My fantasy football team was hanging on by a thread Sunday night as Aaron Rodgers hobbled off the field against the Bears.
The game was over at that point. They dominated his backup DeShone Kizer. Kizer had two turnovers quickly. I laid back and relaxed until I saw Rodgers limping back to the huddle after half time.
This is when the MVP took over. Limping around the pocket, Rodgers threw three touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, including a 75-yard TD that sealed the deal for the Bears and my fantasy team. The play featured Rodgers dancing around the pocket, then finding Randall Cobb in the middle of the field wide open. He bought time, as always.
Green Bay has pretty much refused to spend money on free agents and Aaron Rodgers is the reason. Every year, the Packers are contenders no matter who is on their team and no matter how bad their defense is. Rodgers will always outscore opponents, or at least come close. In his career, he’s completed 65% of passes and thrown for nearly 40,000 yards. Rodgers is also is gunslinger who takes care of the ball. He’s thrown 316 touchdowns compared to 78 interceptions.
Not to take anything away from Tom Brady, but there’s a couple reasons why Rodgers is more valuable than Brady to his team. First, the Packers’ defense has always been worse than the Patriots. The Packers defense has averaged giving up 24 points-per-game in the last five years and have made the playoffs in four of those five, while Rodgers missed nine games.
Another reason he’s better than Tom Brady is the fact Matt Cassell had a great year in 2008 when Tom Brady missed an entire year. Cassell threw for 3,600 yards and 21 TDs. It’s not that Cassell is that much better than any backup Rodgers has had, either. Cassell had one additional productive year in Kansas City, but other than that, he hasn’t been affected. When Rodgers is out, the Packers completely fall apart.
Rodgers only has two MVP’s in his career but realistically, he should have two or three more. The Packers would have a top ten pick every single year if he wasn’t the quarterback. He’s never had a good running game or stellar defense. He’s also taken a beating in his 13 years in the league. He’s suffered separated shoulders, broken collarbones and multiple lower body injuries. He’s 34 years old, yet still has just as much zip on his ball as he had when he first came into the league.
