Getty Aaron Rodgers tries to evade Tampa Bay's Ndamukong Suh and Vita Vea in the NFC Championship game.
Aaron Rodgers can’t get away from a defining moment that helped the Tampa Bay Buccaneers deny the Green Bay Packers an NFC Championship last season.
Rodgers hosted the “Jeopardy!” game show as a guest host on Monday, and a contestant, Scott, posed a tough question to the Packers quarterback — “Who wanted to kick that field goal”? Kicking a field goal prevented the Packers from tying the game with a touchdown and two-point conversion in a 31-26 loss to the Bucs.
The contestant to Aaron Rodgers 💀💀💀… and Rodgers agreed with him!!
“That is a great question. Should be correct but unfortunately for this game today, it’s incorrect,” Rodgers told Scott.
Rodgers actually wanted the question, and gave Scott a nod on Twitter — “well played Scott”.
Rodgers told media after the loss to the Bucs that going for it wasn’t his choice according to Pro Football Talk’s Myles Simmons. Packers head coach Matt LaFleur made the call per Pro Football Talk’s Curtis Crabtree.
“I didn’t have a decision on that one,” Rodgers said per Simmons. “It wasn’t my decision, but I understand the thinking. Above two minutes with all of our timeouts. But it wasn’t my decision.”
LaFleur stood by his decision.
“If I had to do it again, if it’s fourth-and-goal from the 8-yard line, we’re kicking a field goal,” LaFleur said per Crabtree. “If it’s fourth-and-goal from the 5, I think we have a different discussion.”
Green Bay had the ball at the Bucs’ 8-yard line for fourth-and-goal at the time. Safety Andrew Adams and defensive end Ndamukong Suh got stops for the Bucs on the previous two plays.
“You’ve got to play the percentages,” LaFleur said per Crabtree. “We had three shots at it, gained no yards. That’s how it is. Some people will agree. Some people will disagree. It in my heart, that’s what I felt like was the best decision for us. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out.”
Bucs quarterback Tom Brady then made sure Rodgers didn’t get another chance — converting on two third downs. Brady went for wide receiver Tyler Johnson on a short middle route that drew defensive pass interference to convert one third down. Brady secured the win on a six-yard pass to wide receiver Chris Godwin on third down with 48 seconds remaining. The Bucs knelt out the clock from there and advanced to Super Bowl LV.
Season Sweep
Tampa went 2-0 against the Packers in 2020, first beating the Packers 38-10 in October.
The Bucs defense gave Rodgers trouble in that one, picking him off twice and sacking him five times. Suh, Devin White, Jason Pierre-Paul, and Lavonte David all sacked Rodgers. Bucs defensive backs Mike Edwards and Jamel Dean nabbed the picks, which included Dean taking on 32 yards for a touchdown.
Brady out-dueled Rodgers with 166 yards passing and two touchdowns. Rodgers had 160 yards and no touchdowns.
Green Bay came into that game 4-0, and it marked the first time the Bucs beat a team with a winning record that season. Tampa won the next seven of 10 games after that point en route to an 11-5 regular season record.
Rodgers’ New Gig
Rodgers took the opportunity to host “Jeopardy!” as the show has depended on guest hosts since the passing of longtime host Alex Trebek. The Packers quarterback will host the show for 10 episodes per WKOW’s Rebecca Ribley.
He also competed on the show once in “Celebrity Jeopardy!” in 2015 per Ribley.