As soon as Robbie Gould hit the game-winning field goal at Lambeau Field, the internet exploded. Millions of social media users ran like hyenas to the dead antelope to criticize and blame Aaron Rodgers. Who else?
Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers, who finished as the top seed in the NFC and were heavy favorites to play in Super Bowl LVI, fell 13-10 at home to the San Francisco 49ers and are eliminated from the playoffs.
So Rodgers is to blame for the Packers’ loss, right?
Partly.
Yesterday was a game dominated by defenses and eventually San Francisco’s special teams.
With just under five minutes left and the Packers up 10-3, came the play that changed the game: Jordan Willis blocked the punt from Corey Bojorquez, the ball was taken at the 6-yard line by the rookie safety Hufanga’s story, who entered the end zone untouched to tie the game 10-10.
The momentum went to the side of the visitors. Rodgers had one last chance to settle the game in favor of the Packers, but that drive started with a left guard penalty. Jon Runyan and after two incomplete passes and a new penalty (false start), Green Bay had to give up the ball.
Rodgers obviously didn’t have a good game. Last year’s MVP (and very likely this season’s MVP as well) passed for only 55 yards in the second half and in 10 drives he was only able to produce 10 points. Not what you’d expect from a quarterback of that stature in the biggest game of the season.
That doesn’t make him responsible for this new Packers debacle.
Green Bay lost because of their special teams errors, which went straight to the scoreboard.
At the end of the first half, a field goal attempt by Mason Crosby 39-yarder was blocked, and then Hufanga’s touchdown.
“I didn’t think it would end like this. Disappointing on offense. Ten points is obviously not enough,” Rodgers acknowledged. “The defense played amazing. The special teams obviously hurt us – took points away from us and gave them points. Offensively, scoring 10 points is never enough.”
Everyone blames Rodgers and no one gives credit to the 49ers defense, which did a terrific job in tremendous snow and minus 18 degrees in Green Bay.
The Packers have earned the No. 1 seed three times since 2008, the most in the NFC.
They’ve failed to reach the Super Bowl all three seasons. pic.twitter.com/cRYQwkxFOM
— NFL on CBS ???? (@NFLonCBS) January 23, 2022
“I didn’t have a great night. They did a good job of taking away some of the fast game that we had and I got lost in a couple of reads, “Rodgers acknowledged.
San Francisco allowed only 67 rushing yards and sacked Rodgers five times, including two sacks from Arik Armstead and two more of Nick Bosa, who also forced a fumble.
Rodgers, “diva” and anti-vaccines
The Green Bay quarterback has been labeled a “diva”, and understand as a diva “a temperamental person who is difficult to please”.
The qualifier became especially popular during the offseason, when Rodgers openly criticized the team’s general management, refused to sign a contract extension and finally, according to reports, only agreed to sign the agreement as long as a clause was added that would allowed to leave the team after the 2021 season.
El wide receiver Davante Adams He tops the Packers’ free-agent list this year, and Rodgers hinted that yesterday was his last game in Green Bay.
“There are many contracts that end or are about to end, plus the salary cap, so there are many decisions to be made. I don’t want to be part of a rebuild if I’m going to keep playing, so there are a lot of decisions to be made in the next few months,” Rodgers added.
His fiasco in the middle of the campaign regarding the anti-COVID-19 vaccine only increased the hate that he has.
Before the start of the regular season Rodgers said he was “immunized” when asked if he had already been vaccinated. In November, it was learned that he did not get vaccinated, that he attended a Halloween party, that he did not wear a mask inside the team facilities or at conferences and it all ended in a $14,650 fine for violating the league’s anti-COVID protocols. .
Her future
After 17 seasons and a Super Bowl title with the Packers, Rodgers effectively must decide whether to continue his NFL career or announce his retirement. If he tries free agency, there will be several teams interested in his services, vaccinations or not.
“I am very proud of what I have been able to achieve here. I am deeply grateful for so many years here in the organization and the incredible teammates and coaches that I have had over the years,” he said at the post-elimination conference. “That’s part of the legacy, I think, the friendships, the memories on and off the field. I do not know. I’m still super competitive and I still know I can play at a high level. So it’s going to be a tough decision and there are a lot of things to weigh up in the coming weeks.”
And a lot of hate to endure, whether or not he returns to the NFL by 2022.
