Watching Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Hundley throw short, underneath passes on almost 75 percent of his dropbacks during his first two NFL starts prompted most to point the finger at coach Mike McCarthy, who calls the plays.

A review of Monday night’s loss to the Detroit Lions revealed a different truth.

Hundley is handcuffing McCarthy, not the other way around.

First, let’s travel back in time to April 2015 when the Packers picked Hundley in the fifth round. The NFL.com draft profile of Hundley, produced by long-time analyst Lance Zierlein, offered an assemblage of opinions on his talents and weaknesses coming out of UCLA.

His listed strengths have been obvious in two NFL starts: Athletic. Tough. Good enough arm. Occasionally dangerous runner.

However, his listed weaknesses sound a lot like the problems he’s having to start his career as a third-year quarterback in the NFL.

Struggles in the pocket. Internal clock is all off. Doesn’t anticipate throws. Gets uncomfortable quickly in the pocket. Can’t create outside the pocket. Doesn’t climb the pocket and creates his own pressure when he bails.

And check out one line in the “Bottom Line” section: “It 2014, more than 54 percent of his pass attempts were from six yards and in, including 29 percent from behind the line of scrimmage, which is nothing like an NFL offense.”

Either Zierlein can predict the future, or Hundley hasn’t improved much on his own weaknesses since leaving UCLA three years ago.

Let’s jump back to the present. Actually, let’s go back to Monday night.

Of Hundley’s first 18 passes against the Lions, 13 were thrown five yards downfield or shorter. Part of this was scheme; McCarthy incorporated some college-like plays that got the ball out of Hundley’s hands quick. Much of it, however, was Hundley’s inability or unwillingness to throw the ball down the field to open receivers. Time and again, he passed up opportunities to go downfield.

The very first drive against the Lions was filled with missed chances.

Here, Hundley failed to anticipate tight end Lance Kendricks flashing open in the middle of the field. He held the ball and eventually dumped it off underneath to one of his backs. Anticipation is such an important part of playing quarterback in the NFL. See it and throw it doesn’t work. Either you anticipate it and throw it or the window closes.

Lance Kendricks open in the middle of the field. Have to anticipate the opening and pull the trigger. pic.twitter.com/RdFJQtGjvF — Zach Kruse (@zachkruse2) November 8, 2017

A few plays later, Hundley missed a potential touchdown. Sure, rookie running back Aaron Jones failed to complete his block in pass protection and muddied the pocket. But this has to be a touchdown. Every time. Jordy Nelson wins his route immediately off the line of scrimmage and the safety is caught in no man’s land. Hundley should come off the run fake and fire. Six points. Instead, he held the ball and took a sack.

Scripted play, first drive, Packers get exactly what they want. Hundley has to hit Jordy here. pic.twitter.com/t9xkwoxvAY — Zach Kruse (@zachkruse2) November 8, 2017

It was an unforgivable error. Teams script the first 15 or so plays of a game on offense. The Packers do the same. This play was likely handpicked by McCarthy and Hundley in the game-planning stages of the last two weeks. It was likely practiced several times during the week. And when the lights came on and the call was made, the Packers got exactly what they wanted. Hundley still couldn’t execute it.

Here’s another example of Hundley passing up a chance to throw to an open receiver downfield:

Wasn’t the easy throw, but don’t you have to throw it to Davante here? pic.twitter.com/HaNWRmsBun — Zach Kruse (@zachkruse2) November 8, 2017

Dumping off to Kendricks was the easy throw, but was it the right throw? There’s a big enough window to throw to Davante Adams, who was running uncovered at the second level. Instead, Hundley threw behind the line of scrimmage to Kendricks, who dropped the pass. Adams looked a little confused as to why Hundley didn’t throw him the football after the play.

Two plays later, Hundley skipped in the pocket and was late getting the ball out to Adams on third down. His moment of hesitation gave the trailing cornerback enough time to recover on the boundary and poke the football away from Adams. Good route, good throw, but a late decision. Incomplete. Punt.

Bailing from clean pockets looks like another issue. This is a third down, so Hundley knows he needs to make a play. It appears his first instinct is to bail from the pocket and get outside. But in doing so, he created unnecessary pressure and all but killed the play.

This is a QB making his OL look bad. pic.twitter.com/k3neMAgbg9 — Zach Kruse (@zachkruse2) November 8, 2017

Aaron Rodgers might be the greatest ever at navigating the pocket, so there’s no use comparing Hundley to Rodgers in the pocket. But a trained quarterback has to simply step up and climb the pocket in this situation. The blitz was picked up and the pass protection set was perfect. There’s a good five yards of space for Hundley to step up, establish the pocket and throw downfield.

Again, all these plays point back to his weaknesses coming out of college. Hundley doesn’t look comfortable playing from the pocket. He’s struggling to anticipate throws and openings downfield. His internal clock – which McCarthy actually talked about at length after his start against the Saints – is a mess. He doesn’t feel the rush, but he sees the rush. His tendency is to throw underneath. And he’s not capable of creating in the passing game when he’s outside the pocket.

McCarthy has had three years to iron out the wrinkles in Hundley’s game, so he’s not absolved of blame. But it’s certainly possible these are fatal flaws, and no playcalling decisions from McCarthy are going to consistently mask his weaknesses as a quarterback.

McCarthy said several times on Monday night that Brett Hundley isn’t the major issue. He might be right – Dom Capers’ defense is a disaster – but it’s clear all the weaknesses of his young quarterback are spilling out in real time. And all those weaknesses are handcuffing McCarthy’s ability to call plays for a productive offense.