Was Aaron Rodgers criticizing Mike McCarthy with comments on 'terrible' offense?
He didn’t mention Mike McCarthy by name.
But it sure sounded like Aaron Rodgers was delivering a message to his head coach when lamenting the Green Bay Packers offense after Sunday’s 22-0 win over the Buffalo Bills.
The Packers cruised in beating the lowly Bills, but Rodgers wasn’t satisfied with the way Green Bay’s offense performed.
Rodgers: Packers were ‘terrible on offense’
“We were terrible on offense,” Rodgers said. “We were a championship defensive-level and non-playoff team offensive-level today. That was not great by any stretch of the imagination.”
Those do not sound like the comments of a man coming off a dominant win.
The Packers outgained the Bills 423 yards to 145 and were in control the entire game. But Rodgers had a pedestrian game by his lofty standards, tallying 298 yards, one touchdown and one interception while completing 55 percent of his passes.
“We need to find ways to get our playmakers in position to get some more opportunities,” Rodgers said. “You know, a game like today — Davante [Adams is] a tough cover for anybody, but he should have had 20 targets today. They couldn’t stop him. They dared to play one-high a few times. So, we have to find ways to get him the ball and Jimmy [Graham] as well.”
Rodgers calls out Packers game plan by name
If that didn’t sound like a shot at the calls coming from the sideline, then his idea on how to get Adams more involved certainly did.
“It’s by the plan,” Rodgers said. “Find ways to get him in No. 1 spots.”
Adams led the team with eight catches for 81 yards, but didn’t come up with the kinds of big plays the Packers depend on from their No. 1 receiver.
Have Packers underachieved with Rodgers?
Rodgers and McCarthy have worked together for the entirety of McCarthy’s 13-year tenure as Green Bay’s head coach. It’s a long-term relationship that’s had its rumored friction before.
The two have won a Super Bowl together. But it’s not a stretch to say that the Packers have underachieved over a decade-plus of having arguably the most talented quarterback of his generation at the helm. McCarthy’s refusal to take chances with a talent like Rodgers can largely be blamed for Green Bay’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks in the 2015 NFC championship.
There are surely Packers fans who wonder how McCarthy kept his job following that performance. With Rodgers in his 14th season, there’s only so much time left in his window to win Super Bowls and build on his legacy, a fact he’s surely aware of.
He wasn’t frothing at the mouth on Sunday. But he was, in his own Aaron Rodgers way, looking to light a fire under his offense and, more particularly, how it’s managed.
“No, I’m happy,” Rodgers said. “I’m excited to go home and have a scotch or two.
“But I’m also a realist. That’s just not acceptable offense for us. Four hundred and twenty-three yards looks pretty good in comparison to some of the games we’ve put forward the first three weeks, but it should have been about 45 points and 600 yards.”
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