A major piece of the Green Bay Packers’ offense was lost to the Heinz Field turf in August 2015 when Jordy Nelson tore his ACL.
Since then, Nelson hasn’t been the same explosive playmaker he once was, and opportunities for the deep shot downfield have almost disappeared.
Aaron Rodgers‘ last MVP season was in 2014. That year the Packers consistently burned defenses with a play-action pass to Nelson. Some of the credit belongs to Eddie Lacy, who forced opponents to respect the run. The rest was Nelson’s ability to fly down the field and zoom past defensive backs.