Aaron Rogers showed off his legs in a 27-17 Green Bay (2-0) victory over the Seattle Seahawks (0-2) in-front of a national audience on Sunday night. Rogers took advantage of poor containment around the edges by Seattle’s front seven throughout the night.

Rogers averaged 4.8 yards per carry vs. the vaunted Seahawks defense. (Courtesy of Gray Flannel Suits)
Green Bay took the lead for good when Rodgers found Richard Rogers in the endzone for a five-yard touchdown; the quarterback then found Rogers in the endzone again for the two-point conversion. The touchdown occurred after the pocket collapsed around Rodgers and he scrambled into the open field to hit Rogers for the go-ahead score.
Green Bay would tack on a field goal late in the fourth quarter to earn the final margin of victory.
Seattle’s defense struggled with containing Rodgers within the pocket all night as regularly escaped and extend the play. Rodger’s mobility seemed to surprise the Seahawks’ defenders as failed to seal the outside edge, consistently leaving the experienced QB a lane to escape. This continued failure of the Hawks’ defensive line was the result of over pursuits and missed assignments.
While the in-ability to seal the outside edge was upsetting, the defense’s continued use of arm tackles left was absolutely infuriating. Tailback James Stark, replacing an injured Eddie Lacy, escaped Seattle defenders with ease as they reached out with one arm in an attempt to slow down the lumbering running back. It didn’t matter which running back Seattle’s defense faced, they couldn’t stop either of them on Sunday night. And that’s spells trouble for the rest of the season.
On the offensive side of the ball, Seattle’s offensive line struggled to keep the pocket clean (again) and it through the offensive line out of sorts. Quarterback Russell Wilson was consistently forced to scramble as play, after play, was blown up by the Packers’ front seven. The offensive line’s struggles shutdown Seattle’s rushing attack as Marshawn Lynch had no impact on the game — Lynch carried the all 15 times for 41 yards, 2.7 yards per carry; in fact, Wilson was Seattle’s leading rusher on Sunday as he carried the ball 10 times for 78 yards. It was a disappointing performance for a team that is run the ball down its opponents throats.
Darrell Bevell called a better game against Green Bay, which is encouraging, but it only lead to 17-points…and that is a big problem. But it wasn’t his fault the offense was ineffective against the Packers on Sunday as the players were unable to execute on the field, or hold onto the ball throughout the fourth quarter; this put a lot of pressure on a defense that has been stretched thin by hold-outs and injuries.
Seattle faces Chicago in its first home game of the season next week, while Green Bay hosts Kansas City.
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Categories: NFL