After winning the 2011 NFL MVP award in a landslide vote, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers heads into his team’s Week 10 bye as a top contender to win the coveted award again in 2012. Through nine games, Rodgers leads all NFL quarterbacks with 25 passing touchdowns and ranks second in quarterback rating (107.4), trailing only Denver’s Peyton Manning (108.6). However, statistics alone do not explain Rodgers’ value in 2012. Amidst a tumultuous season rocked by injuries to key players, inconsistent offensive line play and a bit of bad luck (see Week 3 in Seattle), Rodgers’ steady performance and calming leadership as the Packers’ signal-caller has kept his team in the thick of the NFC North Division race. After losing just one regular season game in 2011, the Packers opened 2012 by dropping three of their first five games. However, the team has rebounded by winning four straight, including Sunday’s 31-17 victory over the Arizona Cardinals, and currently ranks second in its division behind the Chicago Bears (7-1).
Rodgers has powered the Packer offense despite being forced to perform without key weapons in his arsenal for much of the season. His favorite target, Pro Bowl wide receiver, Greg Jennings tore an abdominal muscle in Week 1 and has been sidelined for six of the team’s nine games. No. 2 wide receiver Jordy Nelson missed Week 8’s matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars with a hamstring injury and was knocked out of Sunday’s game against Arizona after spraining his right ankle. Last season’s leading rusher James Starks has battled a turf toe injury all season and has been inactive for six games. Starting running back Cedric Benson suffered a foot sprain in Week 5 and was placed on injured reserve. The starting backfield has also been without Pro Bowl fullback John Kuhn, who has missed the team’s last two games while recovering from a hamstring injury.
An unhealthy backfield and a struggling offensive line have limited the Packers’ ability to run the football, thus putting more pressure on Rodgers to produce. The Packer running game rank 23rd in the NFL in yards/game (99.7), 26th in yards/carry (3.8) and is tied for last in rushing touchdowns (2). The offensive line has also struggled to protect Rodgers, who has been sacked more than any other quarterback in the league.
Green Bay has not been able to escape the injury bug on the defensive side of the ball either. Pro Bowl defensive back Charles Woodson, and linebackers D.J. Smith and Nick Perry have each missed multiple games due to injury, while linebacker Desmond Bishop, last season’s leading tackler, was placed on injured reserve with a torn hamstring during the pre-season and will not return in 2012. Additionally, Pro Bowl linebacker Clay Matthews exited Sunday’s game early with a hamstring injury.
Green Bay’s upcoming bye week will give many of the banged up players a chance to continue recovery; however, Rodgers has proven through the season’s first nine games that he is capable of carrying the team even without a full supporting cast.
“At the end of the day, as long as you got No. 12 (Rodgers), you don’t have to give a (care) who else you got out there.” Arizona defensive end Darnell Dockett told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel following Sunday’s game.
Rodgers said he is looking forward to the return of his injured teammates, but their absence has not shaken his focus or approach to each game.
“I put a lot of time into it. I care about it, and I prepare to be successful every week,” Rodgers said. “I don’t like to make excuses about who’s in there and who’s not in there.”
Five of the Packers’ final seven games will come against division opponents. All four NFC North teams remain alive in the playoff hunt, so each game will be critical, starting with a November 18th game at Ford Field in Detroit.
“Division games are the most important games. We’ve got to get healthy because division games are more challenging, particularly physically,” head coach Mike McCarthy said. “Everybody spends all their extra time on division games, and we’ve got some big contests coming up.”
Despite the challenging upcoming schedule, Rodgers feels confident in the team’s position.
“I like where we’re at. We’ve had some adversity at the beginning of the season, but it’s brought us closer together,” Rodgers said. “We control our own destiny. We have a chance to make a run at the division title, which is always our first goal at the beginning of the season.”
