"Packers Coach Matt LaFleur uses presnap motion and other window dressing to help inexperienced receivers get open for short passes, and Rodgers has never been fond of motion, inexperienced receivers, short passes or head coaches."
I love this post! I mean, I love all of Mike’s posts, but I’m glad he did the equivalent of an “emergency podcast” to address the Saleh firing. My sincere question is how good is Rodgers right now as a QB? In the 12th-20th range or lower? Obviously not worth his salary and the DRAMA, but is he still at least somewhat competent/average?
DVOA has the Jets' offense ranked 23rd. I don't have access to how their passing game ranks or how Rodgers' ranks versus all QBs, but I doubt it's any higher than the 12th-20th range you suggested. Rodgers had one really good game, against NE, where he looked like did in his prime, so he can still flash brilliance.
Rodgers has made some amazing decisions and throws over the last 3 weeks. Plays where he just flicked the ball at the last moment to a WR in the one spot where he could catch it.
Rodgers' lack of mobility has become a bigger and bigger issue, and Hackett's offense doesn't appear to have a solution to blitzers firing right off the edge. I am guessing that opponents (Broncos, not Vikings) who would not have dared blitz Rodgers in that way 4 years ago are doing it now, in search of easy sacks.
He is not a BAD QB now by any means. He's like a top 10-20 guy. But fading.
The number of Faustian bargains involved in creating this tangle of Jets Pride and Jets Sin would require John Constantine or Stephen Strange to unravel.
A few years ago Aaron was making goofy Doritos commercials and angling for a spot next to the Manning brothers on ESPN-Ocho or whatevs. He had a Super Bowl win over alleged human Ben Rothlesberger, isn’t that enough? Football is a team sport, but Aaron Rodgers turned it into a vanity project, a reality show about his quest for more sprinkles on the remains of his once perfect sundae
Rodgers quietly lost the StateFarm endorsement. He is obviously being passed over for other endorsements. No way he gets to host a major game show now. But of course ... that's because of woke.
But…but…Woody said he talked to Rodgers Monday night and he never even mentioned Saleh! What do you suppose they talked about? The scourge of wokeness?
Seriously, that quote from Woody desperately claiming that Rodgers had nothing to do with the firing was so bizarre.
WJ: A-Rod, tough loss in London, yesterday. Don't worry, you'll get 'em next time. How was your flight back?
AR: Not great. Can you get better noise dampeners installed on the middle seats, so I can relax without so much ambient sound drifting forward from the back of the plane? Better yet, how about a full sensory deprivation chamber, so I'm better rested for our next game?
WJ: I'll see what I can do. Go get them Bills on Monday, A-Rod! Oh, PS, I'm firing Saleh tomorrow.
AR: Cool, cool. Get me a wide receiver while you're at it. Davante's worth it. This is no time to be cheap.
LOL. My "anti-Herbert" bit only calcified when Acho called him a Social Media QB in December of 2022. And social media got inordinately insulted. Proving Acho right.
I kept reading all these preview pieces in the summer about how awesome the Jets were going to be and marvelled at the cognitive dissonance - even the Almanac was at it to an extent. I was really hoping the team would fail, maybe by falling agonisingly short in week 17 or something, but this implosion has been more delicious - and thoroughly deserved - than I could ever have imagined.
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: One vast and Achilles-less leg of stone
Stand in the swamp. Near them, on the land,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And hairy lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The arm that mocked them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Rodgmandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
No thing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal stadium, with wins bare
The lone and level fans stretch far away.
This may be the greatest thing I’ve read on Substack.
Thanks to everyone who enjoyed it!
"Packers Coach Matt LaFleur uses presnap motion and other window dressing to help inexperienced receivers get open for short passes, and Rodgers has never been fond of motion, inexperienced receivers, short passes or head coaches."
Excellent line
Almost as a good as "he looked like a cross between a Star Wars cosplayer and a young billionaire who just started jarring his toenail clippings".
"Marshmallow-brained multimillionaire" is glorious prose
Oh man. Mike going full, unrestrained snark on Aaron Rodgers is pretty much why I pay the monthly vig. Pure gold!
This column is a work of art. He ought to have it bronzed
and now to watch, with popcorn, as the Jets self immolate for the favor of a man who just threw 3 INTs.
I love this post! I mean, I love all of Mike’s posts, but I’m glad he did the equivalent of an “emergency podcast” to address the Saleh firing. My sincere question is how good is Rodgers right now as a QB? In the 12th-20th range or lower? Obviously not worth his salary and the DRAMA, but is he still at least somewhat competent/average?
DVOA has the Jets' offense ranked 23rd. I don't have access to how their passing game ranks or how Rodgers' ranks versus all QBs, but I doubt it's any higher than the 12th-20th range you suggested. Rodgers had one really good game, against NE, where he looked like did in his prime, so he can still flash brilliance.
Rodgers has made some amazing decisions and throws over the last 3 weeks. Plays where he just flicked the ball at the last moment to a WR in the one spot where he could catch it.
Rodgers' lack of mobility has become a bigger and bigger issue, and Hackett's offense doesn't appear to have a solution to blitzers firing right off the edge. I am guessing that opponents (Broncos, not Vikings) who would not have dared blitz Rodgers in that way 4 years ago are doing it now, in search of easy sacks.
He is not a BAD QB now by any means. He's like a top 10-20 guy. But fading.
The number of Faustian bargains involved in creating this tangle of Jets Pride and Jets Sin would require John Constantine or Stephen Strange to unravel.
A few years ago Aaron was making goofy Doritos commercials and angling for a spot next to the Manning brothers on ESPN-Ocho or whatevs. He had a Super Bowl win over alleged human Ben Rothlesberger, isn’t that enough? Football is a team sport, but Aaron Rodgers turned it into a vanity project, a reality show about his quest for more sprinkles on the remains of his once perfect sundae
Rodgers quietly lost the StateFarm endorsement. He is obviously being passed over for other endorsements. No way he gets to host a major game show now. But of course ... that's because of woke.
You try finding a good chamberpot sanitizer in this economy. the labor market's too tight! people have options!
But…but…Woody said he talked to Rodgers Monday night and he never even mentioned Saleh! What do you suppose they talked about? The scourge of wokeness?
Seriously, that quote from Woody desperately claiming that Rodgers had nothing to do with the firing was so bizarre.
WJ: A-Rod, tough loss in London, yesterday. Don't worry, you'll get 'em next time. How was your flight back?
AR: Not great. Can you get better noise dampeners installed on the middle seats, so I can relax without so much ambient sound drifting forward from the back of the plane? Better yet, how about a full sensory deprivation chamber, so I'm better rested for our next game?
WJ: I'll see what I can do. Go get them Bills on Monday, A-Rod! Oh, PS, I'm firing Saleh tomorrow.
AR: Cool, cool. Get me a wide receiver while you're at it. Davante's worth it. This is no time to be cheap.
WJ: You're right, A-Rod. I'll see what I can do.
Thay 2022 quote is the nicest thing Mike has ever said about Justin Herbert
LOL. My "anti-Herbert" bit only calcified when Acho called him a Social Media QB in December of 2022. And social media got inordinately insulted. Proving Acho right.
Thoughts and prayers for A-Rod - hopefully he can find a dark cave in which to do his research to turn around the season.
I kept reading all these preview pieces in the summer about how awesome the Jets were going to be and marvelled at the cognitive dissonance - even the Almanac was at it to an extent. I was really hoping the team would fail, maybe by falling agonisingly short in week 17 or something, but this implosion has been more delicious - and thoroughly deserved - than I could ever have imagined.
This is just sad at this point, Mike. Glad you’re getting the clicks, ‘tho.
I feel like a sitar is missing from this article.