Aaron Rodgers reportedly was hot, and he had a right to be after Ty Montgomery blunder



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The Packers might have had a prayer of beating the Rams if Aaron Rodgers had gotten one last chance Sunday. (Denis Poroy / Associated Press)

It was the moment everyone, especially Aaron Rodgers, was waiting for.

But the Green Bay Quarterback Packers never got the chance to lead his team to one of his patented, precision, game-winning drives against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, thanks to a terrible decision by Ty Montgomery. The Rams had taken a 29-27 lead on a field goal with a little over two minutes left – time to spare for Rodgers – and Montgomery had been instructed to kneel for a touchback on the ensuing kickoff. Instead, he grabbed Greg Zuerlein's kickoff a good two yards into the end zone and took off running. When he reaches the 20 yard-line, the Rams' Ramik Wilson crushed him and knocked the loose ball, recovering it in the scrum. That left Rodgers, who has an empty hand.

"Aaron was hot," an unnamed coach Packers told the NFL Network's Michael Silver, "and he had a right to be. He yelled, 'Take a f —— knee!' He was very, very mad. "

Instead, Jared Goff and the Rams' offense took the field. A quick stop might have yielded another opportunity for Rodgers. Goal Todd Gurley slammed the door shut with the goal line, stopping and passing up the chance to pad his stats with a touchdown. This play is called "Rolex," Sean McVay's Coach told Peter King's Talk Football Talk, because "time is more important than the points. The clock, Rolex or otherwise, kept running and Rodgers was reduced to Coliseum spectator.

As Rodgers well knows. He admitted frustration to Silver, saying, "Our defense was playing really well and stopping them over and over again. We've gotten to get more than 10 points while that's happening. And then to have it done, obviously, it's frustrating. "

Montgomery 's decision to run out of the Green Bay' s previous offensive series, several players told Silver. "They took him out for a play and he slammed his helmet and threw a fit," one Packers player said. "Then [before the kickoff] they told him to take a knee, and he ran it out anyway. You know what that was? That was him saying, 'I'm gonna do me.' It's a f —– joke.

"I mean, what's the f — are you doing? We've got Aaron Rodgers, the best I've ever seen, and you're gonna take that risk? I mean, it's '12'! All you gotta do is give him the ball, and you know what's gonna happen. "

Another player told Silver, "I do not know what that was. I'm still in shock. "

Rodgers had led the packers to a 10-0 first-half lead, and rallied the team from a 10-point deficit to one-point lead with 8:57 left. Another epic finish felt very much possible. The packers headed home with a 3-3-1 record, and now must prepare for a road game against the New England Patriots Sunday night.

Montgomery declined to talk to reporters, but Packers Coach Mike McCarthy conceded that "the plan is to stay in the end zone. … But that's what those games come down to. There's a decision in this situation, and I'm sure I was trying to make a play.

"So, I do not know exactly how deep he was, if it was close. But I think we are going to have a relationship with the management of the clock and we are going to be there. We wanted to put the ball in Aaron's hands. But you also trust your players – tough decisions, close decisions – and like I said, I think I was just trying to make a play. "

Rodgers had huddled with his receivers on the sideline, preparing for a two-minute chance that never came.

"That [Montgomery] play did not lose the game, "he said," but it was definitely an opportunity for us to go down and win it. "

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