Aaron Rodgers passes were intercepted five times in 2014, but how many of those interceptions were the cause of Mr. Ball-Security letting his guard down and making a poor decision?
Let’s review.
Aaron’s first interception of the season came in the first week against the *grumble, grumble* Seattle Seahawks. With their backs to their own endzone Aaron fired the ball to Jordy Nelson on a crossing pattern. Uncharacteristic of Jordy, the ball hit him in both hands and went through. It didn’t simply drop to the ground though. It ricocheted into the air and was picked off by Maxwell. [Not Aaron’s fault.]
He didn’t throw another interception until week 8 when he was picked off twice by the Saints.
The first time, the Packers were marching and had walked down to the goal line. Aaron hit Quarless on a slant. Again, the ball was very catchable. The Saints’ White got a hand in front of Quarless and tipped the ball out of the endzone, back onto the field of play and into the waiting arms of Hawthorne. It was a good defensive play, but (more importantly) it was a weak effort on the part of a tight end who had been placed in a perfect position to get his bigger body between the pass and the smaller defender. [Not Aaron’s fault.]
The second INT in that game came early in the fourth quarter. Just past the midfield mark, Aaron got flushed out of the pocket and attempted to connect with Adams who was fading back to the inside. The ball was thrown a bit too far inside. Adams was able to get one big paw on the ball but it popped into the air and was snagged out of the sky by White. While the pass was off the mark, a receiver has to either catch the thing or become the defender and bat the pass to the ground. [Aaron’s fault? Probably.]
Aaron’s final two interceptions of the season came in week 15 against the Bills.
In the third quarter, the Packers were starting at the 20 yard line. Aaron tossed one to Cobb but the ball was thrown way behind him and picked off by Rambo. [Aaron’s fault.]
In the fourth quarter of that game. The Packers, down 10-16 and needing to convert on third down and three yards to go, sent Jarett Boykin on a short slant. The ball hit him in both hands and popped into the air where it was again intercepted by Rambo ten yards behind Boykin. [Not Aaron’s fault.]
When we look at the 2014 Rodgers passes that were intercepted, the reality of the situation is that aside from the receivers not holding up their end of some of those passes, Aaron was just a pass or two away from not throwing a single interception all season long.
Wow!
Yeabut – every QB, every single year, has INTs that go off the hands of their receivers – and they all count the same. 😉 There’s been too many times when Rodgers took a sack instead of throwing the ball away, which should count against his QB rating. And there’s times that I’d prefer the way Favre threw deep INTs on 3rd down, at least giving his receivers a chance to make a play, which resulted the same as punts. Still, there’s no denying how lucky we are to have Rodgers at the helm. Go Pack go!
To be fair, Rodgers would have had more interceptions had the defender not dropped the pass. It all comes out in the wash.