Rodgers: Pack served ‘humble pie’ in loss to Bolts
Aaron Rodgers confesses that the 26-11 road loss to the Chargers was a ‘slice of humble pie’ and admits that the team has been excessively listening to outside noise. (0:27)
CARSON, Calif. — The Green Bay Packers‘ plans to keep rolling were derailed under the most unusual circumstances Sunday: in a visiting stadium filled with their fans, who expected to see Aaron Rodgers and the offense keep rolling.
Instead, even with an early departure to Southern California on Friday, the Packers put together their worst offensive performance of the season in a 26-11 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, whose fans were outnumbered in their building.
“This is a good slice of humble pie for us,” Rodgers said after he threw for a season-low 161 yards on 23-of-35 passing for just one touchdown.
“We’re kind of rolling, 7-1, and starting to listen to the chatter maybe a little too much. I think this will be a good thing for us. We’ll regroup, go back home and play another good team [Carolina] before the bye.”
Two weeks after his perfect-passer-rating game against the Raiders and a week after he threw three touchdowns to running backs for the first time in his career, Rodgers and the offense put up 50 total yards in the first half.
This was by a team that left Green Bay a day earlier than usual to get acclimated to not only the California heat but also the time change after the long flight.
Rodgers suggested that perhaps that could have been part of the problem. Although he didn’t call out anyone specifically, Rodgers’ comment left open for interpretation whether everyone handled the time in California the right way.
“We’ve got to be honest about our routine and decisions we made the last 48 hours and make sure that our heads are in the right place the next time we come on a big road trip, which will just be in three weeks,” Rodgers said, referring to the Nov. 24 game at the San Francisco 49ers.
“I think it can happen to any team,” Rodgers said. “I don’t think it was complacency at all. Whether it was the trip, not everybody taking care of themselves the right way over the two days or we were just tired or the differences in temperature, but those are just excuses. The facts are that we weren’t locked in from the start, and that’s a little disappointing.”
Rodgers said the offense was not focused. “We didn’t have the energy and the focus that we needed to be a little more effective,” he said.
“Offensively, there was no rhythm whatsoever,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “I want to say we had three false start penalties, a delay of game, a couple sacks and just never got into rhythm, never really got into the plan.”