TimesFour

December 12, 2010 – Ford Field, Detroit Michigan

Everyone knew it but no one talked about it. As it had been for all those years with Brett Favre, so it was now with Aaron Rodgers. These Green Bay Packers would go as far as their quarterback would take them. If he got hurt…well…that thought was too awful to contemplate.

But that couldn’t happen–could it? Rodgers, who had been criticized in 2009 for holding the ball too long and absorbing too many sacks, had grown a lot smarter in 2010. He was getting rid of the ball quicker, eluding tacklers better & throwing the ball away when necessary. All was good, right??

There was 1 thing Rodgers still hadn’t learned or at least would not do with any consistency–at the end of a scramble, he needed to give himself up with a feet first slide. Too often, he’d dive headfirst and take a blow he didn’t need to take. Coach Mike McCarthy, a one-time QB coach, harped on his star to follow the standard procedure but either Rodgers forgot or didn’t care for the policy.

Rodgers head hits the turf

Ultimately, Rodgers hubris caught up with him on the unforgiving artificial turf of Ford Field in Detroit Michigan.

Under 2nd year coach Jim Schwartz, the Lions were developing into a pretty good team. Though they had won just twice in 2010, they had played hard every week & were a break or 2 away from becoming a team to reckon with. The Packers needed no more evidence of this than their 1st meeting in early October when they escaped with a 2 point win.

Now the Lions believed in themselves as a team & knew a win over a top notch foe would only help catapult them further.

It all played out just as the Lions had hoped.

The Packers were sluggish early on. Tight End Andrew Quarless lost a fumble on Green Bay’s 2nd play from scrimmage & later in the quarter, Rodgers threw his 1st interception in 5 games (although Jennings should have caught it).

However, the Lions were no better. Down to #3 QB Drew Stanton after injuries to Matt Stafford & Shaun Hill, they turned the ball over twice & could mount nothing on offense.

Then, with 3 minutes left before the half, Rodgers was flushed from the pocket and took off, running 18 yards before he was tackled by Amari Spievy & Landon Johnson. Diving forward, as was his habit, Rodgers head smacked the turf hard & he stayed on the ground for several seconds. After calling a timeout to clear his head, Rodgers was sacked on the next play.

As the 3rd quarter opened, backup Matt Flynn was under center for the Packers and Rodgers was sidelined with his 2nd concussion of the season.

A 7th round draft pick in 2008, Flynn had studied hard under Rodgers for 2 years. His ability impressed the Packers enough that they jettisoned 2008 2nd round draft pick Brian Brohm. Flynn played ok for being thrust into a tough situation, but he couldn’t generate any offense against an inspired Lion defense.

Detroit finally scored on a Stanton to Will Heller TD pass with just under 8 minutes left to play.

Flynn led the Packers back to the Lions 31 but on 4th down his pass into the end zone to a diving Greg Jennings fell short. It was the Lions first win over an NFC North foe since October of 2007, a span of 19 games and it snapped a 10 game losing streak to the Packers.

It was a devastating loss in more ways than one for the Packers. Afterward, McCarthy said he wasn’t sure how badly Rodgers was hurt.

“I really can’t measure the level of concussion at this point,” he said. “I was told that his head is clear & he has a headache.”

But the early reports were already suggesting Rodgers would not be ready for the next game and it would fall on the inexperienced Flynn to travel to New England & face the powerful Patriots.

The win was clearly a turning point for the Lions. For the Packers, the loss was threatening to be a turning point too.

Next up a rematch of Super Bowl XXXI, Packers vs. Patriots.