Over the arc of his career, it’s easy to make the case that Davante Adams might be the most likable Green Bay Packers player of this generation. It’s hard not to appreciate his development from a second-round pick who had a case of the drops to arguably the best wide receiver on the planet. Or his respectful and humble demeanor with the media and his knack for coming up with the big play when the Packers need it most. Adams has become an indelible figure over the past decade.
Adams alone wasn’t enough to avoid another crushing 13-10 playoff defeat on Saturday night against the San Francisco 49ers, even if his quarterback might have tried to make it so.
Green Bay’s opening drive in its loss to the 49ers featured a whole lot of the Aaron Rodgers-to-Davante Adams connection. Fourteen yards on 2nd and 6, 10 yards on 2nd and 10, and 11 yards on 2nd and 9 to get the Packers inside the red zone. A couple of A.J. Dillon runs later, the Packers led 7-0 and seemed to have found a recipe for success.
Rodgers, Adams, and Matt LaFleur had every right to feel great about that opening drive. But San Francisco defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans wasn’t about to roll over just yet. Using a combination of safety help and bracketed coverage, Ryans and the 49ers’ defense held Adams to 56 yards on six more receptions over the rest of the game, “limiting” him to 90 yards on nine catches.
Adams was targeted 11 times in the game, the ninth time he reached double digits this season. But on Saturday, that proved to be more of the problem than the solution. Of Rodgers’s 29 pass attempts, 21 went to either Adams or Aaron Jones out of the backfield. Jones had a 75-yard catch-and-run late in the second quarter that helped inflate his 129-yard receiving total. It was a play that Jones should have been able to turn on the afterburners and score or get out of bounds. Instead, the half ends with a blocked field goal and a momentum shift back towards San Francisco.
With the pressure mounting in the second half, instead of using all of the weapons in his arsenal, Rodgers increasingly locked in on his star wideout, playing right into the 49ers’ hands. A dropped pass by tight end Josiah Deguara on Green Bay’s opening drive of the third quarter all but sealed that he wouldn’t get a sniff the rest of the game. Randall Cobb, hand-picked by Rodgers to return to Green Bay, didn’t look like he had any sort of burst coming off a core injury.
And then there’s Allen Lazard.
Never quite a featured player in the Packers offense, Lazard showed flashes of being something very real, especially as a big-bodied complement to Adams. Given the lack of a proper receiving tight end after Robert Tonyan‘s season-ending injury, it was particularly helpful. Lazard topped 70 yards receiving in three of the last five games of the regular season, scoring five touchdowns over that span. He proved himself reliable and a threat in the middle of the field and the red zone. At the very least, he was someone who could peel off some of the attention that defenses gave to Adams.
Rodgers targeted him once — a low throw that Lazard hauled in for first down.
Much has been made over the last few days of the deep shot that Rodgers took down the right side, throwing into double coverage in what seemed like a desperation heave to his All-Pro receiver. The game was tied 10-10, with just under four minutes remaining. More than anything, the Packers needed to convert a first down. Lazard was wide open.
Ryans and the Niners’ defense were determined not to let Adams beat them. Perhaps they knew that Rodgers would lock in on his WR1 and ignore his other weapons, who admittedly aren’t as good. But they are still, you know, professional football players who can catch and run. Let’s say he hits Lazard on the crosser, and the Packers cross midfield with about three minutes left. They’d have had the big play that they needed, they’d be in control of the clock, and we might be looking at another NFC Championship game at Lambeau.
Why did Rodgers make the deep throw? Did he see Lazard? Did he trust a double-teamed Adams more than a wide-open second option? Was the drop by Deguara or the fumble by Marcedes Lewis earlier in the game on his mind? This play will rank as a big what-if in Packers lore, especially if it’s the last-ever play in which Rodgers and Adams are on the field together in green and gold.
Adams is an unrestricted free agent entering his age-30 season. There might be the option for a franchise tag, but that would likely mean bringing back the wideout at far below what he could make on the open market. That wouldn’t necessarily make him the happiest man in the world. If Rodgers leaves, the appeal of staying in Green Bay takes a massive hit. The salary cap situation is such a mess that Russ Ball, Brian Gutekunst, and the Packers’ front office have some serious work to do. It will result in some heartbreaking decisions.
Entering his ninth season, Adams has already reached five Pro Bowls and was named All-Pro twice. He’s ascending on a Hall of Fame trajectory but will need a few more seasons of exceptional production to ensure a spot in Canton. The other gaping hole on his resumé is a Super Bowl appearance. Is either possible in Green Bay, without Rodgers, or with him closing in on 40 years old?
The individual brilliance of Davante Adams has been a treat to watch. And through no fault of his own, it hasn’t been enough for Green Bay to make it to the Super Bowl in his time in green and gold. With that time possibly coming to an end, the fact that the Packers couldn’t capitalize on his brilliance is undoubtedly near the top of the list of disappointments from the past decade.
