjusted by personnel. Many of us noted how well we ran the ball when we played 4 guards and an OC on the OL. So, I would at least mentally consider us not to be nearly as good as 5th in run blocking, and not as bad as 30th in pass pro with current personnel.
For instance, per FO, we rank 6th running off LE (16% of our runs while 11% is league average), 2nd off LT (13%/13% league average), 20th middle (49%/54% league average), 2nd off RT (13%/13%) and 15th off RE (8%/9%).
Linsley, Evans and Taylor have played a lot (100%, 100%, 87% of possible snaps, respectively). Bakh is up to 65%, but Bulaga played only 27%. So, McCray (55%), Murphy (27%), Spriggs (24%), Patrick (11%), even Ulrick (4.4%) have been significant parts of our OL this year.
Someone with a better memory than I have might have a good sense of which positions these guys played, and against whom. Based on these stats, running to the right (2nd and 15th ranked) seems like a good idea (not as good as running to the left though) but I am not sure running behind Spriggs and Evans actually is that great of an idea.
It also seems like we've played a lot of teams with good NTs and run defenses. So far: MN (3rd), Cleveland (6th), Seattle (8th), Pitt (9th), Dallas (11th), Atlanta (12th), Balt (13th), CHI (14th - twice), TB (17th), NO (19th) Detroit (20th), and Cincy (32). We are about to play Carolina (4th), MN (3rd) and Detroit (20th) so it doesn't get easier. If you look at rushing yards allowed per attempt, out opponents rank 1st, 6th, 8th, 9th, 10th (twice), 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st, 23rd, 25th (Pitt at 4.3/attempt) and 25th. OTOH, the last 8 games we've seen a ton of 8 in the box, and only the single high safety getting any real depth. This might explain why our 2nd level running stats are decidedly mediocre to below average. There are just a lot of defenders occupying that 2nd level five to 11 yards off the LOS.
Rossonero
December 16, 2017 at 09:25 am
While the O-line needs to play well, Rodgers also needs to learn this hard lesson: Get rid of the ball when there's nothing there.
Prior to the injury, there were so many times I cringed with him dancing around. Sure, he makes some great plays on the run, but there's also plenty of times where he's taken unnecessary hits. It might be extreme, but I'd bet 25% of the sacks he takes each season are not due to the O-line, but due to him holding onto it for too long.
If he really wants to be like Tom Brady and play into his 40s, he needs to start getting rid of the football more quickly. Taking big hits and breaking bones is not going to lead to longevity.
Thegreatreynoldo
December 17, 2017 at 03:19 am
IIRC, McGinn usually assigns around 40% of sacks to AR.
EDIT: I found the data printed by McGinn for 2016:
36.67% of sacks were AR's fault;
47.78% of sack were attributed to the Offensive line;
13.34% of sacks were attributed to RBs and TEs;
2.22% of sacks (1 of 45) had no individual fault assigned.
14.80% of pressures were AR's fault
64.56% of pressures were attributed to the OL;
8.98% of pressures were attributed to RBs and TEs
11.65 of pressures (24/206) no individual fault assigned.
However, it appears that AR's responsibility for sacks varies a lot depending on the year:
2009: 30% of sacks attributed to AR;
2011: 14.44% of sacks assigned to AR;
2013: 22.00% of sacks assigned to AR;
2014: 33.34% of sacks assigned to AR;
2015: 20.40% of sacks assigned to AR;
2016: 36.67% of sacks assigned to AR.
Rossonero
December 16, 2017 at 03:06 pm
Interesting, I didn't know that. Thanks Reynoldo.
CoryJennerjohn
December 16, 2017 at 12:40 pm
I agree with the Tom Brady sentiment, and you could take it a step further. Brady has learned how to fall a certain way to mitigate injury and he has transformed his muscles to better absorb collisions.
Rossonero
December 16, 2017 at 03:08 pm
Thanks. While the falling part is tough to diagnose (depends on how you're hit), I do agree about him transforming his muscles through a ton of stretching. Brady is really big on flexibility, which has been proven to reduce injury and increase speed and agility.
TKWorldWide
December 16, 2017 at 05:00 pm
Golly I think all players ought to transform their muscles thusly.
TKWorldWide
December 16, 2017 at 09:18 am
I don’t think 12 cares what odds Vegas gives GB.