Mark Craig has covered football and the NFL from Canton, Ohio, to Minneapolis since 1991. Follow his daily updates on the Vikings' NFC North opponents, as well as his candid, unvarnished and, yes, sometimes sarcastic thoughts on the Purple and NFL news throughout the day.
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Is Rodgers the right guy for the Pack?
Here's an interesting statistical comparison:
. Philip Rivers' 105.5 passer rating ranked No. 1 in the NFL last season. In 16 games, he was sacked 25 times.
. Aaron Rodgers' 110.4 passer rating ranks No. 1 in the NFL this season. In SEVEN games, he has been sacked an NFL-high 31 times.
Wow.
Rodgers was sacked 34 times in 16 games last season, so if he goes down four times against Tampa Bay on Sunday, he will have surpassed last year's total in just eight games.
Rodgers' lofty passer rating and his ridiculously high sack total are one of the stranger contrasts in the league at the halfway point this season.
Peyton Manning is No. 2 in passer rating (109.3). He's been sacked five times. Drew Brees is No. 3 in passer rating (107.6). He's been sacked 11 times.
Despite the constant pressure, Rodgers has thrown 14 touchdown passes and only two interceptions. Manning has thrown four picks, while Brees has thrown six.
The Packers' offensive line has been a mess all season. Rodgers also has a tendency to hang onto the ball too long. Just ask Ray Edwards, the Vikings' defensive end who picked up one of his sacks on Sunday while chasing Rodgers clear across the field.
Rodgers' sack numbers should come down the rest of the season. After all, he's done playing the Vikings, who sacked him 14 times in two games.
Although Rodgers is only 10-13 as a starter, he's the answer at QB in Green Bay. He will have a long and successful career there if he doesn't have to absorb 65 sacks every 23 games.
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| Date/Opponent | Time | W | L | Score |
| Sep 13 - at Cleveland | 12:00 PM | 1 | 0 | 34-20 |
| Sep 20 - at Detroit | 12:00 PM | 2 | 0 | 27-13 |
| Sep 27 - vs. San Francisco | 12:00 PM | 3 | 0 | 27-24 |
| Oct 5 - vs. Green Bay | 7:30 PM | 4 | 0 | 30-23 |
| Oct 11 - at St. Louis | 12:00 PM | 5 | 0 | 38-10 |
| Oct 18 - vs. Baltimore | 12:00 PM | 6 | 0 | 33-31 |
| Oct 25 - at Pittsburgh | 12:00 PM | 6 | 1 | 17-27 |
| Nov 1 - at Green Bay | 3:15 PM | 7 | 1 | 38-26 |
| Open | ||||
| Nov 15 - vs. Detroit | 12:00 PM | 8 | 1 | 27-10 |
| Nov 22 - vs. Seattle | 12:00 PM | 9 | 1 | 35-9 |
| Nov 29 - vs. Chicago | 3:15 PM | 10 | 1 | 36-10 |
| Dec 6 - at Arizona | 7:20 PM | 10 | 2 | 17-30 |
| Dec 13 - vs. Cincinnati | 12:00 PM | 11 | 2 | 30-10 |
| Dec 20 - at Carolina | 7:20 PM | 11 | 3 | 7-26 |
| Dec 28 - at Chicago | 7:30 PM | 11 | 4 | 30-36 |
| Jan 3 - vs. NY Giants | 12:00 PM | 12 | 4 | 44-7 |
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