Mike McCarthy doesn’t agree with Aaron Rodgers that adjustments would have helped the Packers win Sunday. Credit: Mark Hoffman

By of the

Green Bay — Aaron Rodgers was talking adjustments Sunday, but his coach was talking about something completely different Monday.

Whereas Rodgers referenced a failure to adjust better to the defense he faced in the Green Bay Packers' 19-7 loss to the Detroit Lions at Ford Field, coach Mike McCarthy wanted no part of any discussion that didn't involve player performance.

"I'm not really up here to talk about scheme," McCarthy said at his Monday news conference. "One thing I always talk to our players about all the time is scheme is not a crutch. The fundamentals and the things we do from an execution standpoint were not good enough, clearly, on offense."

McCarthy and offensive coordinator Tom Clements put the blame for the 7-point day mostly on a failed running game, which managed an unacceptable 3.5 yards per carry (22 carries for 76 yards) and produced just three first downs. They also claimed there were six dropped passes, which if figured in would have made Rodgers 22 of 27 on his passes instead of 16 of 27.

The one criticism McCarthy had of the plan Sunday was that he probably should have stopped running the ball and let Rodgers attack the two-deep coverage that the Lions were using to blanket receiver Jordy Nelson. After attempting 14 passes and 15 runs in the first half, he went with 15 passes and seven runs in the second.

Rodgers didn't produce a single scoring drive in the second half, so McCarthy's thinking afterward was that a few more chances might have improved his odds at getting into the end zone.

"The only correction I would make as a play caller is, 'Do you go to it sooner', as far as just attacking their coverage, attacking their two-deep," McCarthy said. "Once again, we have good players. We didn't play very well in the run game and it definitely factored in the game."

It's possible the only adjustment to which Rodgers was referring was not abandoning the run game early. But he also could have been talking about using more of the plays the Packers have had success running against Cover-2 defenses in the past.

"We have to do a better job of adjusting some of our offense if a team is going to play us two-high and go back to some of the ways they did in 2011," Rodgers said of a defensive philosophy the Packers faced often before they found a running game with Lacy last season.

When asked what Rodgers might have been referencing, Clements said, "I don't know, you'll have to ask him."

Asked the same question, McCarthy said, "I'm not sure what you're talking about. Trouble adjusting? I don't remember."

Rodgers wasn't exactly a one-man wrecking crew when he had the ball in his hand, so there's no guarantee the adjustments he sought would have resulted in any more points. By assigning six drops to the receivers and backs, some of them questionable given the degree of difficulty, the coaches were making it clear they weren't laying the loss at the feet of their quarterback.

McCarthy said that even though Rodgers has the ability to change plays at the line of scrimmage, it wasn't incumbent on him to audible out of runs and throw the ball more in the first half.

"There's rules and parameters and things like that," McCarthy said of Rodgers' freedom to change plays. "He's in a best-play available mind-set, not on every single play, but let's be honest, if you have a run and they're playing two-deep, you should be running the ball.

"I think that's elementary football there. The decision to attack two-deep shell defenses really comes from the boundary (McCarthy) in the passing game."

Rodgers and McCarthy haven't always seen eye to eye when it comes to how the offense should be run, but whatever disputes they had were either resolved between them or forced aside when the offense returned to its usual prowess.

The problem heading into the Packers' second straight division road game Sunday in Chicago is that their offense has been in a funk for a good part of the season. It was horrible in Seattle, it had some moments in the passing game against the New York Jets and was horrible again in Detroit.

Heading into Monday night, the Packers rank 28th in offense.

After a 1-2 start last year they ranked No. 3 in the NFL in offense and finished the season No. 3. After starting 1-2 in 2012 they ranked No. 25 and finished No. 13. After starting 1-2 in 2006 they ranked No. 7 and finished No. 9.

They have always been able to go back to work knowing that their offense wouldn't be held down for long.

This season, they have played the No. 1 (Detroit), No. 3 (Jets, not including their Monday night game with Chicago) and No. 8 (Seattle) defenses. At this stage of the season, they haven't been able to run the ball on any of their three opponents and rank 27th in rushing.

"It was a frustrating game for us offensively," McCarthy said of the Lions loss. "We've made our corrections. This is what Mondays are for win or lose. You spend time going through each and every play and grading it. You make sure you invest in the process and get ready as we move on for Chicago."

This is not the offense McCarthy and staff envisioned coming out of training camp, and it's always possible they overestimated their receiving talent. Nelson has been outstanding, but Randall Cobb and Jarrett Boykin have had minimal impact.

What's more, they haven't played tight end Brandon Bostick from scrimmage yet despite Bostick being completely recovered from a fractured fibula he suffered in the exhibition season. He was supposed to be their best threat down the middle of the field, something badly needed to occupy the safeties in a Cover-2 defense.

Andrew Quarless split the safeties for a 10-yard touchdown Sunday and had four catches for 43 yards. That's what constitutes progress with this offense.

"I think he was the second-highest targeted guy," Clements said of the five passes thrown to Quarless. "So last week didn't have many targets to the tight end (three) and this week we did."

As they prepare for the Bears, McCarthy and his staff will be under immense pressure to solve the offensive puzzle. A unit that looked so good this summer isn't competing well with the defenses it thought it could match swing for swing.

Part of that healing will be Rodgers' responsibility also.

"We're going into Week 4," McCarthy said. "We've had some adjustments as far as the practice schedule approach. Every team doesn't just jump out of the box and practice great each and every day. That's no different this year.

"We'll just continue to stay focused on the things that we feel in our preparation phase that lead to success on Sundays."