The Seattle Seahawks’ 36-16 drumming of the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night to commence the 2014 NFL season revealed as much about the defending champs as it did their counterpart. Seattle espoused no regression from their 2013 form. The Packers resembled a caricature of a franchise that manifested itself as the class of their division since the early 1990s.
Mike McCarthy’s biggest trepidation for his team should be the side of the ball he’s most invested in as a coach. McCarthy has piloted an offense annually deemed elite when Rodgers assumed full-time quarterbacking duties in 2008. It looked horrid on Thursday night.
Green Bay sought to run upwards of 75 offensive plays versus Seattle. It didn’t pan out very well. The Packers amassed 57 plays from scrimmage. An uptempo offense can only sustain momentum and tire out a defense by staying on the field. Their best display of it came down 29-10 in the fourth quarter. Rodgers directed a 10 play, 82 yard drive that accounted for over five minutes. Randall Cobb’s grab simply made the game’s result academic.
Running back Eddie Lacy had a few big gains on the opening drive, but had an insignificant 34 yards for the game. Part of it was due to being removed from the game with a concussion. McCarthy repudiated with countenance that his offense intentionally veered from cornerback Richard Sherman. The fact Sherman didn’t see a pass thrown in his vicinity was a microcosm of an offense beset with confusion, inefficiency, and desperation.
Seattle’s defense lived up to its stingy reputation. They constrained Aaron Rodgers to 189 passing yards on 23-of-33 pass attempts. Green Bay’s aerial game never stretched the field. Most of Rodgers’ completions targeted underneath receivers or routes that worked sidelines.
Rodgers was intercepted once when his bullet pass on a slant route went off Jordy Nelson’s gloves and into Byron Maxwell’s lap. He was sacked three times, including one where he was stripped and the Seattle earned a safety to distance themselves 22-10 in an ugly second half.
Lacy is going to be the Packers most reliable back since Ryan Grant’s fleeting 2008 and 2009 campaigns. His concussion symptoms aren’t deemed grievous and he should be in uniform to face the New York Jets.
Green Bay has to be thankful. Lacy’s running will ease Rodgers’ burdens. Burdens that have increased tenfold without a true number one receiver. He and Nelson can fill out each other’s sentences with their symbiotic relationship on the field. Synching up with less talented and experienced receivers is already proving to be an impediment. Cobb has worked mostly as a third wide receiver and returner. Tight end Andrew Quarless is a primary tight end target with Jermichael Finley’s spinal cord injury in 2013 prompting a replacement.
Free-agent losses Greg Jennings and James Jones mandated Jarrett Boykin assume a prominent role in the offense. The undrafted receiver has been in McCarthy’s system for two years. Boykin’s Thursday night performance won’t allay Rodgers’ anguish. Boykin failed to shrug off Sherman and didn’t catch one ball.
Rodgers walked off the field and shook hands with the likes of Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor. Sherman intentionally made his way over to Rodgers looking to incite a dramatic exchange. Green Bay’s quarterback didn’t look too amused, but didn’t have much verbal ammunition to shoot back at Sherman.
It’s evident Sherman echoed antics he pulled from last season’s NFC Championship. His arrogant personality couldn’t restrain himself from informing Rodgers how boring the night was on his side of the football field. Stats don’t tell a fib in this regard. Rodgers and his offense were plain useless at CenturyLink Field.
Rodgers signed a five-year, $110 million extension with $62.6 million in guaranteed money. It elevated his status to the highest salary per season in NFL history. He’s come a long way from a late first round pick having to patiently await Brett Favre’s window to shut in Wisconsin.
He proved himself once installed as permanent starter, captured a Super Bowl in 2010, and has been compensated handsomely for matching his predecessor’s accolades. Rodgers was paid, but now he could be paying for taking lump sums of cash up front instead of dispersing it around the roster. Tom Brady has inked lucrative extensions in New England. Albeit ones that are back-loaded to demonstrably minimize his team’s salary cap and luxury tax culpability.
Green Bay won’t face an elite secondary like they did to open 2014 again. Jennings and Jones’ each caught touchdowns in week one for their new teams (Minnesota and Oakland). Rodgers assuredly coveted his two former deep threats in week one. A factor he may have casually dismissed with time spent negotiating exorbitant contracts and filming new StateFarm commercials.