BURLINGTON – Stephen A. Smith, a television personality with ESPN, sums up Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers perfectly.
Week in and week out on his show, First Take, Smith calls Rodgers a “baaaaaaad man.” And just about every time he does, his co-host and classic naysayer Skip Bayless, a Dallas Cowboys and Chicago homer (he used to write for the Chicago Sun-Times) refutes Smith’s claims and argues Brett Favre was better, Tom Brady is the best in the game, blah, blah, blah.
For weeks, Packers Nation has claimed that with Rodgers, it would’ve beaten just about everyone and would’ve clinched the NFC North championship about a month ago. Hype and praise can sometimes be excessive, but on Sunday in Soldier Field in his first game back in two months, Rodgers proved all of us loyalists right.
He is a very, very bad man. Probably the baddest man on the planet. Just to be clear, bad means good in this instance.
Fifteen plays, 87 yards, three fourth-down conversions and plenty of nail-biting, yelling and screaming at the television highlighted one of the best game-winning drives in Packers history. It may have even been more clutch than the Packers’ come-from-behind victory over Dallas when, on Sunday night around 6:30 p.m., Rodgers eluded a free-charging Julius Peppers, sprinted to his left and lobbed a bomb down the left seam.
Randall Cobb, who missed two months with a broken leg and was also in his first game back, waited and waited for what seemed like forever before catching it and running about 10 yards to pay dirt.
In Monday’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Cobb said he knew he had to catch it because his teammates would kill him if he didn’t.
They probably would have, and Packers fans may have attacked a Bears fan or two, but Rodgers and Cobb provided the perfect post-Christmas presents for Packers Nation.
On Christmas morning, did you get a shirt or something similar from your grandparents or family members and think, “I’m taking this back for something I really want?”
That’s how I felt Sunday evening moments after my wife nearly jumped over me and shouted at the television in excitement. “RUN,” she yelled at Cobb.
The beautiful neck warmer, calendar and other gifts I received (thanks Peg, my mother-in-law) can’t compare to a Packers playoff appearance, which was all I needed.
Not only did I get some quality gifts from my favorite outlaw, Rodgers and Cobb made sure there isn’t any coal in the stockings of post-Christmas Christmas celebrations.
Revenge: The sweetest joy
With Sunday’s 33-28 crazy, impossible victory over the hated Chicago Bears, the Packers’ wild ride continues with a home playoff game Sunday at 3:30 p.m. against the defending NFC champion San Francisco 49ers.
While many fans were plenty satisfied by just beating the rival Bears, true fans, with all of their blind hope and wonder, still believe if you get in, you can win it all.
Rodgers made me a believer Sunday. With No. 12 under center, it doesn’t really matter that the 49ers destroyed us in a 45-31 embarrassment last January in the postseason.
It also doesn’t matter that San Francisco beat us in the final minutes in the first game of this season.
Colin Kaepernick can kiss his bicep all he wants during his touchdown celebration, but a second-year starter who plays in warm weather and relies on his athleticism can’t be thrilled about coming to the Frozen Tundra of Lambeau Field, where the slightest misstep in frigid, sub-zero temperatures, will plant you helmet-first in the turf.
For the record, in his 27 career starts, which span a season and a half including three playoff games, Kaepernick has a solid 19-7-1 record.
He took the 49ers all the way to the Super Bowl last season. But let’s not kid ourselves here. San Francisco relies on their running game and defense.
They say defense travels, so this Sunday’s potential freezing conditions shouldn’t affect that nasty San Francisco defense. Donte Whitner, the team’s hit-man who literally looked into legally changing his name to Donte Hitner, hits harder than pretty much anyone in the league.
The Smith boys will relentlessly pressure Rodgers, and Patrick Willis should be able to contain Eddie Lacy and James Starks in the run game.
But does offense travel? We will see. In Kaepernick’s career, he has only played in cold weather twice, both December 2012 games, in New England and Seattle. He only averaged about 230 passing yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions. In both games, his completion percentage was in the 50s. Not bad, but not great.
As scary and dangerous as Kaepernick can be with his feet (the guy runs a 4.3 40), he can be stymied when it comes to his passing abilities. In five games this season, he posted a quarterback rating of 72 or less. Against Carolina, San Francisco didn’t score a touchdown in a 10-9 loss. In terms of hostile environments, San Francisco was blown out at Seattle and lost in New Orleans. Those places are loud and difficult to play in, but nothing really compares to Lambeau with its biting cold and wind.
This Sunday, let’s just say it’s 18 degrees. Every single play, you have to warm your hands. It’s harder for the receivers to catch. Big hits sting your nerves just a bit longer. And don’t forget the volume of the fans, which will make audibles and cadences that much more difficult.
And the beauty of it all?
Rodgers and the Packers are built for these nasty conditions. Lacy and Starks provide short-yardage running that Green Bay has never had, and John Kuhn isn’t afraid to mix it up. Combine that with the fact that the Packers just put up 33 points in the windy, treacherous pit that is Soldier Field in late December.
There’s no doubt that the 12th man and the field alone will give the Packers an advantage.
49ers still the favorite
As of Monday, the 49ers are 2-1/2-point favorites to go into Lambeau Field and win the game.
And why shouldn’t they be?
San Francisco is 12-4, nearly four full games better than Green Bay in the standings.
But what numbers can’t determine is the good, old-fashioned eye test. And that says Rodgers is a better quarterback than Kaepernick. End of story. Period.
This season, Rodgers is 6-2, which is the same winning percentage as Kaepernick. But Rodgers has a 104.9 QB rating compared to Kaepernick’s 91.6. Rodgers just engineered a downright miracle to beat the Bears in a win-or-go-home scenario. With a recenlty broken collarbone. In his first action in two months.
Granted, Kaepernick led his team to a last-second victory yesterday as well. He came up with two big throws to put his team in position for a game-winning field goal. And Kaepernick did it in a mere 29 seconds. But Arizona had zero chance of making the playoffs, and the Niners still blew a 17-0 lead.
The 49ers are riding a six-game win streak and are arguably the hottest team in the NFL. A Super Bowl victory would cement Kaepernick and coach Jim Harbaugh’s legacy in a franchise full of famous names. But Kaepernick is young. The 26-year-old has plenty of time.
Rodgers, 30 years old and in his prime, arguably has even more to prove than Kaepernick, who was only a couple inches shy of a championship a year ago.
After breaking his left collarbone Nov. 4 and missing seven games, Rodgers’ toughness has been questioned. Favre never missed a game. Just play through the pain. What’s wrong, Aaron? Your team needs you.
Well, Rodgers isn’t one to ignore the haters. He lets it all sink in and uses it to fuel his fire. There isn’t another quarterback in the NFL, not Brady, Manning or Brees, who could’ve made the throw Rodgers made to Cobb Sunday.
Not only did he have to fake out an unblocked Julius Peppers, he had to throw the ball off his back foot 50 yards in the air while moving to his left to a streaking, fast Cobb.
Rodgers’ long layoff is nothing more than a footnote now in a roller-coaster season. It’s a new day. It’s a new team, and don’t be surprised if Green Bay’s suspect defense rises to the challenge Sunday.
Teams don’t often beat opponents four straight times (San Fran beat the Pack twice in ’12 and once this year), and it’s simply Rodgers’ time. He won a Super Bowl already, yes, but with all his success, Rodgers is only 1-1 in home playoff games.
I was at the game Nov. 4 in Lambeau when Rodgers got hurt and specifically remember Rodgers walking back onto the field from the locker room and the deafening roar of support he received from the crowd, even though fans knew he wasn’t playing the rest of the game.
Rodgers teared up when talking about how it made him feel on his radio show two days later. He understands the passion of Packers fans because Rodgers has that same passion for the Packers and their fans. He wants to be the best and will do anything to win. He’s a true leader of men, just like coach Mike McCarthy.
Sure, Rodgers has his Super Bowl ring, but that toughness stigma and the ghost of Brett Favre still aren’t dead.
On Sunday, Green Bay may lose, but it won’t be because of Rodgers. Expect a classic game that will come down to the wire. The home-field advantage gives Green Bay the nod. A late turnover will seal San Franciso’s doom.
Kaepernick and Harbaugh will have a good cry.
PREDICTION: Green Bay 37, San Francisco 31
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