By Adam Roberts – 1/4/2021
A few things were seemingly locked up with yesterday’s 35-16 Packer win over the Bears.
For certain, Green Bay will now have a bye week and home field advantage throughout the NFC Playoffs, which considering only one team gets a bye this season could be paramount to a Packer Super Bowl run.
Also certain, quarterback Aaron Rodgers set a new career-high for touchdown passes with his 48th of the season on a connection to Davante Adams, who himself tied a franchise record for single-season touchdown receptions with Sterling Sharpe in 1994 (18). Keep in mind, that record was set despite Adams missing 2.5 games this year.
What remains to be seen is whether or not a 240 yard, four touchdown performance will net Rodgers the league MVP award, though he is the betting favorite for the honor. For the season, Rodgers finished with the aforementioned 48 touchdowns, 4,299 passing yards, just five interceptions (though there were some close calls yesterday), and a 121.5 QBR (he came close to eclipsing his own NFL record in that category (122.5)). Going into Week 17, Rodgers was the Vegas favorite for MVP, and Patrick Mahomes didn’t play in yesterday’s Chiefs loss to the Chargers.
For now, the answer to that question will have to wait, as will the question of who the Packers will face in the Divisional Round. As the one-seed, it could be the Washington Football Team, Tampa Bay, the LA Rams, or a rematch with Chicago.