Chemistry between a quarterback and a wide receiver is a concept often discussed but difficult to quantify.
For a quarterback like Aaron Rodgers who plays the game so differently from practically anybody else, it is a bit easier to see when he is on the same page as a receiver than most other passers.
Take this play before halftime. Allen Lazard is running a short route.
John Simpson misses his block, which flushes Rodgers from the pocket.
When Lazard sees Rodgers scrambling to the right, he instinctively breaks his route and gets to the soft spot of the defense in the middle of the field which is wide open.
Rodgers finds Lazard over the middle for a nice gain.
I'm not saying this makes Lazard worth $11 million per year or a guy who should be seeing a lion's share of snaps. But to the extent Lazard has value for this team, it comes from understanding the quarterback he is playing with. He has seen this situation over and over during the course of his career so when Rodgers was pressured, he knew exactly where he needed to get.
Late in the fourth quarter of the game, it was Garrett Wilson's turn.
He ran a vertical route down the middle of the field.
The real goal of his route was to go deep and push the safeties back, opening up space for Rodgers to hit Lazard on an intermediate crossing route.
However, Rodgers felt pressure and threw early. He seemed to be counting on Garrett to read the play and hook off his route.
Garrett did not realize Rodgers was doing this, and the pass fell incomplete.
Now I don't think Garrett really did anything wrong here. He ran the route that was in front of him. If anybody is culpable, I might say it was Rodgers. It seemed like the protection was good enough for him to let the play marinate and wait for Lazard to break into the opening. I wonder whether the 14 hits he took rattled him and made him throw early, bracing for more pressure.
Still, on the CBS broadcast analyst Charles Davis noted that receivers like Lazard who are used to playing with Rodgers will always take a peek back to see what is happening. A lot of quarterbacks improvise with their throws, but few do it with a purpose like Rodgers. Watch an NFL game, and you'll see a lot of decisions that break the structure of the play. Many are panic decisions and ill-advised. When Rodgers does it, there is a good chance he sees a chance to make a big play outside of what was called.
It takes some time to adjust to playing with this type of quarterback. Rodgers and Garrett haven't worked together much. Last year was short-circuited, and the Jets opted against giving their starters work in the preseason.
As Garrett gets more accostomed to playing with Rodgers, I think it is fair to expect to see more of these plays hit with him.