It's an Aaron Rodgers-heavy batch of links in today's cheese curds, as we have a number of links examining the Green Bay Packers' quarterback. Whether it's his performance against top defenses or in fourth-quarter comebacks, or his comments to opposing corners and his rookie center, it was covered in the last 24 hours.
Oh, and we've got a new potential nickname for the team's punter and a mild revelation about the final score of Thursday's loss to Seattle.
It's all that and more below!
Fast Five with Tim Masthay | Packers.com
The Ginger Wolverine thinks that if the special-teams players formed a band, Brett Goode would be the guitar player and singer, Mason Crosby would play bass, and he would be the crazy red-headed drummer. I assume we'd have to nickname him "Pickles." In fact, I suggest we start calling him that anyway.
Aaron Rodgers looking mortal in big games since Super Bowl | JSOnline
Here's an interesting take on Rodgers' performance against top-10 defenses over the past two-plus seasons. There are a number of incredibly good performances, some mediocre ones (by Rodgers' standards), and only two or three games that were truly poor performances.
FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: Innovative Statistics, Intelligent Analysis | Clutch Encounters: Week 1
Speaking of Rodgers, you know all those people who cite his poor record in fourth-quarter comebacks as evidence that he's not "clutch"? Well, here's evidence that his defense has robbed him of a near-.500 record in those comeback situations, and have given away more of his comebacks than all but one other NFL quarterback.
Aaron Rodgers to Richard Sherman: 'Hope you get work' - ESPN
The more interesting quote, to me, involves Rodgers yelling at rookie center Corey Linsley after a miscommunication. As far as leadership goes, admitting your mistakes is a good way to earn your teammates' trust; about that incident, Rodgers said "That's not the greatest moment. That's a frustrated moment."
Sherrod moves on from shaky start vs. Seahawks | Packersnews.com
We'll know more today about the likelihood that Sherrod makes his first career start on Sunday. If Bryan Bulaga doesn't participate in at least a limited fashion, it's tough to imagine him being ready to play.
Terry Pegula reaches an agreement to buy the Buffalo Bills for reported $1.4 billion - SBNation.com
This is great news for Bills fans and for Western New York, as Pegula (who also owns the Buffalo Sabres of the NHL) is committed to the city. Sorry, Toronto and Bon Jovi fans. There will be no Runaway team now.
Chart Party: Exploring 'scoragami,' the art of inventing new final scores - SBNation.com
This...is actually a little bit fascinating. Last Thursday's game was the only time in NFL history that a football game has ended in a score of 36-16, and the Seahawks have recorded "firsts" like this in each of the last five seasons.
Finally, Mason Crosby is back in another fantasy football-related video from Lenovo: