Packers' Greatest Strength Still Lies in Aaron Rodgers

The title of this article should come as no shock to anyone who follows the Green Bay Packers. However, with the poor performance of the team on Friday night against the Arizona Cardinals, it bears repeating. The Packers will be just fine, as long as Aaron Rodgers is healthy and quarterbacking the team.

I know Friday sucked. The defense had trouble against the Cardinals' receivers. The running game looked pretty awful. The backup quarterbacks were, in a word, dreadful. All of those things are facts. However, Aaron Rodgers played one series and took the team within inches of the goal line (or over the goal line, depending on how you judged the replay of James Starks' fourth-down run). This team will be fine.

Rodgers set the single-season passer rating record in 2011 and owns the all-time career lead. He is the active leader in career completion percentage and is second all-time in that stat. Over five years as a starting quarterback, Rodgers has averaged over 4,250 passing yards, 34 touchdowns and just 9 interceptions per season. Simply put, Rodgers is as good a quarterback as there is in the NFL today, and if he is standing and can throw a football, the Packers will be a playoff contender and will be at least in the discussion for Super Bowl candidates.

So as you beat yourself up over the ugly game, just remember: all is not lost. There are three games to go before they start to count. When Rodgers plays a full game, the offense will not be the stagnant, immovable object that it appeared to be against Arizona. You can bet on that.

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