Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers finished 2015 with a 92.7 passer rating, well below his career average. Credit: Rick Wood

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Green Bay — In Carolina, No. 1 wideout Kevin Benjamin tore his left ACL in mid-August. Quarterback Cam Newton never blinked, led his team to a 15-1 record, the NFC championship and will almost certainly win league MVP honors this weekend.

In New England, star wideout Julian Edelman missed seven games with a knee injury. Running back Dion Lewis and left tackle Nate Solder — a pair of high-level players — were both lost for the year, as well. Tom Brady simply soldiered on, led the Patriots to the No. 2 seed in the AFC and a berth in the conference finals.

The Green Bay Packers needed a similar performance from their all-everything quarterback in 2015. Instead, Aaron Rodgers failed to deliver.

Pro Bowl wideout Jordy Nelson was Green Bay's only offensive starter to suffer a season-ending injury. But Rodgers and the offense nosedived in one of the more stunning developments of the NFL season.

"I tell you this is the most adversity he had to play through probably since '08," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said of Rodgers. "In the picture of things... I thought he did a heck of a job dealing with that."

McCarthy's view would certainly fall in the minority.

The great quarterbacks find a way to get it done, even when the pieces around them are crumbling.

Remember Brett Favre in 1996, after he lost Pro Bowl wideout Robert Brooks, then played much of the year without wideout Antonio Freeman? Or how about Rodgers in 2010, when tight end Jermichael Finley, running back Ryan Grant and right tackle Mark Tauscher all suffered season-ending injuries?

Both Favre and Rodgers led those teams to Super Bowl titles. When faced with far less injury adversity this year, Rodgers had his worst season since becoming a starter in 2008.

Rodgers finished with a 92.7 quarterback rating, 13.3 points below his career average entering the 2015 season. Rodgers' 3,821 passing yards were his fewest in a season in which he started at least 15 games.

Rodgers' completion percentage of 60.7 was his lowest since becoming a starter. And his yards per passing attempt (6.7) were 18.3% less than his average from 2005-'14 (8.2).

Rodgers missed throws he's made look routine in past years. His deep-ball accuracy vanished. He lacked patience and abandoned the pocket too soon and too often. And his mechanics went south, as he began throwing off his back foot with regularity.

With Rodgers and the receivers both struggling, Green Bay's passing offense plummeted to 25th, its lowest ranking since the strike-shortened season of 1987. Green Bay also averaged just 23.0 points per game after averaging 28.3 between 2008-'14 — a sharp decline of 18.7%.

Rodgers underwent minor knee surgery shortly after the season. That certainly could have played a role in his 2015 struggles.

But Rodgers' issues were multi-layered. And if the Packers — who have played in just one Super Bowl during Rodgers' years — hope to return to the promised land, their quarterback must return to form.

"Aaron, he's that great player that plays at such a high level the competition is usually with himself trying not to do too much," McCarthy said. "And I think he was really challenged this year more than ever with what he was trying to pick up for with Jordy and so forth."

Green Bay's No. 2 quarterback for next season remains an enigma.

Scott Tolzien, this year's top backup, will become an unrestricted free agent in March. If Tolzien leaves, as many expect, Brett Hundley seems more than ready to take over the backup job.

Tolzien, 28, would love the chance to win a starting job. And with several teams such as Houston, Cleveland and Los Angeles desperate for quarterback help, Tolzien could get a chance to be a No. 1.

"I feel like I've improved every year and played for two great organizations (Green Bay and San Francisco) and been behind some great quarterbacks (Alex Smith and Rodgers)," Tolzien said. "I've learned from some of the best. So I feel prepared and it's been a priority of mine to get better every day. But right now you're playing a waiting game."

The Packers claimed Tolzien on waivers in 2013 and he started two games that season. Tolzien posted a 112.0 passer rating in the 2014 preseason and was impressive again last summer.

Tolzien doesn't possess a howitzer, but has improved his arm strength since arriving in Green Bay. Few Packers, if any, study more than Tolzien. And he's a better athlete than given credit for.

The group of free-agent quarterbacks isn't pretty, with Philadelphia's Sam Bradford and the New York Jets' Ryan Fitzpatrick arguably the best of the bunch. So perhaps someone will give Tolzien a shot, much like the Eagles did with journeyman Doug Pederson in 1999.

"I know there's been a lot of backups in Green Bay that have gone on and been given the chance to start in other places," Tolzien said. "We'll see what happens, but that would be great if it happened."

If Tolzien does leave, the Packers are more than comfortable with Hundley as their No. 2 next year.

Hundley, a fifth-round draft choice last spring, looked lost during OTAs and mini-camps. But when training camp arrived, Hundley looked like a new man.

Hundley posted a quarterback rating of 129.6 in the preseason, better than any quarterback in football that attempted at least 30 passes. He threw seven touchdowns, just one interception and completed a whopping 69.2% of his passes.

"To be honest, that's what I expected," Hundley said last month when asked about his terrific summer. "That's what I hoped. I'm not here to be second to nobody. And I think that's the mind-set you have to always go into things with.

"Now obviously I'm behind Aaron, but your mind-set is you want to be the best and that's just how you approach it. It's just me really competing no matter who's here and no matter what the situation is. I just need to compete like I did last year."

As the No. 3 quarterback all season, Hundley largely ran the Packers' scout team and got very little work with Green Bay's offense. But Hundley said he knows the offense inside and out, while his mechanics from footwork to foundation have all been improved.

"Mentally, everything is a lot better," Hundley said. "A lot of people say when you get to Year 2, a lot of things slow down. I've sort of got to that point right now, but I think next year you'll see a major difference. I saw the same thing happen in college. That's what I'm expecting to happen next year."

If Hundley takes another jump, he could be a hot commodity next summer.

In the past two decades, the Packers have been able to trade elite backups such as Mark Brunell, Aaron Brooks and Matt Hasselbeck. Green Bay might have a similar decision to make with Hundley down the road.

"I'm just playing it year by year," Hundley said. "I would love to stay in Green Bay and I would love to play for Green Bay. But I've just got to trust my plan and my path and sort of just go with it from there."

This story appeared in Packer Plus Magazine. To subscribe, call 414-224-2222 or go to www.jsonline.com/subscribe.