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Aaron Rodgers was unrecognizable on the field early today in the game against the New Orleans Saints. Rodgers played so poorly that NFL fans have concluded that Rodgers played terribly on purpose to force a trade.
On Sunday afternoon, everything went wrong for the Green Bay Packers after getting annihilated by the Saints, 38-3, in the 2021 season opener.
The New Orleans Saints pulled off what was plausibly the most shocking upset of Week 1 as they flew past Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers.
The Packers couldn't keep up with the Saints as they scored 17-0 early on. Green Bay managed to squeeze in a measly field goal before halftime. However, things didn't look too good as Rodgers ruined the team's one chance of getting back into the game with a red-zone interception on the first drive of the second half.
The NFL's MVP could have thrown the ball towards the ground 28 times back-to-back and would have had a better quarterback rating than what Rodgers ended up with during Green Bays' blowout loss to the Saints.
NFL fans might not be far off the mark with their conspiracy theories.
Could Aaron Rodgers be playing bad on purpose?
The veteran quarterback spent a good portion of the offseason asking to be traded. There was a lot of drama and rumors that surrounded the quarterback and management. It's possible that Rodgers intentionally played a poor game.
Rodgers claims it was never his attention to cause a distraction to his teammates in the 2021 season by staying away from the team and playing coy about his future with the Packers.
However, if we are being honest, the only player that was distracted and unprepared on the field was Rodgers. With just eleven minutes left in the game, coach Matt LaFleur benched Rodgers. Second-year backup Jordan Love replaced the reigning MVP after Saints quarterback Jameis Winston dominated the Packers' defense for five touchdown passes in a 38-3 blowout win.
LaFleur probably assumed that Love would be remarkably better than Rodgers. However, as it turns out, he only fared mildly better in limited action against the Saints.
The former first-round pick, whose appearance intensified Rodgers' desire to reconcile or leave Green Bay, went 6 of 8, completed the team's first third-down conversion, and fumbled in Saints territory.
Rodgers's chance of redemption will come when Green Bay hosts Detroit next Monday night.
