Man, it felt good to watch the Green Bay Packers win a football game again.
Even though the Packers took a beating from the New Orleans Saints in Florida in Week 1, for the most part, I had confidence that they would eventually bounce back.
My wife and I made the six-hour drive to Green Bay for the game, and settled into the bleachers for a classic NFC North battle. After the first 30 minutes, however, my confidence in the bounce-back was a little bit shaken.
Luckily, the team in green and gold got it figured out, came back and scored 21 unanswered points to earn the 35-17 win over the Detroit Lions on Monday Night Football. I think a large part of that was Aaron Rodgers looking much more like himself.
I don’t necessarily mean him throwing four touchdowns, dropping dimes and showing a little bit of his well-known swagger. Although, that was awesome.
What I’m talking about is exactly what he referenced today during Aaron Rodgers Tuesday on the Pat McAfee Show.
Throwing in-rhythm.
The returning MVP made mention during the show that he aimed to be much more in-rhythm this week against the Lions, which is something he said he lacked in Week 1.
There were plays against New Orleans where Rodgers was a little late to make the throw, or looked for the big play instead of taking what the defense gave him.
Whether it had anything to do with time away during the offseason, not playing in the pre-season or just a bad game – we may never know.
Against Detroit, however, it looked like a step in the right direction. But even though he threw for four touchdowns and had a solid stat-line, I don’t think it was a spectacular game from 12 by any means.
He missed Marquez Valdes-Scantling a couple times on deep throws, made a questionable throw into double coverage that Davante Adams had to play defensive back for and ran into a couple sacks.
Outside of those plays, Rodgers was back to normal. He looked much better, much more comfortable and willing to take the easy throws that the defense gave him.
If we can continue to see Rodgers show some growth over the next couple weeks, I’m confident that this offense can score points against anyone – and that Week 1 was an anomaly.
Now, the defense on the other hand…
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Gunnar Davis is a lifelong Packers fan and a recent graduate of Simpson College, where he was a 3-year letterwinner on the offensive line and graduated with a degree in multimedia communications. You can follow him on Twitter at @Gunnar57Davis.
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