Aaron Rodgers is a record-setting machine and will one day take up residence at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. But while placement among the greats is a given, there is plenty to be achieved before heading off into the sunset.
A clock is ticking on efforts to secure the tangible rewards that an iconic career deserves, but the sands of time have not slipped away just yet. For as long as unworldly standards are maintained by one of the best to ever do it, there is always a chance that silverware can be secured.
In the present, another trip to the post-season is being taken in. The Green Bay Packers are preparing to face the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Divisional Round, with the 2021–22 campaign reaching all or nothing territory.
Rodgers has been here before and his mere presence has the Packers ranking as +360 favorites in the Super Bowl winner odds on Betfair’s exchanges. There is plenty of competition to be found there. Old adversaries such as Tom Brady are still in the hunt, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers available at +660, but Matt LaFleur’s side is very much in it to win it.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐉𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲
It's time for the playoffs.
Narrated by @AaronRodgers12 pic.twitter.com/HYJvP45rcB
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) January 18, 2022
Lofty ambition has been laid out before almost annually, but only one Vince Lombardi trophy has been hoisted aloft since 1996, a solitary success that came 11 years ago.
For some reason, Rodgers, the Packers, and the play-offs have not been the best of friends, with there always being some sort of issue that leads to collective lines being fluffed. The plan is to start rewriting that script at the earliest opportunity.
Will this year be different?
Coming off a third successive regular season in which 13 victories were registered, the Packers are in a good place right now and have every reason to believe that 2022 will be their year.
However, there is no escaping a rare blemish on Rodgers’ remarkable record that needs to be erased in order for dreams of ultimate glory to come true. The 49ers have a habit of being a thorn in his illustrious side.
Rodgers was famously overlooked in San Francisco at the 2005 draft, as Alex Smith was taken with the number one overall pick. Since then, there has always been a point for Rodgers to prove against the men from California.
His overall record against them is not terrible, but neither is it anything to write home about. Back-to-back successes in the last two regular seasons – including a dramatic 31-30 victory in Week Three of the current campaign – have No.12 back to 6-6 versus the 49ers.
First Divisional Round matchup is locked in.@49ers. @packers.
See you next weekend. #NFLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/WqVSt60YNQ
— NFL (@NFL) January 17, 2022
Rodgers is 3-2 at Lambeau Field, which bodes well, but 0-3 in the post-season – which doesn’t. Two of those reversals have come in Divisional Playoffs and the other in a Wild Card contest. The most recent was back in 2020, when going down 37-20, while successive setbacks were endured in the Januaries of 2013 and 2014.
For too long now, Rodgers has had 49ers problems, and an itch is one. The time has come to start scratching it.