Things are Bad for Aaron Rodgers When Even Kurt Warner Admits He Looks Like Trash Right Now

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As a general rule, you'll rarely see an ex-player in the media dunk on a current one. Especially a Hall of Famer going hard after a future Hall of Famer. Sure, there are exceptions. True iconoclasts like Charles Barkley or Shaquille O'Neal have made there brands out of not hiding their frustrations with the current crop of athletes. But for the most part, there's a professional courtesy that makes them swallow even the most legitimate criticism. 

And as Hall of Famers in the media go, there are few that take it as easy on these youngsters as Kurt Warner does. As Nice Guys go, he's among the nicest. He may critique. He may point out techniques that could stand to be refined or errant throws you may want back. But he's still very much the guy Lionsgate did an inspirational biopic about. Much more a Lionel Ritchie when it comes to judging than a Simon Cowell. 

So it's all the more surprising when he does go ham on a current quarterback. And the one he just ripped just happens to be the one the Patriots need to stop. Aaron Rodgers has had one impressive game to start the season at the Jets, followed by one at home against Seattle that stunk like a Port-o-Potty at Burning Man. In Game 1 he went 22-of-30, for 244 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs and a passer rating of 136.7. Last week, it was 18-of-33, 204 yards, 1 TD, 2 picks, 58.0.

And to hear him explain it to Rich Eisen, Warner thinks the Rodgers that Steelers fans saw last Sunday is the one they're stuck with for the duration:

“Aaron obviously made some great throws, and a lot of those four touchdowns in the first week were really scheme-oriented. It was all basically naked bootlegs, which, getting out into space. I think Aaron feels really comfortable out in space, but he doesn’t look real comfortable inside the pocket, and that was the same in the first week as we saw this past week. And so, with the other issues they have as a football team, I think what we saw this last week is more who the Steelers are right now, than what we saw the first week in their ability to come back. 

"I think the other indication of what we saw was the Jets. What the Jets did Week 1 and everyone was like 'Oh my gosh! This is a different team in what they're doing!' And the we saw in Week 2 what they did against the Bills. I think all that is representative of who the Steelers are right now. And who Aaron Rodgers is as a quarterback. I just think that after the injury I don't think he got fully comfortable playing the game inside the pocket. Letting things develop as he did earlier in his career. So I’m a little concerned about the Steelers. …

“I think there’s some flaws there. Most of his big plays came off naked bootlegs. That’s going to be a part of what they do; Aaron’s very very good at that. But when he had to drop back and play the position like we saw when he was an MVP, I thought he was very uneasy in the pocket, looking to get to his checkdowns very quickly.”

To be fair, that's not a savage attack on Rodgers. But by the standards of the industry as a whole and Kurt Warner in particular, this is treating a guy some have argued is the GOAT the way an '80s Heavy Metal band would treat a hotel room.

This comes just days after Herm Edwards said something remarkably similar on ESPN:

Athlon Sports -  Edwards shared his thoughts on what he thinks Rodgers should change on ESPN SportsCenter’s ‘Monday Afternoon QB’ segment. 

“He was inconsistent, when you think about Aaron Rodgers,” Edwards said. “He likes playing from the pocket, he felt pressured at times, was very not accurate in the sense that he was using his arms too much, didn’t plant his feet to throw, made a lot of awkward throws that he could generally make. 

“He was sacked three times, got hit a bunch, and remember this he always feels like he’s gotta score points because of the Pittsburgh Steelers defense.” 

And Steelers media is pointing out how ineffective his play action game was once Seattle figured out the Steelers have no run game:

Source -  The Steelers’ play-action passing attack thrived in Week 1 against the Jets but was neutralized in their Week 2 loss to the Seahawks. 

Against the Jets, Rodgers completed eight passes on 12 play-action drop-backs for 101 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. But against the Seahawks, Rodgers completed just one pass on five play-action drop-backs for just 5 yards and no touchdowns. …

The Seahawks didn’t bite on the Steelers’ fake handoffs during their play-action setups, as the Steelers haven’t shown that their running game is a considerable threat.

So there you have it. A Patriots team that has struggled with tackling and is currently ranked 30th by Pro Football Focus:

… but has the best pass rush in the league:

… is facing 41 year old QB who's not comfortable in the pocket, rolls out all the time, and has a play action game that got exposed for lack of a running game. Oh, and he might very well have Christian Gonzalez to worry about:

There's no excuse for Mike Vrabel's defense to right the ship this Sunday at home. Warner, Edwards, the Pittsburgh media, the numbers, and our lying eyes can't all be wrong.