Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has been in the NFL for a long time. He’s in his 17th season, to be exact. In those 17 seasons, he’s very rarely, if ever, seen a defense show the type of respect that the Baltimore Ravens showed to Davante Adams in Week 15.
While the Ravens did everything they could to slow down and frustrate Adams, after the game, the three-time MVP quarterback said he saw it as the ultimate sign of respect for his No. 1 receiver.
Davante Adams has been incredible for the Green Bay Packers in 2021
Adams is no doubt a special receiver. He very well could be the best receiver in the NFL.
The thing is, you’d actually have to watch the games to come away with that conclusion.
If you were looking purely at the stats, Cooper Kupp leads the league in receptions (113), receiving yards (1,489), and receiving touchdowns (12). Kupp has undeniably been elite for the Rams, but if that were the only criteria we were looking at, Adams, and his 96 receptions, 1,248 yards, and eight touchdowns probably wouldn’t make the cut.
Adams’ game goes far beyond stats.
His route running and ability to create separation are second to none. Go on NFL Twitter during any Packers game and you’ll see more than one highlight of Adams absolutely roasting a defensive back. Adams also catches just about every football that comes his way, and that’s despite oftentimes facing double and even triple teams.
That brings us to Rodgers’ comments after the win over Baltimore.
Aaron Rodgers was in awe with how the Ravens tried to cover Adams
We’ve already touched on the fact that Rodgers has been in the NFL forever. He’s likely seen just about every scheme and coverage a defensive coordinator can think up. That’s what makes it so jarring to hear that the Ravens were doing things to try to stop Adams that the reigning MVP has just not seen much of in his career.
“It was one of the most interesting defensive schemes that I’ve seen in a long time. They were trying to stop Davante. Some of the pre-snap alignments are stuff I just haven’t seen,” Rodgers said, via Pro Football Talk.
Ravens defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale is one of the best in the NFL so it’s not surprising that he came up with some exotic coverages.
It is somewhat awe-inspiring to know that even while facing coverages that made his quarterback think twice for probably the first time in years, Adams finished with seven receptions for 44 yards and a touchdown.
It was considered an “off” game for the star wide receiver.
Adams is already an all-time great for the Packers
Adams was drafted with pick No. 53 in the 2014 NFL Draft. He actually struggled with drops for much of his first few seasons in Green Bay, which makes his ascension to greatness even more impressive.
Perhaps nobody saw him becoming the elite wide receiver that he is today while watching him play in 2014 and 2015.
Adams broke out in his third season with 997 reception yards and 12 touchdowns, and he hasn’t looked back since. At the time of this writing, he now boasts 642 career receptions for 7,816 yards and 70 career touchdowns.
In overall Green Bay history, Adams is second behind Donald Driver (743) in receptions. He’s second in touchdowns only behind Don Hutson’s incredible 99 career touchdowns with the Pack. Adams is also working his way up the reception yardage ranks from No. 6. He’s soon to pass Jordy Nelson at No. 5, who finished 7,848 reception yards.
After the Ravens game, Rodgers relayed to Adams that it was a sign of great respect that Baltimore was so focused on trying to stop him.
“I told him in the tunnel after the game, ‘That’s the greatest respect level that someone can give you, to literally line up two guys on you for the majority of the game,'” Rodgers said.
The scary thing is that Adams is starting to prove that even two defenders may not be enough.
Stats courtesy of ESPN and Pro Football Reference.
RELATED: Davante Adams Says There Are Only 2 Ways to Try and Stop Him but Won’t Reveal 1 of Them
The post 17 Seasons of Experience Still Didn’t Prepare Aaron Rodgers for How the Ravens Tried to Stop Davante Adams appeared first on Sportscasting | Pure Sports.
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By: Andrew Kulha
Title: 17 Seasons of Experience Still Didn’t Prepare Aaron Rodgers for How the Ravens Tried to Stop Davante Adams
Sourced From: www.sportscasting.com/17-seasons-experience-didnt-prepare-aaron-rodgers-ravens-tried-stop-davante-adams/
Published Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2021 18:37:31 +0000
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