Aaron Rodgers contributed to the Packers’ elimination by wasting the opportunity to inspire them: NFL Instant Replay

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  • Ivis AburtoESPN Digital

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      • NFL editor and columnist with ESPN Deportes since 2015. • He began his career in 1996, working in radio and print media as a reporter and editor specializing in NFL with experience covering several Super Bowls.

The desire to win manifests itself in a variety of ways in the NFL and beyond the strategic and execution errors that caused the Green Bay Packers’ defeat in another NFC Championship Game, that hunger to win was not seen in Aaron Rodgers.

This is not to say that the Packers quarterback and strongest contender to win the award as the most valuable player in the NFL has played without motivation and desire to win, in fact, the days before he was noticed encouraged and convinced that he It was the first NFC final he had a chance to play at Lambeau Field, but in the course of the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, that mood faded until Rodgers was completely abandoned.

The image of Rodgers sitting on the couch with the mask on and the blank stare is a reflection of the player who missed a clear opportunity to at least show his team and fans that he would leave everything on the field to take the chance. get to return. to a Super Bowl.

With the Buccaneers at 31-23 with 2:15 to play in the fourth quarter and after leading his attack to the Tampa Bay 8-yard line, Rodgers threw two incomplete passes and was third and scored in an obvious passing, defense focused on defending a mission to the end zone.

The piece was designed in such a way that the Bucs’ defense, in an effort to pressurize the Packers quarterback and cover their receivers, left a large space on the right side of the field that Rodgers simply didn’t see or ignore. and preferred throwing a pass to Davante Adams to midfield in the end zone, even though the receiver was marked by two defenders.

It is still incomprehensible how a quarterback the size and experience of Rodgers failed to take advantage of an opportunity that is rare in defining moments and less so in the Playoffs.

That action that Rodgers didn’t take advantage of recalls a play in which the main character made it clear that he was ready to achieve glory after several failed attempts to win the Super Bowl.

23 years ago, in the context of Super Bowl XXXII between the Denver Broncos and Packers, John Elway made it clear that after losing three games to the Vince Lombardi Trophy and several more losses in the Playoffs, he was unwilling to take another loss.

With the score tied 17-17 and 2:16 left in the third quarter, the Broncos reached the 12-yard line in Green Bay and faced a third down and six. On a passing action, Elway took the center, took a few steps back and found no one to throw the ball, then saw a space to the right of the formation.

Elway was 37 years old, the same age as Rodgers now, and although his best days as a runner who escaped the pressure were long gone, he decided to start running. Three Packers defenders rushed to take him on and collided with him, spinning Elway like a propeller in mid-air.

When he hit the ground, Elway had gained eight meters, but more importantly, he inspired an entire team to a victory that was not easy. Elway’s Action is considered one of the most important plays in Broncos history.

Such magnitude could be viewed as Rodgers’ decision, omission, or lack of capacity not to see that wide space that could have changed the course of his own history and that of the Packers in the current season.

After the compromised pass to Adams, Packers coach Matt LaFleur decided to go for the field goal that only served to get within five points of the Buccaneers as Tom Brady did not return the ball to Rodgers.

Rodgers may not have reached the end zone. Eight yards seems a bit, but in the NFL it’s a world away, but he could have been very close to the diagonals and so would have convinced LaFleur to play fourth in an easier situation, with an inspired team determined to to return their leader to the Super Bowl after a 10-year absence and nine Playoff eliminations, three of them in the NFC Finals.

Rodgers is not a player who handles losses adequately. His attitude in the final seconds of the game against Tampa Bay, his cold post-game greeting with Tom Brady and his post-game statements show this and he has shown the same attitude on other occasions.

Rodgers simply passed up the opportunity to show that he would do whatever it took to get back into the Super Bowl. The reality is that he was also responsible for the Packers ultimately dying from nothing against the Buccaneers.

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