LAMBEAU, HERE WE COME
Rodgers carries Packers to the NFC’s top seed
CHICAGO - To go 13-3, win your division and clinch home-field advantage on your century-old rival’s home field in Week 17 of the strangest NFL season anybody will ever know, it helps to have a quarterback like Aaron Rodgers.
There are many special things Rodgers has done throughout the course of his 16-year career, a Super Bowl victory included, but this season might be his most remarkable not just because he threw for a career-high 48 touchdowns or finished with the highest passer rating in the league (121.5) but because he did almost everything right.
It’s special because at age 38 he played at a consistently high level all season long and proved all over again it’s almost impossible to outfox him. Maybe you’ll get him once or twice, but the way with which he and coach Matt LaFleur are clicking in the latter’s offense, one slip-up and you are toast.
There was no better example than a second-quarter play in the Packers’ 3516 victory over the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on Sunday.
It was third-and 4 at the Green Bay 28 with the Packers trailing, 10-7. LaFleur decided to spread out the Bears with an empty backfield set and see if Rodgers could find a hole in the defense.
To the left, he had running back Jamaal Williams lined up wide and receiver Davante Adams in the slot. To the right, he had receiver Allen Lazard wide, tight end Robert Tonyan in the slot and receiver Marquez ValdesScantling flexed just off the tackle.
“It was a look where we were going to bring the halfback (Williams) back into the formation and have him in protec
tion,” LaFleur said. “Well, he could tell that there was some miscommunication on defense and so he rolled with the play.”
On the field microphone, you can hear Rodgers, pointing to Williams with three seconds left on the play clock and saying, “Stay there.”
He noticed that defensive end Robert Quinn was confused about where to line up and when he finally found his spot, saw that Valdes-Scantling had linebacker Danny Trevathan on him. In Rodgers' head, he saw a match-up between a receiver who ran a 4.3 40-yard dash at the combine in 2017 vs. a linebacker who ran 4.75 at the combine in ‘14.
“I'm sitting there looking at the play clock, ready to pop a timeout and I'm just like, ‘You know what, I'm going to trust that he has it under control,'” LaFleur said. “He saw the match-up, he saw the confusion going on.
“We still don't know what necessarily they were trying to do, but there was something messed up, whether there was supposed to be a single-high post safety, but there was definitely a blitz called.”
The snap got off just before the play clock expired and slot cornerback Duke Shelley took off like a rocket toward Rodgers with nobody in his path. Feeling the blitz, Rodgers hung in just long enough for Valdes-Scantling to get near midfield and hit him in stride for a 72yard touchdown.
Rodgers took a slight hit in the back as he released it, but it didn't affect his throw. Not only did he see everything going on in front of him, he finished the play off with a ball no one but ValdesScantling could catch.
“I think those are the things that not everybody understands about a guy like Aaron, just what he's capable of doing, how cool he is under pressure,” LaFleur said. “It's so special about him.”
It's also what makes the Packers' chances of advancing to Super Bowl LV in Tampa Bay better than anybody else's in the NFC. Unless he meets up with Kansas City's Patrick Mahomes in that game, the quarterback advantage will weigh on the Packers' side.
Part of the reason why is that any playoff game the Packers play will now be at Lambeau Field, where in the next two weeks the weather could go from overcast and a pleasant 35 degrees to snowy and wet as it did Sunday.
Sure, Tampa Bay's Tom Brady, Seattle's Russell Wilson and New Orleans' Drew Brees have played in every condition on the planet. Brady has a long resume playing in the snow and sleet and Wilson has probably played in wet conditions as much as any quarterback in the league.
But neither of them nor anyone else in the NFC is playing at Rodgers' level.
“I could talk all day about his MVP push and all of that, but I think he's allowed his play to step up and do that,” receiver Davante Adams said. “Honestly, there's been a few other players that would have solidified it even more had we made a couple more plays for him, where he (threw) a great ball and we came up short.
“It's pretty clear to me who the MVP to the season is. It's going to be a person who's won a couple before.”
Rodgers finished this game a modest 19 of 24 for 240 yards and four touchdowns, good for a passer rating of 147.9.
But there was a drop from ValdesScantling in the third quarter that could have put the game away, and the Packers had to grind through the second half to secure the victory. It took two late touchdown drives to finally put it away.
After finding it hard to get the ball to Adams, LaFleur put the receiver in the slot more and Rodgers started hitting him for two first-down throws early in the fourth quarter. He drove the Packers from their own 24 to the Bears 4, where running back Aaron Jones finished the series off with a touchdown run.
After safety Adrian Amos picked off Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky, he finished off the game with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Adams for the final points.
“Green Bay is playing really well right now,” Bears coach Matt Nagy said. “You guys see that. There's a reason why they play the way they play. They're a good football team and you have to give them credit."
Added to his numbers coming into the game, Rodgers finished the season 372 of 526 (70.7%) for 4,299 yards and 48 touchdowns with five interceptions. Besides touchdowns, he set a season mark (as a starter) for pass rating and completion percentage and tied his mark for fewest sacks (21).
His average yards per attempt of 8.2 is his best since the 2014 season.
"This is a special season,” Rodgers said. “It will always be a special season for me. It's been a special year as well.”
Headed into the playoffs with homefield advantage, the season is far from over for Rodgers and the Packers.