One NFL expert said Aaron Rodgers doesn’t look relaxed or poised and thinks “everything’s on my shoulder.’ Credit: Rick Wood

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Green Bay — Internally, Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy and his offensive staff have examined just about every aspect of their slumping offense and have not been able to find a cure.

It's possible they won't find one and will play their final game of the 2015 season against Washington on Sunday in a wild-card playoff game at FedEx Field.

Outside of 1265 Lombardi Ave., those with years of NFL experience in both the scouting and coaching realms have seen the symptoms. Whether it's in the film room, in person or on television, the sudden failures of a once-prolific offense have been on display to all.

The Journal Sentinel sought out five NFL experts with impeccable reputations in coaching and scouting to offer their thoughts about the Packers offense. All asked not to have their identities revealed because they were speaking about a team with which they aren't employed.

The three personnel men who agreed to report what they have seen have either studied the Packers offense as an opponent, watched it while scouting other teams, have seen several games on television or have done some combination of all three. The two offensive coaches who agreed to give their opinions have coordinator experience and either viewed the Packers while studying opposing defenses or made a point of watching them during the season.

When it came to assessing the offense, the problem areas mentioned most often were: wide receivers, offensive line, coaching and the play of quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Just about everyone agreed that the offense looks out of sync.

"Everything is disjointed and extended play," said one of the coaches. "Right now, they're fighting through a lot of things. You can see that; it's evident. Seems like there's some frustration."

People are used to seeing an offense that dictates the action. Now what they're seeing is a quarterback scrambling incessantly and acting as if no one is open. Rodgers was sacked 46 times this season — second-most of any quarterback in the NFL — and rarely seems to get the ball out on rhythm.

Said the second coach: "Two things that stick out to me: he (Rodgers) gets hit way too much. And for a very prolific passing game, it appears to me that he is not throwing a lot of passes on time. He's waiting. He has to wait. There's very few times it seems to me where he drops back five steps and throws. The rhythm of the passing game seems to be off."

Some are baffled by how things have gone downhill so quickly and don't really have an explanation.

"They're 10-6," said one of the personnel men. "People act like they're an awful team. They're not awful. But it makes you wonder what's going on. All of a sudden guys can't block and can't get open. It's bizarre."

All four of the reasons that were mentioned most often for the Packers' struggles are connected, and based on the outsiders' opinions, each has contributed to the inefficiency.

Receivers not pulling weight

It starts with the wide receiver corps, which suffered a blow few could have predicted would devastate the team the way it has. When receiver Jordy Nelson suffered a torn ACL in an exhibition game in Pittsburgh, the Packers found out how valuable he really is.

"I think you have some young players who need an example of what it's supposed to look like and that's where that Jordy Nelson injury was devastating," the first coach said. "(You say to them), 'This is how you do it' and then Jordy goes and does it. When you don't have anyone else like that (they don't see it done correctly). Randall Cobb is obviously a nice player, but he's much better with Jordy on the field. He's limited in the things that he can do. It's easy to double-team a guy in the slot and single him up outside. But you put him outside, he's not as effective."

There has been much debate about whether the lack of speed with Cobb, James Jones and Davante Adams has been the primary problem. Rodgers registered his worst passer rating and lowest yards per attempt since becoming a starter. There were only six passes of 40 yards or more this season, which is two fewer than Nelson had on his own in 2014.

"People say the receivers have no speed, that they can't get free," said the first personnel man. "Well, Seattle's receivers don't have speed and they get free. You can do things to get receivers free. The quarterback seems unsure about them."

Added the second personnel man: "He (Rodgers) needs one more receiver. Truth be told, 17 (Adams) needs to step up. I thought after last year he would be a nice receiver for them, but he needs to play better."

As a whole, the group is having trouble getting open.

"I think you have some guys who struggle getting in and out of breaks," the first coach said. "I think you have guys who struggle to separate at the top. They're pulling out of breaks and the DBs are getting there and grabbing them and not letting them finish and play through the way you should."

Part of the problem with the receivers group may be that there is not a dedicated receivers coach. When McCarthy shuffled the staff to give up play-calling, he promoted receivers coach Edgar Bennett to offensive coordinator and added the receivers to the responsibilities of quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt.

That could be affecting their play.

"I can't imagine not having a receivers coach," the first personnel man said.

The same personnel man said while studying the Packers a coach told him to watch the wide receivers because it was unclear to him what they were trying to accomplish with their routes. The Packers have had the same offense for years, but the receivers didn't seem to be finishing their routes this year.

"He told me, 'The wide receivers are just running to spots and they expect the quarterback to scramble and they don't get the ball out on time,'" the personnel man said. "I watched it and he was right. They run and they stop and then they run around and don't really run routes. I don't know if that's a philosophy or what. I don't know what you call it."

One of the coaches echoed what McCarthy had said during the season, that the team's fundamentals were poor. He said he thought it wasn't that the routes were bad but that the receivers were making it too easy for defensive backs to read their routes.

He said without proper techniques, the routes are going to be telegraphed.

"You have to be able to drop your weight and push out of breaks and get your shoulders over your toes and not telegraph the route so the DBs don't key it and get a feel for it," he said. "If guys are telegraphing routes at the top of the break it doesn't natter what you do, they're going to drive on you before you get open."

Attack has been disjointed

The second coach said he thought you could be successful with the wide receivers the Packers have because of Rodgers' talent. If the receivers can't run well, then you have to find a way to emphasize their strengths.

Teams have dared Rodgers to beat them with his arm and he hasn't been able to do it.

"If I have Aaron Rodgers and something is telling me I'm getting a single safety the whole game, I'm just licking my chops," the coach said. "They're playing to stop the run. They can't really stop you if you do it right. Press coverage? Well, then you get in bunch formations and pick each other off or make the man coverage do things it doesn't want to do.

"All of a sudden you're not getting a lot of rhythm throws? You have to throw to a different thing to get the quarterback going. Quick throws, sprint outs, where the ball has to come out. You have to do that. And then go back to your regular stuff. You have to recognize why it's happening. There's ways to handle it."

McCarthy has attempted various ways to jump-start the offense, using Cobb in the backfield, going to a power running game, trying to get the tight ends involved, inserting Jared Abbrederis and Jeff Janis into the mix. Little of it has worked.

"My opinion is give the staff credit because the staff is trying to change things up and they're trying to do things to try to put guys in position to be successful and give them some free access," the first coach said. "But you have to have a little bit of success with it or they're not going to completely believe it or completely trust it."

Offensive line a problem

No one can deny that Rodgers has taken a beating. Some of it is his fault because he hasn't thrown in rhythm and hangs onto the ball too long. Some of it is an offensive line that has lost four of five starters for at least one game and has had both tackles in and out of the lineup the second half of the season.

Rodgers was sacked eight times in Arizona when McCarthy was forced to start Don Barclay at left tackle for David Bakhtiari and replace injured right tackle Bryan Bulaga with Josh Walker halfway through the game. Last week, McCarthy started left guard Josh Sitton at left tackle and the results were so-so.

Second coach: "For an offensive line that was rated as very good, I don't think they're playing very well. That's tough. I just don't see it. I see protection problems. They're big strong guys, but he's getting hit way too much. He is too good to allow him to function like that. You have to protect him. I don't see that."

Second personnel man: "I think it's the offensive line. I just think his (Rodgers') eyes are focusing on the rush as opposed to downfield. His feet aren't settled. You have to have your feet settled."

First coach: "The protection with the injuries up front, that really makes it challenging. Now, you're worried about protection, you're worried about the rush, 'We have to help so we can only send three guys out.'"

Rodgers looks uneasy

No one can get inside Rodgers' head and know exactly what he's thinking, so the best anyone can do is assess what they see when he's between the lines. Most see a player who has been hit a lot, isn't trusting his receivers to get open and is trying too hard. None thought that his mechanics were bad or knew anything about the status of his relationship with McCarthy.

Second personnel man: "I look at the quarterback and he's not relaxed. He's scrambling and he doesn't look very poised. He's pressing. He's basically saying, 'Everything's on my shoulder.' You have to let the game come to you."

Second coach: "I saw Aaron Rodgers play maybe the finest game a quarterback could play against Atlanta a few years ago in the playoffs. He threw and ran and was able to throw on the run. Now, I think he's been banged up a little bit and I think that's having an effect on his accuracy. He's the same quarterback. I wouldn't say it's a mechanical thing, but he's having to move way too much. He makes great plays on the run. I see him having to do that too much."

First personnel man: "The quarterback is unsure. He's not as confident as he usually is. Sometimes you just have bad years. One thing you wonder about is why they don't throw it upfield. They threw it upfield against Detroit and won the game."

Third personnel man: "He has thrown some balls late. Losing Jordy hurts a lot and the injuries on the offensive line have hurt them big time. And then (Eddie) Lacy and (James) Starks have been inconsistent. I don't think he has confidence in his receivers."

First coach: "Something is missing there in the chemistry between Rodgers and his receivers. He doesn't have anyone who's going to scare you vertically that I see at this point. Those three guys (receivers) are getting their brains beat in with the press coverage and the quarterback has to trust them. And that doesn't seem to be the case right now."

All five thought the Packers would be a better team when the playoffs began because of their experience and McCarthy's ability to construct winning game plans. But there's a lot of things this offense has to overcome just to get to the next round.

Sunday we'll know whether they're capable of doing it.