Getty Aaron Rodgers #12 of the Green Bay Packers celebrates his touchdown pass to teammate Allen Lazard in the first quarter against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium on December 01, 2019 in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
When Marcedes Lewis caught a fourth-quarter touchdown pass Sunday afternoon against the New York Giants, Aaron Rodgers immediately came racing across the snow-pressed field to celebrate with him in the end zone.
The touchdown not only marked the veteran tight end’s first in two seasons with the Green Bay Packers but also made him the 38th NFL player to haul in a touchdown pass from the two-time MVP quarterback. Rodgers recently sat down with The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman to see if he could recount all 37 players to catch a touchdown throw from him during his 15 seasons in the league and made perfectly clear his intention to get one soon for Lewis.
How fired up Aaron Rodgers was after connecting with Marcedes Lewis for the duo’s first touchdown is everything you would expect and more.
One of the Green Bay great’s favorite teammates and couldn’t have come at a better time for the Packers to put this game away.
“I’m always happy throwing a touchdown pass, but a little something special with Marcedes just ’cause the kind of guy he is, the kind of player he is, what he’s meant to our team this year from a leadership standpoint,” Rodgers said. “He’s a pro’s pro. He hasn’t been a huge factor in the passing game, but he’s been a rock in the run game, opening up holes for us and doing his job, never complaining, leading by example. Just, at this point, I couldn’t have thrown a touchdown to a better guy.”
Rodgers’ 1-yard touchdown throw to Lewis was his fourth of the day in an afternoon that saw both him and the Packers bounce back from last week’s loss to San Francisco for a 31-13 win at the Giants. He finished with 243 passing yards, tagging Allen Lazard for a 37-yard bomb and finding top wideout Davante Adams for another pair of end zone grabs.
“I was like, ‘Damn, he has ’em wrapped up,'” Lewis said in the postgame via Schneidman. “But I was like, ‘Nah, 12 is about to break out of this.’ He broke out of that, threw that ball up and the rest is history after that.”
The Packers (9-3) quieted down offensively after Mason Crosby’s 47-yard field goal early in the second quarter, but their defense slushed through the snow and pressured Giants rookie quarterback Daniel Jones into a number of crippling mistakes, including three interceptions.
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Rodgers Happy to be Winning in December
If it means anything to you, Rodgers was named FedEx Player of the Day after his four-touchdown outing, which is a far cry from the ridicule he received after throwing for just 104 yards in last week’s loss to the Niners (10-2). All that Rodgers cared about, though, in Sunday’s aftermath was how the Packers had started the month of December on the right note after two disappointing seasons prior.
“It’s great to be playing meaningful games in December,” Rodgers said during his on-field postgame interview, adding earlier he was happy to play in snowy weather that is custom for the Packers in Wisconsin.
The Packers have less than a 2 percent chance to miss the playoffs after Sunday’s win, a scenario that would take them losing all of their remaining four games and likely would still depend on others to win crucial games. But the weak spots that existed during Week 12’s loss to the Niners were looking much better Sunday in New Jersey.
Both Rodgers and the offense moved better in returning to their early-season roots of spreading the ball among their many playmakers. Despite not gaining too much, Aaron Jones was once again featured in the passing game and, in presence alone, helped open up opportunities for some of his pass-catching teammates. The offensive line, which allowed 10 quarterback hits and five sacks a week prior, was also noticeably better with just two hits allowed total.
“Yeah, protection was great all day,” Rodgers said in Sunday’s postgame. “I told the guys that was a nice, fairly clean day with no sacks. I felt my movement in the pocket was good, but it felt very comfortable at times. … I thought the communication up front was good and when I had to get the ball out, I wasn’t holding onto it.”
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