Sometimes, the tasks perceived to be the most difficult turn out to be the easiest.
Just ask Bengals pass-rusher Carl Lawson, who says taking down Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is like a stroll in the park.
“Honestly, I think it’s easier to sack Aaron Rodgers than most quarterbacks,” Lawson told NFL Network’s Good Morning Football. “He sits there, and he pats the ball. At the same time, sacking him don’t mean nothing if you don’t do it for four quarters.”
Boom! Easy. Piece of cake.
Lawson picked up 2.5 sacks against Rodgers and the Packers in Week 3 of the 2017 season. Perhaps there is some truth behind Lawson’s words, because he has just 7.0 sacks in 20 games since his breakout performance against the Packers. Lawson did note that Rodgers has a great left tackle in David Bakhtiari, and that Rodgers’ deep drops and patience can allow for more time for a pass-rusher like him to get sacks. But good luck telling Bears fans that Aaron Freaking Rodgers is easy to bring down.
Then again, the Bears didn’t have Khalil Mack most of those years. And we did see Mack bring down Rodgers with his behind at Soldier Field.
Yo Khalil Mack just helped sack Aaron Rodgers with his BACK pic.twitter.com/Oipgmo88TI
— Carmichael Dave (@CarmichaelDave) December 16, 2018
Getting creative. 😂
Khalil Mack uses his back to sack Aaron Rodgers: https://t.co/56DOClOyBh
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) December 16, 2018
Khalil Mack already has 2 sacks of Aaron Rodgers today.
This is a big reason why the #Bears traded for himpic.twitter.com/tT0ZQ9944b
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) December 16, 2018
Rodgers was sacked 49 times last year. That seems like a high number, but he was sacked once for every 12 passes he threw. On average, there are approximately 14 passes thrown between sacks. For what it’s worth, the Bears sacked Rodgers 7 times — or once for every 10 passes he attempted against Chicago last season.
So maybe it’s easy to sack Rodgers if your defense is led by an All-Pro pass-rusher … or if you’re as lucky as Lawson. It’s as simple as that!