Sunday, 28 September 2014

Aaron Rodgers' huge day includes all-time great play ... that didn't count

(AP) I'm going to tell you about a play, even though you won't find it anywhere on Aaron Rodgers' stat sheet. It didn't officially count. But the reason it matters is that it might have been the most unbelievable throw you'll ever see in an NFL game.


Rodgers was scrambling around in the third quarter, and just before he got hit low he left his feet. He somehow released the ball as he was being upended, throwing to Davante Adams running from right to left across the back of the end zone, away from Rodgers. And even though Rodgers' feet weren't on the ground and Adams was running away from him, Rodgers hit him in stride for a 34-yard touchdown.



The play was called back because of a holding penalty, which means that it unfortunately won't be played on NFL Films highlights until the end of time, but that's almost beside the point. That throw was incomprehensible. That shouldn't be physically possible. It was just part of Rodgers putting on an absolute show in the Packers' biggest game of the season, a 38-17 win at Chicago. Rodgers was 22-of-28 for 302 yards and four touchdowns.


One sequence that actually did count summed up how sharp Rodgers was. On a second down, he hit a wide-open Randall Cobb with a dart that Cobb uncharacteristically dropped in the end zone. So on the next play Rodgers scrambled around and hit Jordy Nelson for a touchdown.


Rodgers was on point the entire day. When he gets rolling like that, like he was for about the entire 2011 season, Rodgers is the NFL's most exciting player. The things he does on the move are unlike any other quarterback. Meanwhile, Jay Cutler fell apart in the second half, throwing a pair of crucial interceptions (and almost a third that was barely dropped). The Packers defense isn't all that good, and Eddie Lacy started this season slow, but the difference between the teams is obvious. One quarterback is capable of days like Sunday, when he looks like one of the game's all-time greats, and the other can't rise to that level, no matter how much money the Bears pay him. In Rodgers' 14 career starts against the Bears, the Packers are 11-3.


The Packers didn't start the season that well, with the offense sputtering most of the time in a 1-2 start. But if Rodgers showed on Sunday that he's starting to get hot, and can play like he did against the Bears for the next few months, look out.


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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdowncorner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!



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