Hail Mary Is Proof Positive: No Matter What You Do, Aaron Rodgers Will Burn You

GREEN BAY, Wis. — We again search for words to describe Aaron Rodgers. Magnificent, stunning, jaw-dropping. Maybe you like stupefying, orgasmic or best-ever. Whatever word you use, whatever phrase moves you, it isn't enough. It never is. It never can be.

Do as the Giants did in the NFC Wild Card Game on Sunday at Lambeau Field, outdueling Rodgers for much of the game, and he will still burn you. Blitz him, get to him, get in his face, and he will still burn you. Run defensive schemes that would confuse Patton in North Africa, and he will still burn you. In the end, that's what Rodgers and the Packers did to the Giants in beating them, 38-13. Green Bay next will play Sunday at Dallas in the divisional round.

No matter if he makes 40 throws or five, runs 10 times or 20. Stop him on all of them, and then...he...still...burns you. It happened again, at the end of the first half, in another mesmerizing, history-altering play.

To that point, Rodgers and the offense had been beaten in every way by the Giants defense. Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo was calling a brilliant game, and New York's defenders were able to keep Rodgers in the pocket. To make matters worse, star receiver Jordy Nelson had injured his ribs on a nasty (and legal) hit. He'd miss the rest of the game.

So the Giants defense was slowing Rodgers more than he'd been at any time during this six-game winning streak to end the regular season, Spagnuolo was on fire and it looked dire. Then Rodgers did something Rodgersy.

Rodgers had two Hail Mary completions during the 2015 season, one in Detroit, and the other in Arizona. Each, in its own way, was a once-in-a-lifetime play. Rodgers had two of them, as the NFL's official Twitter account relayed:

At the end of the half against New York, it again looked like a routine Hail Mary try. Then again, nothing with Rodgers is routine. The football traveled 63 yards in the air, and like the others, it dropped into the hands of a Packer. It dropped to Randall Cobb like Rodgers was standing over him on a ladder and Cobb was holding a basket.

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What the hell do you say when he does that? What the hell do you do? No one can do that. No one in history has.

On a frigid day, opposite the quarterback who had defeated the Packers twice in the playoffs at Lambeau, we saw Rodgers rise to the occasion, proving not only that he's the league MVP, but also that the Packers remain a team no one will want to play. Rodgers makes them the toughest out in the conference.

The number of teams scared of Rodgers changes slightly with the Nelson injury. It potentially affects the complexion of the postseason. Still, as long as the Packers have Rodgers, they are formidable.

The Hail Mary play will be discussed the most and probably replayed at his Hall of Fame induction, but it was another play that was almost as spectacular.

It was another moment when Rodgers used his mobility to evade defenders. This play lasted about nine seconds, as Rodgers dodged and weaved, before finding Davante Adams for a touchdown: 

This week, several Packers players told me Rodgers was stoic and very business-like. One player believed Rodgers was more business-like this week than he's been during this streak. I think what we're seeing with Rodgers is a player raise his game to levels we haven't seen before, even higher than greats like Tom Brady or Joe Montana.

After those plays, Rodgers would only get hotter. There wasn't as much pressure from the Giants, and Rodgers looked like the guy who had been crushing teams since he said in November the Packers would run the table. He tied a Packers postseason record by throwing four touchdown passes, with almost 10 minutes left in the game. 

Rodgers during the team's seven-game winning streak has completed 69.6 percent of his passes for 2,029 yards, 19 touchdowns, no interceptions and a 121.7 rating, according to the Packers.

ESPN Stats & Info offered this summary of Rodgers since his last interception: 

The only thing Rodgers hasn't done during this run is raise the dead.

I wouldn't put it past him.

One of the postgame storylines will be how Odell Beckham Jr. and his fellow sailors, post-Miami boat adventure, didn't have a good game. Beckham did have drops, but when Rodgers plays like this, not even a stud like Beckham is going to win.

The boat GIFs will propagate like Tribbles, and some in the media will have a field day with Beckham, but he could have spent the week in a monastery and the Giants still would have lost.

The key takeaway from this isn't Boatgate (sorry); it's how Rodgers is playing like he's part of the X-Men.

And how he may not be stopped. Either by the Cowboys or any other team.

Mike Freeman covers the NFL for Bleacher Report.