I'm surprised that Mr. Nagler and Mr. Behnke choose to lend credence to the poorly argued and largely hearsay "evidence" produced by a relatively obscure writer (Kalyn Kahler) for The Athletic.

The article is posing as serious journalism when it is little more than clickbait for the masses who are now suddenly fed a story asserting a deliberate disconnect between Aaron Rodgers and his rookie receiving corps.

Obviously, Rodgers was not interviewed for the piece so we do NOT have his explanation for the apparent and vaguely defined communication gap between him and his wideouts.

Therefore, it is strictly a one-sided report based on a selection of quotes which are tendentious in the extreme.

But people - including Mssrs. Nagler and Behnke - should ask the themselves the following question before passing solemn judgement on AR12:

1. Why would Aaron Rodgers choose to sabotage himself and his team's offensive play by not informing his receivers of specific signals used at the line of scrimmage to alter pass routes or provide other directions regarding variations to the play called in the huddle?

2. Why would Aaron Rodgers use a signal that is a leftover from a bygone offensive scheme without having informed his new receivers (unfamiliar with such a system or its peculiarities) of the meaning of various arm and hand gestures which are critical to what Rodgers expects his receivers to carry out on the field?

3. What possible reason would Aaron Rodgers not have to go over all such signals during team meetings?

The staggeringly obvious answers to all the above questions is that there is NO LOGICAL OR PERSUASIVE explanation to suggest that Aaron Rodgers HAS NOT EXPLAINED THESE SIGNALS TO HIS WIDE RECEIVERS.

But of course it is easier to feed the news cycle without at least trying to look at matters from Rodgers' perspective and come to a rather different conclusion.

It is very disappointing that Aaron Rodgers - anti-vaxxer conspiracy theorist and New Age flake that he is - is subject to spurious ad hominem attacks by Nagler & Behnke without any serious analysis that would explode the preposterous assumptions and thinly constructed arguments contained in the story published in The Athletic.

It may be true Aaron Rodgers is not a gung-ho leader who screams at his players or otherwise tries to berate them relentlessly to produce a desired emotional response that creates a more urgent sense of commitment on and off the field with respect to study of plays and on-field performance. But neither was Joe Montana, neither is Patrick Mahomes, and there are so many other variables that come into play that it is ridiculous that the blogospherians are trying to establish a connection between the Packers' poor offensive play this season and some lunatic "signals failure theory."

The OBVIOUS facts are the following:

1. Rodgers lost two-thirds of his starting wide receiver corps this season.

2. Gutekunst failed to sign an elite WR to replace either MVS or Davantae Adams.

3. Christian Watson, who is emerging as a superstar wideout, missed practice and much of the early season due to recovery from knee surgery, hamstring, and concussion injuries.

4. Romeo Doubs, who was showing signs of high performance earlier in the season, went out with an ankle sprain.

5. Robert Tonyan has turned into an iron ore freighter.

6. Rodgers has undoubtedly missed some throws due to his broken thumb.

7. The Packers' offensive line is woefully inconsistent and continues to be troubled by the absence of Bahktiari.

8. Elgton Jenkins has only very lately started to play up to his usual standard.

The above reasons accounting for the Packers' poor offensive performance this year would seem to MASSIVELY OUTWEIGHT the nonsensical "signal failure theory" which was advance in The Athletic story and apparently taken at face value by Nagler & Behnke.

Otherwise, it's only football...

Merry Christmas to all.

GO PACK GO