Packers' Datone Jones: 'Aaron Rodgers is a genius'

Aaron Rodgers' 2015 season was a study in transitory transcendence inevitably regressing to the mean through little fault of his own.

Coming off a brilliant 2014 MVP campaign and playing without reliable go-to target Jordy Nelson, Rodgers raised his game to an even higher level in September, channeling an unshakeable confidence that allowed him to envision possibilities and interrogate limits that other quarterbacks don't even think to explore.

"He's as hot a quarterback right now as I can ever recall seeing," FOX analyst Troy Aikman raved during the Packers' Week 4 victory over the 49ers. "The ball placement and his vision of the field is unsurpassed."

As we referenced several times on the Around The NFL Podcast, Rodgers was displaying a rare athletic genius on par with Michael Jordan's brilliance in the 1990s.

Appearing on Tuesday's edition of NFL Network's NFL HQ, Packers defensive end Datone Jones used similar terminology to reflect on Rodgers' special qualities.

"He is a genius. Aaron Rodgers is a genius," Jones said. "He's a smart guy. Last year he won Celebrity Jeopardy. That's who he is in the locker room. He's a guy who's going to challenge you mentally. ... He's extremely smart. He knows the defense. He teaches his receivers the defense."

After listening to Rodgers' recent appearance on comedian Pete Holmes' You Made It Weird Podcast, it's easy to understand Jones' comments. Rodgers exhibits a refreshing intellectual curiosity, delving deep to ponder philosophical conundrums.

On the field, he's often playing chess while other quarterbacks play checkers, a sentiment Aikman shared last season -- and recently echoed by Vikings linebacker Eric Kendricks.

Since 2012, Rodgers has thrown 12 touchdowns on "free" plays in which he has tricked the defense into an offsides or encroachment penalty. No other quarterback has more than three touchdowns on such plays over that span.

Rodgers has succeeded in marrying unique physical gifts with coach-like powers of pre- and post-snap recognition to elevate the art of quarterbacking.

In hindsight, we should have seen those spectacular early-season 2015 performances as the canary in the coal mine, evidence that not even the best quarterback of the past half-decade can continually pry open the margin for error when the offense is reduced to improvisational wizardry and tight-window throws.

Saddled with a shaky offensive line, an out-of-shape running back and the NFL's slowest collection of wide receivers and tight ends, Rodgers oversaw a stagnant Packers attack that posted the lowest points per game, yards per game, yards per play and third-down percentage since Brett Favre was under center in Green Bay.

For all of that adversity, though, Rodgers still authored two of the season's magical moments with a beautiful desperation Hail Mary to knock off the Lions in early December and an uncanny redux via amiraculous two-play sequence to send the Packers' thrilling Divisional Round playoff game to overtime.

Coach Mike McCarthy labeled the game winner in Detroit the best throw he's ever seen. NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth was equally impressed with the heave in Arizona, deeming it "one of the great throws ever made, moving to his left, falling away and launching a perfect throw."

Packers teammates have come to expect that brand of genius from their quarterback.

"You know what, the craziest thing, I looked around at everyone's eyes before the last play," Jones explained, "and you could tell no one had any doubt that we were going down and catch the ball. Because we've seen it already. We saw it happen already. We knew we could win a game with no time on the clock. We've done it."

Against the Lions, Hail Mary practice yields surreal moment for Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay

DETROIT -- A 32nd birthday celebration for one of the NFL's greatest quarterbacks ended in grand fashion here Thursday night.

Aaron Rodgers, who practices Hail Mary tosses every Saturday of game weeks at the direction of the Green Bay Packers coaching staff, watched as his 61-yard heave with no time left on the clock came down in the hands of tight end Richard Rodgers in the end zone.

After trailing all game to the surging Detroit Lions, the Packers came away with a 27-23 stunner.

"We've been on the flip side of that," Aaron Rodgers, out of breath, told a CBS reporter after the game. "It was the most amazing game of my life. To be a part of that, to never give up."

And to think that final play could have never happened. The Lions were flagged for a face-mask penalty on the play before, as the Packers tried lateraling the football down the field as time ticked off the clock. That gave Green Bay one last chance from its own 39.

"We practiced it a little bit in pregame," Richard Rodgers said. "Aaron was throwing it up really high, the balls, and I was catching them. I kind of saw the same thing. I ran down there, saw the ball and made sure I was in the end zone, and went up and caught it."

Rodgers, a former Super Bowl MVP, dropped back to pass with his front line giving him plenty of time to throw and he hurled the football -- just like he had Wednesday -- into the bright lights of Ford Field.

The finish was fitting for Rodgers, the tight end, who positioned himself in front of a sea of Detroit defenders and caught the pass that Packers coach Mike McCarthy said likely sailed 70 yards high at its peak.

His father played college football at the University of California and was involved in the infamous 1982 game in which the Stanford band ran on the field as Cal executed a series of laterals to win as time expired.

"I didn't really know what was going on around me," said Richard Rodgers, who had eight catches for 146 yards. "I just locked in on the ball and tried to make a play and made sure I was in the end zone. That's all I was trying to do.

"It's written in the playbook as my job to box out and Davante's (Adams) supposed to jump and I'm supposed to wait for a tip. I might get a (missed assignment). I'll take it, I guess."

The win sparked renewed hope for the Packers, losers of three straight coming in -- including an 18-16 decision three weeks ago to the Lions at Lambeau Field,

The Packers trailed this one 17-0 at halftime. But they held the Lions to just six points in the second half and Aaron Rodgers scored on a 17-yard touchdown run with 3:04 remaining to pull the Packers to within two, setting up the stop and miracle heave.

"I didn't see Richard until the last second," Aaron Rodgers said. "When he caught it, I blacked out. I didn't know what to do. That was the greatest feeling I've had on the field in a long time."

Green Bay (8-4) now sits a half-game behind the Minnesota Vikings, in first place in the NFC North, ahead of a Week 14 matchup against the Dallas Cowboys.

"Really, just three or four plays in the first half, that's what we talked about at halftime," McCarthy said. "We were convinced we were going to win the game, we just didn't know how.

"We didn't think it was going to come down to that."