Packers vs. Lions: Aaron Rodgers Will Cement MVP in Thanksgiving Shootout

Through 10 games, Aaron Rodgers would seem to be an obvious choice for the league's MVP. His numbers are astronomical. He's the best player on the best team in the league, and it's hard to go away from that. 

Still, what the Packers haven't really endured this year is a serious test. Only two teams have been within one possession of them all season. 

So, how will Rodgers respond when his opponent is putting up big numbers? Quite well. 

That's what's going to happen on Thursday. We know that the Lions can put up big totals, especially at home. Thursday's game will be in Detroit. 

Don't expect Calvin Johnson and Matthew Stafford to be shut down. On the other side of the ball, Ndamukong Suh and the Lions' pass rush will attack Rodgers all day. 

But that's where Rodgers will thrive. Any doubts that exist in the minds of anyone that Rodgers is the MVP of the 2011 NFL season will be squashed on Thursday afternoon. 

The best player in the NFL will play like it while everyone is watching. When that happens, history tends to suggest that that player will win the MVP.

Now, the Packers won't go undefeated. There's a reason it's only happened once in the history of the 16-game NFL season. It's hard to do. 

Plenty of teams have gotten close, but when you get this deep into the season, everyone brings their best game to beat you. That's when upsets happen, especially when you're not really playing for anything.

But that's not the case on Thursday. Actually, if the Packers lose on Thursday and the 49ers win on Thursday night, San Francisco will have the No. 1 seed. They don't play head to head, they would have both lost to a conference opponent, and the 49ers beat the Lions. 

In addition to all of that, the Packers want to play well on Thanksgiving. Everyone is watching and who wouldn't want to go out and play well?

That's just what Green Bay is going to do. The best player in the game will lead the best team in the game to a win on one of it's biggest stages. 

With that, the person who engraves the MVP might as well start engraving Rodgers' name right now.