Skeptics of Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers were saying that the reigning MVP had lost his drive for the game. People set in their minds that the frustration of the offseason had crept into the regular season. To the point where some fans believed their superstar quarterback was SABOTAGING HIS OWN TEAM.
All of these outlandish thoughts and ideas stemmed from just one loss. Sure, it was a horrific, embarrassing, unfathomable blowout loss at the hands of the Saints defense and Jameis Winston. The 38-3 beatdown in Week 1 was stunning, to say the least, as it was Winston's first start in his first full season as the starter in New Orleans. But comments from former teammates of Rodgers, national analysts, and fans in the state of Wisconsin took things to a different level.
Even after the Packers responded with a 35-17 win against Detroit in Week 2 where Rodgers threw for 4 TD's and over 250 yards, people were STILL not convinced his heart was completely in it because "it wasn't convincing enough".
However, things changed on Sunday Night Football against the 49ers with 37 seconds left on the clock. This game could have been over. If Rodgers truly wasn't fully committed to this team or season... why even try and mount a comeback with no timeouts, hurting wide receivers and offensive line, and so little time to get the job done?
If his bitterness against the front office translated to what was happening on the field, wouldn't this have been the perfect situation to show that? Rodgers could have walked off into the sunset in Santa Clara, near his hometown, and taken a loss to the team that he wanted to be traded to this offseason, the San Francisco 49ers. That would have been the ultimate middle finger to the front office, the team, and the fans.
Instead, the man who has saved this Packers team from so many losses did so yet again. It took two completions to Davante Adams, two spikes, and a 51-yard game-winning field goal from Mason Crosby to give Green Bay an emotional and important 30-28 win.
As Rodgers leapt for joy and rushed onto the field in the postgame celebration, any smidgen of doubt for what he is trying to accomplish this season with the Packers must be left at the sideline. Any time that 12 steps onto the field, he has one thing on his mind: winning football games. And his late game performance proved just that.
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