Aaron Rodgers may not be cleaning up in fantasy leagues the way he used to. But the Packers are doing better than they have in recent years, so for him, that’s enough.
Rodgers needs 321 passing yards Sunday to get to 4,000 for the season, which might not seem hard except he hasn’t thrown for more than 250 in any of their last seven games (in which they’re 5-2).
“I think the level of success and the way that I feel I’m playing is different in this offense this year,” Rodgers said, via Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com. “I don’t need to throw 40 touchdowns for us to win. I need to be great on my checks, be as efficient as possible. I need to take care of the football.”
He’s absolutely done that, as he has the fewest interceptions in the league, and the best touchdown-to-interception ratio (24-3).
Rodgers said he’s not settling by being happy with games like last week, when he was 26-of-40 for 216 yards and no touchdowns, with his first interception since Week Six.
“I felt like last game was one of my better games of the season,” Rodgers said. “You look at the stats and go, ‘OK, you’re (26)-of-40 for 200-something, no touchdowns. What are you talking about? Are you really lowering the bar for yourself that much?’ And I’d say, ‘No, I’m never lowering the bar for myself.’
“The expectations are for greatness, but my responsibility was to get us in checks. My responsibility was to get us in the right protection scheme and take care of the football, and although I threw a pick, I felt like what I needed to do in that game, I was executing at a winning level. But any quarterback wants to throw four or five touchdowns a week. It’s just that hasn’t been the case this year, we haven’t needed it to win 12 games.”
And since that’s ultimately the point, Rodgers will be happy with a more modest stat line, if the Packers can win their 13th game and clinch a first-round bye this week.
