Top 12 Games of the Aaron Rodgers era Part 3

Weve talked about games 12-6, now its time to rank the sixth, fifth and fourth best games for the Packers of the Aaron Rodgers era. Again, this list isn't about Aaron Rodgers individual performance in that game, or how exciting the game was, its about 15% Rodgers performance, 15% excitement of the game, and 70% the significance of the win. Lets get to it:

6. 2009 Week 10 Vs Cowboys: W 17-7. This will be a puzzling pick to many, but to me it is absolutely an essential game on this list, and I actually feel bad I didn't put it higher up. The Packers came into this game 4-4, coming off a loss to the winless Buccaneers, and were big underdogs to the Cowboys, which would put them at 4-5 and essentially fading from the playoff run. It was an ugly game, the first point didn't occur until the final play of the first half, and all three touchdowns were scored in the fourth quarter. The win sparked a 7-1 finish to the season for the Packers. In my opinion, it marks a large dividing line between the growing pains era of Rodgers career, and the current domination era we find ourselves in. Coming into this game Rodgers career record was 10-14, very mediocre. Since this game the Packers boast a 47-15 record, the best in the NFC in that stretch. The importance of this game cannot be denied.

5. 2009 Week 1 Packers Vs Bears W 21-15. This game is large for a myriad of reasons. First, it was the opening game of the first postseason season of Aaron Rodgers career. It also began the current domination of the Bears from Aaron Rodgers, since this game he is 8-1 against the Bears. It also still to this day marks the one of only two game winning drives in the final five minutes of a game from Aaron Rodgers. Facing 3rd and 1 from midfield and tailing 15-13, Rodgers ran the play action and threw a bomb to a wide open Greg Jennings for a touchdown. It was also Jay Cutlers first game at Lambeau Field, and he threw four picks appropriately. the TD pass to Greg Jennings was recently listed as one of the 50 most important plays in Packers history.

4. 2012 Week 6 Packers at Texans W 42-24. Theres a chance the ranking of this game may be changed depending on how the Packers do in the playoffs this year. There is no doubt this was the turning point of the 2012 Packers season. Coming off a brutal loss to the Colts, standing at 2-3 and heavy underdogs on the road to the undefeated Texans on National TV, the Packers, mostly Aaron Rodgers, thrashed the Texans up and down the field for the full 60 minutes. Rodgers finished with a career high six touchdown passes, and his post game interview now lives in Packers lore. When questioned what he had to say to the critics who had said all week the Packers were finished, Rodgers famously said "Shhhhh", then just walked away.