GREEN BAY – Aaron Rodgers wasn't pleased.
"That might make some guys sleep tonight," he said of the Packers' ability to win on a day when the offense was off its game, "but it won't make me sleep tonight. It's nice our defense is playing so well."
It's especially nice the Packers defense played as well as it did on Sunday, otherwise this one might be in the loss column. The stats accurately portray the Packers' struggles on offense.
- Eighty-six yards rushing.
- Four of 13 on third down.
- Three giveaways, which included two Rodgers interceptions and a Rodgers fumble.
- An 82.8 passer rating, which is satisfactory for a lot of quarterbacks; Rodgers, however, is the best quarterback.
"Aaron is human. You break it down, you evaluate it and you learn from it. The unfortunate thing on the fumble is we snapped it early and thought we were in free-play mode. That one kind of bit us," Coach Mike McCarthy said.
Even the hard-count/free-play play didn't work. Get ready for the sound of air horns the rest of this season.
All of this resulted in a look on Rodgers' face that was a cross between a frown and a grimace. Monday will, no doubt, be dedicated to intense review and evaluation.
"We've been struggling the last couple of weeks. We've played three NFC West teams. The division is really known for its defense. We struggled. We have to adjust a little better. Obviously, I have to throw it better than I did today. I missed the throw to James (Jones) on the scramble. We turned the ball over too many times," Rodgers said in capsule evaluation.
Do the Packers miss Jordy Nelson? It's become a weekly question.
"Davante Adams, I think, is a Pro Bowl-caliber player. Without him and Jordy, we have to find somebody who can attack the outside. We didn't sustain drives," Rodgers said.
What about those interceptions? It had been 1,043 days since Rodgers had thrown one at Lambeau Field.
"It was fun. It was a lot of fun," Rodgers said of the streak. "I have to start a new one. I figured I'd break the streak with a couple of them."
These were words spoken with painful humor. The only fun thing about this day was the win.
"I think history will be very kind and respectful in recording his streak," McCarthy said.
So what went wrong?
"The protection today was great. We came into the game a little too concerned with the protection. I think we need to trust those guys even more going forward," Rodgers said of his offense.
Yeah, but went wrong?
"Communication wasn't as sharp as it needed to be. There are a lot of things that don't show up on the stats sheet we can benefit from going forward," McCarthy said.
