Most NFL quarterbacks are happy after throwing for 298 yards and a touchdown in a shutout victory. Aaron Rodgers isn’t most NFL quarterbacks.
The Packers managed a pretty comfortable 22-0 victory over the Bills on Sunday, but Aaron Rodgers believed the margin should have been much more. He was pretty disgusted with his offense’s inability to rack up points against the Buffalo defense.
On the surface, the Green Bay offense didn’t play too badly. Rodgers threw for 298 yards and the Packers’ committee of running backs managed to grind out 141 yards on the ground. It wasn’t an offensive explosion, but it was more than enough to earn an easy victory over the lowly Bills.
To say that Rodgers wasn’t satisfied would be an understatement. Instead, the All-Pro quarterback insists his team should have put up “about 45 points and 600 yards” on the afternoon. He was particularly critical of the team’s inability to get the ball to star wide receiver Devante Adams.
Rodgers didn’t mention the Bills defense specifically, but his inference was crystal clear. He doesn’t have a ton of respect for the personnel available to Sean McDermott on that side of the ball. Clearly, Rodgers has seen tape of the Ravens putting up 47 on the Bills in Week 1 and the Chargers scoring 31 the following week. When comparing his offense’s output to those groups, it’s understandable that Rodgers is disappointed.
The more interesting question here is who Rodgers blames for the offense’s poor output. He didn’t mention Mike McCarthy by name, but he did make reference to his discontent with the team’s “plan.” He specifically attributed blame to Adams’ lack of target to the plays he was asked to execute.
In all likelihood, all of this tension between Rodgers and his coaching staff will melt away if the Packers offense can light up a few opponents in a row. It’s something that could fester if Green Bay loses a couple of games in a row though. Rodgers knows his time to compete for another Super Bowl is now. He won’t suffer what he considers to be sub par coaching.
Part of what makes Rodgers such a good quarterback is his perfectionist attitude. He certainly fell well short of that standard against the Bills. That’s exactly why he took aim at Buffalo’s weak defense after his team’s shutout victory.