It has been an uphill struggle to get to this point in his career, but Aaron Rodgers is making a believer out of those who wondered if he would ever be among the NFL’s elite quarterbacks.
One of the biggest signs that Rodgers has finally arrived is that he has made Brett Favre an afterthought in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Heading into today’s NFC Championship Game against the Chicago Bears, there is no doubt Rodgers is in charge and the Packers’ hopes of getting to their first Super Bowl in 13 years rest in his hands.
“He has definitely developed into a special player,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. “He does it the right way. He’ll break them down physically, mentally. He’s in a great rhythm right now.”
The other semi-final today -features the Pittsburgh Steelers hosting the New York Jets in the AFC Championship Game.
Rodgers was selected by Green Bay in the first round (24th overall) of the 2005 entry draft.
This is the first year since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970 that all four starting quarterbacks in the semi-finals were first-round draft picks.
Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger (No. 11 in 2004), New York Jets’ Mark Sanchez (No. 5 in 2009) and Chicago’s Jay Cutler (No. 11 in 2006) all went in the first round.
Rodgers has thrown seven touchdowns in six career starts against the Bears.
He threw three touchdown passes and went 31 of 36 for 366 yards in a 48-21 win over No. 1 seeds Atlanta last weekend.
Rodgers is in his third season as the Packers starting quarterback. He certainly has the support of his teammates.
“I love him,” Packers wide receiver Donald Driver said. “I don’t know if you can put words to it, but he’s playing like one of the best quarterbacks in the game, if not the best.”
Bears quarterback Cutler is no slouch either. Cutler threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more in last week’s 35-24 win over Seattle. He finished with 274 yards passing and became the first quarterback since Otto Graham to rush and throw for two touchdowns in a playoff game.
The two teams share one of the NFL’s longest standing rivalries dating back to 1921. This will be the 182nd career meeting between the Bears and Packers.
“You just look at our history and it does have a respectful tone, but it can be nasty also,” Bears coach Lovie Smith said. “It’s going to be a physical game. We don’t like each other. Believe me, there is not a whole lot of love for us coming [from the Packers].”
The sixth-seeded Jets barreled their way through a pair of brilliant quarterbacks in Peyton Manning and Tom Brady to get to their second consecutive AFC Championship Game.
Now Roethlisberger is the biggest obstacle in the way of their trip to the Super Bowl.
“Big Ben, he’s next on our list,” Jets wide receiver Braylon Edwards said.
The Steelers are headed to their fourth AFC Championship Game in seven years.
“[Ben] may not be Brady or all those other guys, but when I see him in the huddle, I know we’ve got a chance to win,” Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward said. “He’s a proven winner.”
“They’re a really good defense. They try and confuse. That’s the big thing they do ... You don’t know where people are lining up and how to identify them,” Roethlisberger said of the Jets. “The Jets’ defense beat the two best quarterbacks in the game at their place. I don’t know how I’m going to do it.”
One Jet who may be more motivated than most today is wide receiver Santonio Holmes, a former Super Bowl MVP who the Steelers traded for a fifth-round pick in April last year.
Holmes said he harbors no hard feelings toward the Steelers.
“I don’t care about the Steelers right now,” Holmes said. “If we win the Super Bowl, that’s a slap back for trading me, but right now it’s not a focus of mine.”
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