Last Sunday wasn’t a good night for those who doubted Aaron Rodgers.
The Packers’ quarterback looked to be in vintage form as he drove Green Bay down the field in 37 seconds to set kicker Mason Crosby up for the game-winning 51-yard field goal to walk off the 49ers on the road.
On the Pat McAfee Show, which aired Tuesday, Rodgers said he made it a rough night for some out there.
“It’s a rough night for some of those, ‘he doesn’t care’ campers,” Rodgers said. “I love the game. I love competing. There’s nothing like it. There’s nothing like having the ball in your hands with a chance to win the game late in the game. That’s what we live for, that’s what we dream about. We don’t dream about kneel downs in the game. We dream about, we’ve got to go down and put the ball in position to either win it with a field goal or win it with a touchdown.”
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When San Francisco scored a touchdown to take the lead over Green Bay with 37 seconds remaining, there was just a sense that Rodgers was given too much time. It took him all of two passes to wide receive Davante Adams to put his team in position to win the game.
Rodgers told McAfee and A.J. Hawk that he was a little bit surprised the 49ers scored with so much time still remaining on the clock, especially given that Green Bay had no timeouts, but also said he felt San Francisco did all it could do to win.
“They throw it to that stud fullback [Kyle Juszczyk] and he breaks a bunch of tackles and scores, like it wasn’t a situation where, ‘oh don’t get in, don’t get in.’ You’ve got a great defense, you’ve got to trust the defense,” Rodgers said. “I think no one’s at fault on their side, especially not Juice. He’s bowling people over, running a little choice route getting into the end zone. But if you play to lose, you usually lose those games and playing to win is always the way I want to be a part of and I don’t think they have anything to be upset about.”
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There were some, after the way the season began for Green Bay, along with the offseason drama, that questioned whether Rodgers was fully motivated coming into the season. After holding out for much of the offseason, Rodgers’ first game back was dreadful as Rodgers threw two interceptions and the Packers were kept out of the end zone in a 38-3 thumping by the Saints.
But they bounced back in Week 2, rolling over the division rival Lions 35-17, after which Rodgers said that “people like to say a lot of bulls—, and it’s nice to come back in here after a game like that.”
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The next test for Rodgers and Co. comes at home against the Steelers. It will be only the third time in Rodgers’ career he has faced off against Ben Roethlisberger, and the first time since Super Bowl XLV, where the Packers won 31-25.