I may be wrong about this (I've certainly been wrong before), but I like this new guy taking snaps in Green Bay.
I'll admit, when I first saw the shaggy-haired guy out of California step to the podium after Favre's gut-wrenching retirement presser, I was nervous. I still had thoughts of his performance against the Cowboys in 2007 on my mind, but I also remembered how fragile he has been on the field.
I also thought about how many great quarterbacks have been in Green Bay, and how rare it is to have one quarterback start for your team for sixteen years.
So, to say the least, we've been spoiled in Green Bay for the last 16 years, watching the same No. 4 take snaps, game in and game out.
But then I started to break it down in my head.
In the Favre era, we won one Super Bowl, and went to two. We made 11 playoff runs, but only ended up with one ring. Now, far be it for me to preach blasphemy and say that Favre wasn't "the best thing to happen to Green Bay in a long time," but the team did have its shortcomings.
Sometimes they were beyond Favre's control (1998 NFC Wild Card game, Young to T.O. in triple coverage), but a lot of times, Favre put the nail in the coffin with a costly interception (2007 NFC Championship Game in OT). The argument could also be made, though, that teammates should have picked their game up to match Favre's intensity. The kicker shouldn't miss 30-yard field goals, and the defense shouldn't have allowed the score.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, not that Favre was to be blamed entirely for a one-for-11 run in the playoffs to the Lombardi Trophy, but that the Favre era was a good one, we brought a title back to Titletown, which is always great.
That said, Aaron Rodgers has a chance to do something more: make the Rodgers era great, with two or more titles.
Yes, there is a lot of pressure on him to come in and step into some mighty large shoes, but those shoes look a little smaller when you look at these three key facts.
- The team is pretty much the same, minus Favre. Green Bay is returning mainly the same team, besides losing Favre and Franks.
- Chemistry is building between Rodgers and his receiving corps. It was reported that Wednesday nights are dinner nights for Rodgers, Driver, and Jennings—great news that will hopefully translate to a decimating air attack for the green and gold.
- Rodgers knows his role. Rodgers knows he isn't Brett Favre, and he has made it clear that he is not Brett Favre in press conferences throughout the offseason. I also must say that I appreciated him trimming up the otherwise mangy-looking appearance a little while back.
The bottom line is this: Aaron Rodgers has shown glimpses of what he's capable of doing on the football field in leading this offense. Now let's see what he does with the reigns from the first snap of the season.
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3 months ago
They also lost Corey Williams for the first of your three points.
from 3 months ago
Nice article, though.
I'm glad to see that another person is being sold on Rodgers' confidence levels.
He's saying all the right things. Making all the right throws (apparently) in practice.
I'd have to say the Pack should not be underestimated.
3 months ago
I have been waiting for Aaron to come to fruition since he was 16 years old....I guarantee that you will see someting different from him that you haven't seen before......what I know, and most people don't know about him, is his performance when the Pack is behind.......the more they are behind , the better he will play.......he can reach another level of ability in a very quick manner.....believe or don't.....I promise....Uncle Tony
3 months ago
Favre winning a Super Bowl does make him great, and going 1 for 11 isn't all that bad. Peyton Manning is arguably one of the best quarterbacks of all time and he has only won one ring, Dan Marino never won a ring. So to say that the Favre era wasn't great is false, this is from a Bears fan.
from 3 months ago
I guess you and I have different definitions of greatness/success, but then again, you're a Bears fan.
3 months ago
I don't worry as much about Aaron as I do other aspects of the team. He throws as hard as Favre, was one of the most accurate passers in Cal history, and says all the right things. Truth be told, we won't get a comprehensive look at Aaron until teams scout and then play against the Packers. Yes. he looked good in the Dallas game, however, Dallas game planned for Favre.
I am totally on the Rodgers train. I hope he does great.
3 months ago
no doubt im gonna miss Brett but Aaron might be good im giving him 2 seasons to get the playoffs he should be decent.
3 months ago
I'm a big rodgers fan. Although i admit my first intro to him happened to be madden game, however since then from the things i've seen him do i've had a growing respect for his real life abilities. I can't wait to see him take over as the starter and although i can't imagine he'll be an immediate success, i think down the road he'll be a solid (possibly great) starter for the packers. And as long as the team continues to build on the success it had last year, this young packers team should end up being deadly for years to come.
2 months ago
Great article. I hope this Favre thing just goes away. It's Aaron's time to shine so hopefully all goes well this year with him at the helm.
2 months ago
Everyone seems to be in love with Aaron Rogers, why? What has he done to make people think he is the next great QB in Packer history? If and when he does start, he better be off the charts. Rogers cannot afford to fail. The moment he screws up those same fans and front office people who are smiling in his face will be looking for his replacement (Brian Brohm). After all the backup QB is always the fan favorite. Favre could afford to have a bad game every now and then. Rogers does not have that luxury.
from 2 months ago
Why does Rodgers not have that luxury? Do you remember Favre's performance when he first started playing for the Pack? He screwed up plenty of times. He threw a league leading 24 INTs in his 1st full year as a starter. Nobody is in love with Rodgers they are just optimistic based on what they have seen. It seems that some just won't move past the Favre era and hope for Rodgers to perform poorly. If you don't like Rodgers that's fine. Just don't be hypocritical. Favre screwed up early in his career and he screwed up late in his career.
No QB has the luxury of constantly screwing up. Obviously if he doesn't get it together in a couple of years they will be looking elsewhere. But you can't say, "the moment he screws up they will be looking for his replacement". That is just flat out ridiculous. He will screw up. He's a 24 year old QB for crying out loud. Favre even at 38 still screwed up from time to time. It seems Favre was not at his best in big games. Favre was terrible against Dallas and believe me he definitely "screwed up". Rodgers comes in with a 17 point deficit and leads the Pack to within 3 points.
You want to why Favre all of a sudden had one of his best years last year? This is why; Jennings, Driver, Jones, and Lee. These WRs as a unit led the NFL in yards after the catch and made everything easy for Favre last year. Greg Jennings is truly a special WR and will develop into an elite WR threat in a few years. He caught 12 TD passes last year in only his 2nd year. If you go back and look at the highlight film of his TD catches at least half of them involved him getting by defenders after the catch and running for a TD. He is without a doubt the most dangerous WR with the ball in his hands. 52% of Favre's passing yards came AFTER the receivers caught the ball which definitely isn't normal. This was the 2nd highest ratio in the NFL. If you look at WRs YAC numbers the QB has no bearing on this stat. WRs continue to produce the same YAC numbers good or bad with different QBs and different teams. So really when its all said and done, the reason why Favre had such a good year is because he had one of if not the best WR units in the NFL last year. It only got better this year with the additions of Jordy Nelson and Jermichael Finley form the draft.
2 months ago
I don't think this guy will be too good. Probably the average QB.
He's just been warming up the bench watching Favre make huge plays, you know he just hasn't had any playing experience in a long time.
But you never know, sometimes Green Bay guys really surprise you.
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