Remember when Aaron Rodgers was the NFL's "Goat of the Week" and the reason Green Bay was failing?
It wasn't long ago Monday Morning Quarterback's Peter King wrote, "There is something amiss with Rodgers. Anyone who watches football can see. … [The Packers are] not going to win many now unless Rodgers raises his game, and fast."
Things got much worse before they improved. The Packers fell to 4-6 and all the blame pointed at Rodgers. Even former teammate Greg Jennings criticized the star quarterback.
Then Rodgers decided he and the Packers would "run the table". Two months later, they're preparing for the NFC championship after beating Dallas 34-31 on a last-second field goal in the divisional playoff game.
King's tone towards Rodgers has changed drastically since he labeled him a goat. The Sports Illustrated scribe wrote Monday morning "Rodgers is playing the position as well as it's ever been played."
The Cowboys' historic season ended Sunday after Rodgers' remarkable 36-yard pass to tight end Jared Cook with 13 seconds left to set up the winning field goal. Dallas coach Jason Garrett said after the game, "They're going to talk about [Rodgers] as one of the top three quarterbacks who ever laced them up."
Rodgers has led the Packers on an eight-game winning streak, changing his status from goat to savior.
Andy Benoit at Sports Illustrated voiced a similar sentiment as his colleague King by writing, "Rodgers is playing the quarterback position at a level never before seen." The reason behind this resurgence: "The superstar QB has combined his sandlot style with new-found timing and rhythm. Throw in the emergence of a new target, and you get an unstoppable quarterback."
Jarrett Bell of USA Today wrote "The Green Bay players toiling alongside Rodgers are probably not unlike the 1920s New York Yankees, who rolled with Babe Ruth. Or the Chicago Bulls teammates of Michael Jordan. They are playing with a living legend, one of the greatest ever."
Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady said Monday morning on sports radio WEEI, "I think he does things that no one in the league has ever done, or can do, just because of his physical ability. Some of the plays he makes are just phenomenal."
ESPN's Ian O'Connor wrote, "The great ones need memorable moments, signature plays, to frame their impact on the sport, and that 36-yard throw to Jared Cook on the sideline in the final seconds was a little like Tiger Woods' forever chip-in on Augusta National's 16th hole."
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