Tuesday, September 17, 2024
As you watch New York Jets’ quarterback Aaron Rodgers try to come back from a nearly season-long Achilles’ injury, just know you can never really count him out.
Rodgers – who earned four National Football League MVP awards and a Super Bowl title in 18 years with Green Bay – saved his grittiest performances for the Packers’ 100th season in 2018.
In a dramatic Sunday Night opener against Chicago, Rodgers was carted off in the second quarter with knee injuries after being sacked.
But he only missed about 15 minutes of playing time before returning to lead the Pack to what was then its greatest fourth quarter comeback in team history.
Green Bay emerged from a 20-3 deficit at the start of the final period to beat the Bears 24-23 at Lambeau Field.
Media reports compared the Rodgers’ comeback to New York Knicks’ star Willis Reed.
He tore a thigh muscle in Game 5 of the 1970 NBA Finals but hobbled back in Game 7 to make two jump shots. That was enough to inspire the Knicks to win their first championship.
With Rodgers out, the Bears’ key free agent pickup from the previous spring — 2016 Defensive Player of the Year Khalil Mack — picked off backup QB DeShone Kizer for a touchdown that sent Chicago to the half with a 17-0 lead.
In the fourth quarter, Rodgers became the first in Packers’ history to have three TD passes in the final 15 minutes — all on what he later confirmed was a broken upper shinbone at his left knee joint, plus a sprained MCL ligament in the same knee.
My vantage point that night was in Section 105, in the north end zone with seats allotted for Bears’ fans.
Some wore Mitchell Trubisky’s No. 10 as he began his second year as Chicago’s starting quarterback. Others wore new Mack jerseys, testing them out for his Bears’ debut.
He did not disappoint.
Besides his 27-yard Pick-6, the former Oakland Raiders’ linebacker forced Rodgers to fumble, recovered the loose ball, and had three total tackles.
Packers’ right tackle Bryan Bulaga mostly succeeded in keeping Mack in check.
By late in the fourth quarter, though, the pressure on Rodgers was so intense that A-Rod hobbled between plays.
Al Michaels, who called the game on NBC, said Mack kept the pedal-to-the-metal so much it was like “watching a horror movie for Bulaga.”
Meanwhile, the Green Bay defense made certain that Trubisky received the same kind of heat.
He was sacked four times and threw for 171 yards without a scoring pass.
After the Packers took the late lead, the Bears benefited from a fourth-down roughing-the-passer penalty by Clay Matthews that gave Chicago a fresh set of downs.
Nick Perry then sacked Trubisky on the ensuing fourth down and forced a fumble which sealed the Pack’s victory.
Trubisky’s passer rating was 77.2 while playing all 33 minutes that Chicago held the ball.
Rodgers, in about 15 minutes of possession, amassed a passer rating of 130.7.
He threw for 286 yards with fourth-quarter touchdowns to Geronimo Allison, Davante Adams and Randall Cobb.
The decisive 75-yard score to Cobb was a backbreaker for the Bears; a short pass up the middle in which Cobb ran for 45 yards in an open field with only one potential tackler getting close.
Rodgers later told ESPN Radio-Milwaukee that his return was “very painful.”
And he couldn’t sneak up on the Bears — No. 12 received a standing ovation from the moment he left the tunnel and walked past the south end zone early in the second half.
As he joined his huddle with 9:10 left in the third quarter, Rodgers looked as if he had a confident stroll.
He played in all 16 games in the 2018 season while not at 100% at any point.
Rodgers said he reinjured the knee in Week 5 at Detroit.
And while he was “proud” not to miss a game, the injuries limited his mobility and created a more disjointed offense as he had to throw away more passes.
Rodgers’ season ended with a concussion early in the finale, affecting his vision in a home loss to the Lions.
Green Bay ended their 100th season at 6-9-1, while the Bears won the NFC North crown at 12-4.
Five years later in September 2023, the Packers matched their team-record fourth quarter recovery from 17 down to beat New Orleans 18-17.
It was a huge win at Lambeau for new starting QB Jordan Love, who had both a passing TD and a rushing score.
Still, it didn’t have the flair of Green Bay’s 2018 opener which Michaels called “one of the most dramatic wins in the venerable history of Lambeau Field.”
