Rodgers: Packers Super Bowl contenders after 49ers win
The Green Bay Packers left it late on Sunday, but their turnaround has Aaron Rodgers full of belief in what they can achieve this season.
Aaron Rodgers believes the Green Bay Packers' dramatic late 30-28 win over the San Francisco 49ers could be a catalyst for their season and serves as proof of their credentials as Super Bowl contenders.
The Packers were seemingly heading for a 28-27 defeat, but with 37 seconds remaining, they managed to turn things around spectacularly.
Some last-drive heroics from Green Bay superstar Rodgers – without a timeout left – lifted the Packers (2-1) as Mason Crosby's game-ending 51-yard field goal condemned the 49ers (2-1) to their first loss of the season.
Rodgers finished 23-of-33 passing for 261 yards and two touchdowns without an interception, also surpassing Hall of Famer Dan Marino (51,741) for the fourth most passing yards in a player's first 200 games in NFL history – Drew Brees, Matt Ryan and Peyton Manning are the only players with more passing yards through 200 appearances.
But the focus post-game was less about such feats and rather centred around the Packers' turnaround, how they had gone from being 1-2 to 2-1 in almost the blink of an eye.
While the importance of single victories can only be quantified later in the season, Rodgers at least feels such a display of character is evidence of the Packers' potential, as they go in search of a first Super Bowl win since 2010.
Rodgers: "The energy in the locker room postgame, that felt like a win"
"No timeouts, from the 25, you need two chunk throws," Rodgers said. "I knew that, so that's why I wasn't dink-and-dunk. You don't have any time for that. We had to get at least 15 on the first play.
"I like to adjust some routes from time to time to get a look at what it feels like against our defense, so I just adjusted one of the routes [in practice], and we all liked it.
"Matty [coach Matt LaFleur] suggested it right before we went out there. 'What do you think about this play?' I said, 'I like that. I think that would be pretty good.'
"[The turnaround] gives some legitimacy to some of the things we've been talking about: That that was kind of an aberration and that we are a talented football team.
"The energy in the locker room postgame, that felt like a win. It felt like it was such a growth moment for us.
"I'm really happy for the guys to feel that, and it feels like, OK, now we're on our way. Now we can get into this, now we know how to win, and we can get this thing moving in the right direction."