Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has garnered quite a bit of attention throughout the 2022 NFL season. Whether it be due to injury, performance, or off-the-field issues, Rodgers has been no stranger to scrutiny.
And although some of the criticisms facing the controversial QB may be warranted, there is one aspect of his game that you can never take from him — and that is his utter dominance of the Chicago Bears.
Aaron Rodgers’ Record Against the Bears
Over his 18 seasons as the starter for Green Bay, Rodgers has been a thorn in the side of the team’s NFC North rival. Yes, this was a fact that most of us knew of and openly acknowledged. But it was really brought into the spotlight last year when Rodgers was famously caught rubbing it in the face of Bears fans after a touchdown run.
“I still own you! I’ve owned you all my (bleeping) life!” he was seen screaming.
And although the bluntness of his statement might have been jarring, the reality is that he was far from wrong. Rodgers’ record against the Bears is honestly shocking. He’s a whopping 23-5 in 28 starts with 63 touchdowns and only 10 interceptions. Earlier this year, even during what can only be seen as a down year for the team, Rodgers once again handed the Bears another loss, 27-10.
Now, sitting with a 4-8 record and close to mathematical elimination from the playoffs, Rodgers gets another chance to boost his impressive résumé against the Bears. After losing to Philadelphia last week, there were questions about whether or not Rodgers would play in this one.
Earlier in November, Rodgers surprised everyone by revealing that he has played most of the season with a broken thumb on his throwing hand. The QB claimed the injury happened near the end of the team’s Week 5 loss to the New York Giants. Even if we could all see the bandages he often sported during games since then, the severity of the injury came as a surprise.
In addition to his broken thumb, Rodgers also suffered rib injuries during the team’s loss to the Eagles. The injury was painful enough that the veteran QB was incapable of finishing the game, so backup Jordan Love took over.
Even with all these nagging injuries, Rodgers said he wants to play this game against Chicago.
“I’ve enjoyed the rivalry over the years and been a part of a ton of these games,” Rodgers said. “This is the 37th I’ll be a part of, and I’ve enjoyed all of them. It’s a great rivalry, been around for a long, long time. Happy to be on this side of it, but a lot of good memories at Soldier Field.”
Should Rodgers Continue To Play?
The question now becomes, should Rodgers continue to play? Yes, this rivalry against the Bears is fun and his numbers are out of this world, but is that really enough for the team to continue to send him out even though he is not entirely healthy? Or should Green Bay take this opportunity to get a more in-depth look at Jordan Love, the first-round draft pick from two years ago?
As discussed on this week’s episode of Football Insiders, Rodgers has not looked good since that aforementioned Week 5 injury against the Giants. As PFN’s Arif Hasan points out during his discussion with Trey Wingo and Brett Yarris, since that injury, Rodgers ranks 20th in adjusted net yards per attempt. The team has also gone 1-6, and Rodgers’ poor play combined with a noticeable uptick in interceptions has clearly played a large part in that.
Love, the QB that this same GB organization traded up for in the 2020 NFL Draft to get, has seen little playing time with Rodgers still under center. With Rodgers having signed a massive contract extension in the offseason, the potential of seeing Love anytime soon was nonexistent. However, could this be the perfect opportunity for the team to metaphorically kill two birds with one stone? Get QB1 healthy and see what the future might hold with Love.
Trey Wingo certainly thinks so. “This is absolutely the perfect time for them to find out if Jordan Love is going to be the person and the QB that they thought he was going to be when they drafted him… Someone is going to need to stand up and say we need to find out where we are going when you [Rodgers] are not here. We need to start Love.”
