Aaron Rodgers’ Critics Won’t Let a Little Thing Like Four Touchdowns Stop Them

Aaron Rodgers did not silence his critics by throwing four touchdowns against the Lions on Sunday. 

He made them pause a little bit, however, forced some columns to be rescheduled for the next Packers loss, perhaps pushed a “turnaround” narrative into the news cycle for a week. But Rodgers is like a political figure: criticizing him is always fun and profitable. Especially when he is playing “poorly.”

Rodgers knows this. He called the media out last week. And brother, did we have it coming. “No offense, but you guys are predictable,” he said last Wednesday when the press pool arrived with the storyline of the week–that the loss to the Vikings was caused by a stale, predictable offensive game plan. “I knew what the line of questioning was going to be.”

Of course he did. Rodgers criticism is its own literary genre. Here are its characteristics:

Point out how great Aaron Rodgers was from 2008 until September of last year. It sets the stage and heightens the tension. Produce lots of stats illustrating a year-long slump. These are not hard to find; Rodgers’ numbers declined sharply last year. But you have to dig deep to make your contribution to the Rodgers criticism genre stand out. That might mean discarding touchdown/interception ratio as an indicator of quarterback quality in favor of completion rate, something experienced NFL statisticians never do unless they are making a point about a quarterback with an outstanding touchdown/interception ratio but a low completion rate. It might also mean comparing Rodgers’ statistics to those of some mediocre quarterback; Blaine Gabbert is a great choice because of his inflated completion rate and yardage totals on meaningless passes. Downplay the obvious. After hammering on the obvious for several paragraphs, point out that Jordy Nelson was injured last year. Perhaps also mention that Eddie Lacy was overweight. And that the Packers lacked third, fourth or fifth wide receivers and a true receiving threat at tight end. You could even mention that Don Barclay, one of the worst offensive linemen in the NFL, started several of Rodgers’ worst games last year. Or bring up that shoulder injury that popped up on the November injury reports, or the knee scope he needed soon after the season. Gosh, why-oh-why didn’t Rodgers record many 300-yard, four-touchdown seasons last year? ‘Tis such a mystery. End with some equivocating “maybe he will turn things around” sentiment. Just in case.

Rodgers criticism blossoms every time he “struggles.” The word belongs in quotes because poor Rodgers games would look great on the resume of Ryan Fitzpatrick or Kirk Cousins.

Rodgers threw for 779 yards, six touchdowns and one interception in a three-game losing streak that featured two losses to eventual Super Bowl teams last year. In that stretch, Rodgers had one terrible game against the Broncos defense, then two pretty good ones. I spent that month fielding What’s Wrong With Aaron Rodgers questions on dozens of radio shows. The answer was that he had one decent receiver and a dump truck for a running back and he was facing some of the best opponents in the NFL.

The phenomenon has …

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