Packers vs. Lions: Tale of the tape for Week 6 matchup
Quarterbacks
Aaron Rodgers
Aaron Rodgers has been having a decent season. His stats aren’t what they were in 2014, but he is taking care of the ball. Last season, he threw just two interceptions. Through five games this year, he has thrown just one interception.
Last week, he didn’t even throw a touchdown, but that’s okay. Aaron Jones had the game of his life and ran for four touchdowns so Rodgers didn’t have to throw a touchdown. In fact, Rodgers even said that he thought it was his best game of the year.
Through five games, Rodgers has thrown for 1,307 yards, six touchdowns, and just one interception. These aren’t the eye-popping stats we have gotten used to with Rodgers, but we have to remember he’s 35 years old. Father Time is undefeated. At this point in his career, making those ridiculous throws he’s made look easy in the past won’t appear as often. There are still flashes, like the pass to Robert Tonyan last week, but not as frequent as in the past.
Rodgers may have lost a step, but he is still one of the better quarterbacks in the league.
Matthew Stafford
Matthew Stafford always seems to be a little forgotten about, especially since Calvin Johnson retired. The former number one pick hasn’t necessarily lived up to the potential of his high draft position.
He has, however, had a nice start to the season. He’s running this new offense well and has a nice complement of weapons at his disposal.
He doesn’t have the yards Rodgers does, just 1,122, but he has 11 touchdown passes and just two interceptions. Now, if you compare the defenses each quarterback has faced, Stafford has faced a lot less talented defenses than Rodgers has. In pass defense, he’s faced defenses ranked 24th, eighth, 27th, and 13th in pass defense, respectively. That’s an average of an 18th ranked defense so far this season.
To put that in perspective, Rodgers has faced the 11th, sixth, fifth, 27th, and ninth ranked pass defenses. An average of about the 12th ranked team each week. So yes, Stafford has had a nice season so far, but he hasn’t necessarily been tested as Rodgers has.