One of the biggest questions of the season was answered in Week 1.
What would Aaron Rodgers look like in Arthur Smith’s offense?
After using play action no more than 27% of dropbacks the last four seasons, Rodgers used play action on 33.3% of his dropbacks on Sunday.
With play action, Rodgers was 8 of 10 for 101 yards (10.1 Y/A) with 3 TD, his most TD passes off play action in a game in over a decade.
That rate was 39% on early downs, and early down passing was outstanding for Rodgers.
He was 17 of 23 for 8.6 yards per attempt, 4 touchdowns, 0 interceptions.
But here was the brilliant part about this early down passing game plan.
Rodgers averaged just 4.8 air yards per attempt (#29) and 2.3 seconds to throw (#27).
It was short and underneath, but he averaged 7.8 yards after the catch per completion, #2 in the NFL this week.
Rodgers also showed off his mobility in vintage fashion.
20% of Rodgers' pass attempts came from outside the pocket, his highest rate since at least 2020.
And he dominated outside the pocket, averaging +0.80 EPA per attempt and throwing 3 TDs, both easily his best since at least 2020.
We know the Arthur Smith offense is a run-centric attack featuring play action, motion, and quarterback movement.
We weren’t sure how well Rodgers would translate.
In Week 1 at least, the pair were outstanding.
