Aaron Rodgers' Gutsy, Title-Clinching Performance Defines MVP-Worthy Campaign

Aaron Rodgers lingered in the darkness of the Lambeau Field tunnel.

Bathed in eerie emerald emergency light, he went up on his toes, stretched side to side, tested his injured calf. On the field, his Green Bay Packers were losing control of the game. The Detroit Lions had pulled the score level at 14-14, and Rodgers' backup, Matt Flynn, had just taken a sack to seal a three-and-out. 

With the NFC North division title and a first-round playoff bye slipping through their grasp, the Packers desperately needed Rodgers to come back out and give them whatever he could. Stone-faced, he started a long, deliberate walk back to the sideline.

The wave of recognition from the Lambeau Field crowd swelled slowly. First, a handful at the mouth of the tunnel. Then, the lowest few rows of that section. The cheering turned heads which begat more cheering which turned more heads until the great golden bowl was in full throat, the packed-in crowd roaring for its MVP.

There was no spring in Rodgers' step. He did not run or jog. He paced back to the sideline and started warming up.

It's difficult to quantify just how much Rodgers has meant to the Packers, and even harder to express. In that one moment, you got an idea.

Rodgers—whose movement for the rest of the game was rarely more explosive than that walk—went on to prove his quality on the successive drive and nearly every drive thereafter.

With an aggravated calf strain making him all but one-legged, Rodgers hit receiver Randall Cobb on two long third-down passes—one for 29 yards and another for 13 yards and the go-ahead touchdown. In between, running backs Eddie Lacy, James Starks and John Kuhn added just 13 yards on five carries.

The play of Cobb and Lacy, in particular, gave Rodgers a little bit of a shoulder to lean on. In Week 3, they'd combined for just 74 all-purpose yards. In Week 17, they combined for 212 yards and Cobb's two touchdowns.

Rodgers, though, didn't need to lean on anybody.

His agility in the pocket makes him hard to bring to the ground, and his athleticism outside of the pocket makes him lethal when plays break down. Confined to a pocket that was under assault by the Lions' vaunted defensive line, Rodgers simply quarterbacked his way out of trouble.

Anchored in shotgun position behind center Corey Linsley—per NFL.com, the Packers ran 35 of the 36 offensive plays after Rodgers' return out of the 'gun—he completed a jaw-dropping 77.3 percent of his 22 pass attempts, for 10.3 average yards per attempt, two touchdowns, no interceptions and, incredibly, no sacks. The only under-center play he ran: A one-yard touchdown plunge. Yes, on the injured calf.

	Comp. Rate	TD Rate	INT Rate	ANY/A	NFL Rating
Mark	65.1%	7.2%	1.0%	8.51	111.0
Rank	10th	2nd	1st	1st	1st

Rodgers has long been considered one of the NFL's best. Since taking over for Brett Favre in Green Bay for the 2008 season, he's put up mind-boggling numbers just about every time he steps on the field. Historically, no quarterback can touch his rate stats; he makes huge plays and avoids mistakes like nobody ever has. As Rodgers continues to have great seasons like this one, he'll quickly climb the all-time ranks.

Since his fantastic run to the Super Bowl XLV title in 2010, though, Rodgers and the Packers have wilted in just a few key moments. Back-to-back playoff embarrassments in 2011 and 2012, followed by an injury-shortened season and third-straight quick bounce from the postseason, have kept Rodgers from stealing the "best quarterback alive" crown away from the Tom Bradys and Peyton Mannings of the world.

This performance, which vaulted the Packers from the NFC's bottom seed into a second-round playoff game at Lambeau Field, should etch into the minds of NFL lovers everywhere how spectacularly good Rodgers is—and how much better the Packers are when he's on the field.

Kicker Mason Crosby's only field-goal attempt was blocked. Punter Tim Masthay averaged just 27.7 yards per punt. Micah Hyde's early punt return for a touchdown was the only return of any kind the Packers got. The Lions pulled off an onside safety free kick, putting them back in striking distance. Even Lacy and Cobb, so dynamic once Rodgers gave them the ball, both gave the ball back to the Lions with lost fumbles.

Matthew Stafford, Calvin Johnson and the Lions had plenty of windows to get back in this game, but Rodgers kept slamming them shut. With a well-earned week of rest and home-field advantage coming up, Rodgers and the Packers look primed to take on the NFC's best and win.

Tom Lynn/Associated Press

If there was any doubt about just how good Rodgers is, or how much he means to the Packers, it's been removed. If there was any doubt that no player does more to win their team more games, it's been erased.

If Aaron Rodgers wins the MVP, it will be wholly deserved—and it may not be the last trophy he wins in 2014.