Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers might not be thrilled with the offense as called last night. But at the moment, he doesn’t have much choice but to live with it.
After effectively running out of running backs, Rodgers completed 39 of his 56 passes to beat the Bears.
“I think this is closer to how we’re going to have to play moving forward,” Rodgers said, via Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com.
Take a deep breath here, and follow the bouncing ball of their running back position. Eddie Lacy just went on IR after ankle surgery, meaning any comeback will be late in the season. James Starks is out a few more weeks after a knee surgery of his own. They promoted Don Jackson from the practice squad, and he injured his hand after just two carries. That left Knile Davis (acquired in trade during the short week) and a bunch of receivers to do the running, so it was hard to sustain a balanced attack.
“It’s one game; it’s a one-game victory,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. “And that’s really the reflection of how you plan for a season. You do what you have to do, you play how you have to play. We have the ability to run it as much as we need to, the ability to throw it as much as we need to. Obviously Eddie Lacy is a featured, primary player for our offense, so having both him and James not available, you shift gears. Don Jackson obviously was injured there early, it was unfortunate Knile Davis just got here two days ago, so we’ll work through that.”
Rodgers did throw for 326 yards, but it took him until his 55th pass to top 300, and was the first time he’s done that since last November. The lack of deep-passing success (whether it’s on the receivers getting open or Rodgers getting it to them) has been a trend with the Packers lately, and something they have to address at some point.
If, you know, Rodgers’ arm is still attached to his body.