Aaron Rodgers Does Not Credit Lions' Defense Enough

Aaron Rodgers believes Packers made far too many mistakes against Detroit Lions.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has endured many struggles throughout the 2022 season.

After starting 3-1, the Packers have lost five straight games, dating back to a matchup with the New York Giants in London. The most recent loss came Sunday to the Detroit Lions, which was a sloppy 15-9 victory for Detroit that snapped its own five-game losing streak.

In the loss, Rodgers threw for 291 yards and a touchdown, to go along with three costly interceptions. All three turnovers came in the opposing red zone, with two of the passes being picked off in the end zone.

It was his first multi-interception game since he threw two in a 38-3 season-opening loss to the New Orleans Saints in 2021.

The veteran quarterback was clearly frustrated by the loss, showing it on the field multiple times. In his weekly appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show", Rodgers said he believes the loss to the Lions was more about his personal struggles than the success of his opponent.

“Look, no disrespect, but did they play great?”, Rodgers asked hosts Pat McAfee and A.J. Hawk. “I mean, we had 400 yards of offense on them, moved the ball up and down the field. I threw an interception off a helmet, I threw an interception about five yards short of Dave (Bakhtiari). It wasn’t like, I didn’t play a great game. We still made a lot of mental mistakes, but I don’t think they really stopped us. We had three possessions in the first half and went up and down the field. So, you know, it’s more about us I think than them.”

His third interception came after the Packers' defense had just notched a pick of its own. Jaire Alexander intercepted Lions quarterback Jared Goff, and raced back to Detroit’s 23-yard line. However, two plays later, Rodgers threw a pick to rookie Kerby Joseph.

“I thought our offense, it was one of our better games, the way we moved the football,” Rodgers noted. “We threw the ball downfield fairly effectively at times, but still, way too many mental mistakes. When you have mental mistakes and then I’m turning the ball over like that, you’re not going to win the game. We’ve had mental mistakes, and then I’m not turning the ball over and we still don’t win those games.

"We’ve just got to pair up me playing a clean game and playing well and us having a low number of mental mistakes, because that game honestly, shouldn’t have been that close. We had opportunities there, we’re on the 1-yard line, can’t get the ball in the end zone. The other one, we have a couple plays where we have a chance to get it in, we should be looking at 14, at least 14 points in the first half, and then who knows if the second half plays out differently with us having those points. But, we beat ourselves as we have many times this season.”

Rodgers has had a difficult season, throwing 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions. The seven picks already are tied for the most he’s thrown in a season since 2016.

© Kirthmon F. Dozier-USA TODAY Sports

"I don't think the Lions really stopped us.. it was more about us making mistakes" ~@AaronRodgers12#PMSLive pic.twitter.com/CoeeY9XMY9

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) November 8, 2022

The 38-year-old signal-caller detailed what he believed went wrong, in terms of turnovers, to McAfee, explaining some of his struggles.

“There’s a lot that goes into all those things,” Rodgers explained. “What I can control, two of them weren’t great throws. There’s some other parts to plays, it’s usually not on one person. But, there’s a lot that goes into each play that could either avoid some of that thing, and sometimes guys can screw parts of the play up and you can make a great throw and make up for all of it. But, yeah, it wasn’t a great throw to Dave, and wasn’t a great throw to him (Robert Tonyan), either.

"I’ve thrown a lot of those balls near the goal line like that. I don’t know that, in that play, there was some other things that could’ve gone on that could’ve made it a different type of window, but look, I’ve thrown touchdown passes many times. I don’t give a (expletive) what those experts on TV have to say. There’s a lot that goes into all these things, and for somebody to play armchair quarterback who doesn’t know what the hell play we’re running or what’s going on, that’s fine. I don’t really give a (expletive).”

The Lions, on the other hand, were elated about the win. After going winless since Week 2, Detroit was able to make enough plays to knock off the rival Packers.

“We’ll be that team that no one thinks they should lose to and maybe they do, who knows?”, Goff said Tuesday on the Karsch & Anderson Show.

Rodgers had a similar sentiment during his postgame press conference, immediately following the loss. Goff was aware of the comments, and responded during his appearance on the Lions' flagship radio station. 

“I don’t know if he meant it disrespectfully,” Goff told 97.1 The Ticket. “I don’t know if that’s the way he was trying to make that come off. But, we’ll be that team that no one really wants to lose to all year, if that’s the case. It’s fun, we’ll be them.

“They certainly have their own issues they’re figuring out. But, it was a good game, a hard-fought game, and I certainly don’t think it was meant to be disrespectful by him.”