Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers is one of those quarterbacks who's just flat-out irreplaceable. With him, the Pack can be really good. Without him, Cheesernation starts to get moldy in a hurry.
There are others like that. Tom Brady comes to mind. The Pats would be the pits without him. Same with Peyton Manning of the Broncos, Drew Brees of the Saints, and certainly Cam Newton of the surprising Carolina Panthers. These guys are big time difference makers.
On other teams, it's not so clear. Given the chance, could Kirk Cousins step in for the Skins and be every bit as good or better than RGIII? Maybe. Though the Lions and Da Bears will continue to trumpet starting QBs Matthew Stafford and Jay Cutler, both have very capable backups that could likely take over with little or no loss in production. Like Cousins, given a chance, they might even be better. Good grief, Stafford's thrown 12 interceptions in his last 6 games, and when Cutler can even stay healthy, he hasn't exactly been lighting it up, to say the least. It's been big news that Cowboys' starter Tony Romo is out with a herniated disk, but his backup Kyle Orton didn't just fall off a turnip truck. The dude's 35-34 in career NFL starts. A helluva lot better record than Stafford (24-37).
But back to Rodgers. As is well known, Rodgers suffered a fractured collar bone a while back. Before he went down the Packers were 5-2, with their only losses coming @San Fran and @Cinci, both formidable places to play. Since then the Packers have gone 2-5-1 without him, losing to teams they would likely have easily dispatched if #12 was taking the snaps and doing his thing. Initially, it was projected Rodgers's injury would keep him sidelined for 4-5 weeks. After all, it was his left collarbone, his "non-throwing" side.
It has now been 8 weeks and counting. Though Rodgers has said he felt great for the last few weeks and has been running, throwing, practicing, etc., mysteriously he can't seem to get "medical clearance" to suit up and take the field.
Far be it from yours truly to second-guess the minds of medicine that service Lambeau's finest, but they might want to take into consideration that it's now or never time.
The Packers have a date with Da Bears on the final week of the regular season. The same Bears that crunched Rodger's clavicle at Lambeau in the first place. But this time it's in ChiTown. Whoever wins is the NFC north division champ and goes on to the playoffs. The losers go home. One would think Rodgers would enjoy nothing more than leading his team into the playoffs while exacting a little revenge on the Bears in their own back yard -- on national TV to boot. Yes, Rodgers would no doubt be a bit rusty after such a long layoff. But the Bears' defense got exposed in a big way last week by Philly. If the Eagles can put 54 points on the board against them -- how do you think Rodgers might fare with his receiver corps? And don't think he hasn't studied the tapes. What else did he have to do?
Besides, it's the NFL. Guys play hurt all the time, particularly as the season wears on and takes its toll. Many a QB has suited up, played, and taken their shots with the likes of broken ribs before -- the week after it happened. A fractured collar bone on the non-throwing side that's had 2 months to heal doesn't seem like it should be that big of a deal.
Regardless, it's do or die time for the Packers. Win the game and go on, or lose it and their season's over. So what's to lose going with Rodgers? He might, gasp, reinjure it, you say? Hey, he's an NFL quarterback, not to be treated with kid gloves like Queen Lizzie the deuce, the Pope, or Anderson Cooper. Even if he gets re-dinged, he'll have the whole off season to get it fixed and heal up.
A suggestion for the Packers' medical staff. Before you make your final call on Rodgers' availability for the upcoming game against Chicago -- you might want to remember what the man has been trying to tell you in his own recent TV commercials.
Daaa-ble check.
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