The Packers’ last offensive play in Thursday night’s loss to the Seahawks was an incomplete pass that Aaron Rodgers wishes he could have back.
The play was a third-and-2 and Marquez Valdes-Scantling was open for a first down. Rodgers threw to him but missed badly. He said afterward that it was an easy pass he could make 100 times in a row.
“I could do that a hundred times and probably not do that again,” Rodgers said. “It was a gimme. It was a gimme out there. It stuck to my hand.”
Whether the ball is sticking to his hand or whatever else the reason may be, the fact is Rodgers is missing a lot of throws he used to make. This season Rodgers has a completing 61.8 percent of his passes, which is a significant decline from his career average of 64.9 percent. And that decline is particularly concerning because it’s happening in an NFL season when passing offenses are exploding: The league-wide completion percentage is 65.1 percent.
Rodgers signed the biggest contract in NFL history before the season, so the Packers are heavily invested in seeing him play like the Rodgers of old. With Mike McCarthy looking unlikely to make it to 2019, that’s going to be the top priority of the Packers’ next coach.