Green Bay Packers: 3 Takeaways vs Falcons in Week 2
By Nick Sparrow
1. Rodgers continues to impress, despite slow start
Sure, Aaron Rodgers hasn’t thrown a single touchdown pass in the first halves of either Green Bay this season. However, Rodgers has still thrown for 654 yards and three touchdowns on the season. It appeared that Rodgers and the Packers offense were in a major slump for the first half of the 2016 season. This season it isn’t a slump, as much as it seems they are taking the first half of games off.
The Packers have outscored opposing offenses 33-9 in the second of their games so far this season. If Rodgers can find a way to get into his normal groove early in games the Packers offense will be just as impressive as we all expected it to be. However, until that happens it seems that Packers will just have to hope they don’t fall behind enough in the first half that Rodgers can’t big the team out in second, which happens to be exactly what happened against the Falcons on Sunday night.
It is concerning the amount that Rodgers has turned the ball over. Rodgers has thrown two interceptions and fumbled once in his first two games. However, both of Rodgers’ interceptions have come in the first half of games, when the offense clearly is out of sync, and his fumble on Sunday night was controversial and probably could have just as easily been called an incomplete pass.
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Packers fans shouldn’t necessarily be fine by the way their team is playing, but it is important to put everything into context. In their first two games, Green Bay has faced two of the best teams in the NFC and they are still 1-1. The Packers struggled last season all the way until Week 12 and still made the NFC Championship Game. In words of Rodgers himself, relax.