Packers (and Titans) fans are hurting today, with their teams being the first No. 1 seeds to both lose on opening weekend since 2010. Why even try to earn a first-round bye? Neither Green Bay nor Tennessee seemed to gain an advantage from it. In any case, it was the latest in a long string of playoff disappointments for likely MVP Aaron Rodgers.
Rodgers lifted the Packers to a Super Bowl win back after that 2010 season, knocking off the top seeded Falcons on the way. Since that time, he and the Packers have gone 7-9 in the postseason, with a couple of excruciating losses in there. With respect to the overtime loss to Seattle in 2014, yesterday was one of the worst.
Certainly, this one should mostly be blamed on special teams. The Packers had a field goal blocked, and the only touchdown they allowed came on a blocked punt. If either of those breakdowns doesn't happen, they probably eke out a win. But the fact that their offense managed just a single field goal after an opening drive touchdown is pretty damning.
It was a failing of the offense that's been common to the team's playoff losses over the past dozen years. Rodgers and the offense have put up very good numbers in wins, very poor numbers in losses.
First table shows Rodgers in playoff wins. He's averaged 294 passing yards and 2.3 touchdown passes, while throwing a single interception in those seven games. His quarterback rating was 109.6 and he took an average of just over 2 sacks per game. Strong numbers for him, and the offensive line protecting him.
| RODGERS IN PLAYOFF WINS, SINCE 2010 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Opp | Result | Yds | TD | Int | Rate | Sk |
| 2012 | Min. | W 24-10 | 274 | 1 | 0 | 104.9 | 3 |
| 2014 | Dall. | W 26-21 | 316 | 3 | 0 | 125.4 | 1 |
| 2015 | at Was. | W 35-18 | 210 | 2 | 0 | 93.5 | 1 |
| 2016 | NYG | W 38-13 | 362 | 4 | 0 | 125.2 | 5 |
| 2016 | at Dall. | W 34-31 | 355 | 2 | 1 | 96.6 | 3 |
| 2019 | Sea. | W 28-23 | 243 | 2 | 0 | 113.7 | 2 |
| 2020 | LAR | W 32-18 | 296 | 2 | 0 | 108.1 | 0 |
| Average | 293.7 | 2.3 | 0.1 | 109.6 | 2.1 | ||
The numbers in the team's nine playoff losses, in contrast, are dramatically different. Rodgers averaged 35 fewer passing yards, half a touchdown pass fewer, and threw 9 interceptions in those nine games. His passer rating slipped to 87, and he was sacked an average of nearly 3 times per game. Two years in a row he's been sacked 5 times in a season-ending loss.
| RODGERS IN PLAYOFF LOSSES, SINCE 2010 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Opp | Result | Yds | TD | Int | Rate | Sk |
| 2011 | NYG | L 20-37 | 264 | 2 | 1 | 78.5 | 4 |
| 2012 | at S.F. | L 31-45 | 257 | 2 | 1 | 91.5 | 1 |
| 2013 | S.F. | L 20-23 | 177 | 1 | 0 | 97.8 | 4 |
| 2014 | at Sea. | L 22-28 | 178 | 1 | 2 | 55.8 | 1 |
| 2015 | at Ariz. | L 20-26 | 261 | 2 | 1 | 77.9 | 1 |
| 2016 | at Atl. | L 21-44 | 287 | 3 | 1 | 91.6 | 2 |
| 2019 | at S.F. | L 20-37 | 326 | 2 | 2 | 97.2 | 3 |
| 2020 | T.B. | L 26-31 | 346 | 3 | 1 | 101.6 | 5 |
| 2021 | S.F. | L 10-13 | 225 | 0 | 0 | 91.9 | 5 |
| Average | 258 | 1.8 | 1 | 87.1 | 2.9 | ||
Rodgers is one of the all-time greats; about the only reason the Packers are annually in the playoffs. It hasn't been a special defense for a long time, and Davante Adams is the only noteworthy receiver this team has had in recent memory. The Jordan Love selection is a draft-day choice that has certainly factored heavily into the playoff disappointments the last two years, when they certainly could have made a different pick that helped the team win a couple of close games it lost. And again: special teams lost yesterday's game.
But no one will dispute that Rodgers himself has come up small in the playoffs. He's had chances at the end to win a lot of these games, and hasn't got it done. Whatever happens going forward -- retirement, going to a new team, coming back for one more run with Green Bay -- those disappointments will color the memories of his lengthy career.
--Andy Richardson