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The Cardinals pressure Aaron Rodgers all day and pull off a blowout win over the Jets

by November 11, 2024

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There was a time when Aaron Rodgers was more nimble, stronger armed, and at times the best quarterback in the NFL.

Those days are probably behind him now. Still, Rodgers, 40, is a 10-time Pro Bowler and four-time NFL All-Pro who has shown he can lead his New York Jets to victory. Sunday wasn’t that day, however, as Rodgers spent an afternoon at State Farm Stadium where tenacious Arizona Cardinals pass rushers flew at him, speedy defensive backs covered his receivers and were often forced to rush his throws.

Rodgers did not complete a pass for more than 15 yards and completed 22 of 35 pass attempts for 151 yards without a touchdown. The Cardinals defeated Rodgers and the Jets 31-6, earning praise from Rodgers for their defensive tenacity and offensive prowess as a player.

“They have a lot of nice players. Kyler (Murray) seemed really efficient,” Rodgers said. “The running back, (James) Conner, is a liability. We couldn’t get him down very often. They have a good tight end and a top-pick receiver (Marvin Harrison Jr.).

“Defensively they have a good scheme. Budda (Baker) is obviously very talented. Corners played well. You did a good job today. They brought it to us.”

It didn’t click until late in the third quarter when Baker, the Cardinals’ safety who Rodgers had talked about a lot with ESPN’s Pat McAfee earlier this week, dropped Rodgers for a sack.

What must have been the conversation between Rodgers and Davante Adams – the two formed a deadly pass-catching combination with the Green Bay Packers and are now reunited with the Jets – as the third quarter ended and the two were on the bench?

Maybe it was about life. Or fall to 3-7 and watch the Jets’ playoff chances fall again. Or the frustration of being unable to do anything at all against a swarming defense that sacked Rodgers three times, hit him five times, harassed him all day and forced a fumble.

“I’m trying to work with him and make sure he stays as sane as possible,” Adams said of his good friend. “It’s hard, I mean if Michael Jordan was on this team he wouldn’t be happy. …You shouldn’t be happy when things aren’t going well, but you have to try to dig deep and try to fix it.

The day was “disappointing,” said Rodgers. The Cardinals certainly seem to be doing a better job of giving teams that feeling.

Rodgers’ miserable afternoon in Arizona also included a brief visit to the blue medical tent after the Cardinals’ Xavier Thomas fielded him and forced a fumble that sent Rodgers shoulder-first and head-first to the ground hard.

“They called from upstairs and said I needed to be seen by the unassigned neuro person,” Rodgers said.

Rodgers didn’t miss a snap after the hit, but it didn’t matter. He and the Jets were done, the Cardinals continued to rise, and New York went in the opposite direction with a Hall of Fame signal-caller.

In the red zone with less than five minutes to play, Rodgers failed to make contact with Malachi Corley on fourth down. He angrily pointed at his receiver, who was nowhere near a ball thrown out of his reach.

The Jets were 0 for 3 in the red zone on the day.

“They played really well on defense. I definitely missed a few shots and we were really bad situationally,” Rodgers said.

For his part, Murray seemed to catch the Jets off guard.

“I have to say they probably passed the ball a little more than we expected,” Jets interim coach Jeff Ulbrich said. “They made their money in the run game, and Kyler did a great job. He deserves the credit for beating us, especially when we couldn’t.”

“At times we didn’t do a good enough job with our reporting. They did a great job, they had a great plan for us.”

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