Don’t look now, but Aaron Rodgers is the MVP of the NFL — again.
For sure, there’s a long way to go in the MVP race. And you don’t want to be a prisoner of the moment.
Still, it’s hard to look at any other quarterback at this point and think they have played better than Rodgers, the Green Bay Packers quarterback.
Many of the naysayers will stay silent now, act as if they don’t know what you’re talking about. But after Week 1, they pounced on Rodgers for his offseason of discontent and his stinker against the New Orleans Saints.
Despite coming off an incredible MVP season in 2020 (70.7 completion percentage and 48 touchdowns), many talking heads questioned if he was all in and wondered out loud if Rodgers would tank this season with the hopes of escaping Green Bay at season’s end.
Nope.
Those terrible former player analysts couldn’t have been more wrong.
On Thursday night, in front of a national TV audience, Rodgers delivered again for the Pack in a game they had no business winning.
It’s a moment like that when you truly see a player’s value to his team and clearly how valuable they are in the league.
No matter the circumstances, you always have a shot to win with Rodgers, now 38.
The Packers beat the previously lone undefeated team, the Arizona Cardinals, on the road in the desert — 24-21, in a game suitable for framing. Yes, it was that good.
Did we mention that ARodg was without his top three receivers, including all-world Devante Adams?
Or that it was a short week for the Packers and they had a long way to travel to play the game?
The Packers have now won seven in a row, including a come-from-behind thriller in San Francisco when Rodgers engineered the winning drive with just 37 seconds left. Plus, they beat the hot Cincinnati Bengals on the road in overtime.
To say the least, the Packers hot streak has been impressive when you talk about opponents and the degree of difficulty.
On the season, Rodgers has 17 TDs and 3 interceptions. It’s impressive when you realize he had no touchdowns and two picks in the opening loss to the Saints. Since then, he’s been almost flawless.
For sure, there will be some who will chime in and say the MVP so far is Tampa Bay’s Tom Brady (21 TDs and 3 INTs) or the Rams’ Matthew Stafford (19 TDs and 4 INTs). And while both have put up some impressive numbers, Rodgers has scored some of the most impressive wins in the NFL season thus far. And let’s not forget that Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray was in that conversation until Thursday.
He was trying to set his team’s franchise record with eight straight wins to start the season. When you think the Packers were shorthanded and the game was a home tilt, most thought Murray would be a lock to get the win.
Instead, Murray threw no TDs and two picks, including one in the end zone to seal the victory for Green Bay.
Coming into the game, Murray led the league in completion rate (73.5) and had thrown seven TDs and was picked off just once in the previous two games.
But it was the other guy on the other side of the field that performed in the clutch. It’s not a new story, but a continuing one that’s hard to ignore.
Most quarterbacks would be in trouble without their top target. Instead, Rodgers spread the ball around and used the players who were available. Rodgers, who requested that the team get Randall Cobb back, used the receiver for two big touchdown scores.
Without Adams, the Packers are now on a 7-0 streak.
“This is a scrappy team, a tough, physical gritty team,” Rodgers said on TV after the game. “I’m so proud of our guys.
“Without our defensive coordinator, MVS (Marquez Valdes-Scantling, the best receiver in the league – Devante Adams, Allen Lazard, our do-it-all guy. …. To have them come out and play the way they did, I’m so proud of them.”
And his teammates should feel the same about Rodgers. What he did last night is exactly the stuff that MVPs do.
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