Consistency And The Green Bay Packers (Specifically Aaron Rodgers)

In the latest rankings from Football Outsiders, the Green Bay Packers slipped a little, but remain in second place between the Texans and the Steelers. Aaron Schatz spends several paragraphs looking at how an unbeaten 12-0 team could be sandwiched between two teams with three losses. After looking at it from a couple different angles, he focuses on the main reason for their success, From Football Outsiders:

If the Packers are not a dominant team, how have they managed to go 12-0 this season? The main answer is consistency. The Packers have been absurdly consistent.

While the defense has been consistently bad, that isn't a reason for their perfect record. However the defense is pretty consistent when it comes to forcing turnovers, and their league leading 23 interceptions have been pretty well spaced over the course of the season.

The model of consistency this season has been Aaron Rodgers. The Packers are ranked as the No. 2 team by Football Outsiders, and that No. 2 team shows up every single week. It doesn't matter who the opponent is, Rodgers has a passer rating of between 110 and 145 in each game. He did fall to 106 against the Giants, but if his receivers wouldn't have dropped six passes, he would have easily been over 110 once again. Sometimes their opponent has played just as well, such as the Giants did last week. But the Packers had one extra possession, and it led to the last minute field goal drive that they needed to win.

Unless the defense transforms their selves into a dominant force, the Packers will have to continue to rely on the consistent excellence of Rodgers to keep on winning this season.