I probably could have just copied and pasted my story on Peyton Manningfrom last week here, but that'd be lazy. So I'll only steal the headline instead and change the name to Aaron Rodgers, who had one of the worst fantasy performances of his career on Sunday, posting a measly 6.10 fantasy points. Only four quarterbacks who started and finished their games ended with fewer fantasy points that Rodgers (including Kyle Orton!), but that's not going to heal the broken hearts and battered fantasy championship dreams of thousands of fantasy enthusiasts hoping to ride Rodgers' right arm to a fantasy title.
This was only the second time this season Rodgers has failed to eclipse double-digit fantasy points (Week 1 at Seattle), but to find a game where Rodgers posted fewer points than his 6.10 from today, you have to go all the way back to 2008 -- Rodgers' first year as a starter. In Week 10 of that season, Rodgers and the Packers lost to the Vikings 28-27, and although Rodgers didn't turn the ball over, his 142 passing yards and one rushing yard added up to a whopping 5.78 fantasy points. Rodgers has only been held without a touchdown (rushing or passing) four times in his career (not counting games he left due to injury).
Rodgers' bad day also crippled the fantasy totals of Randall Cobb (11.10 fantasy points) and Jordy Nelson (5.5 fantasy points), although Jordy really only has himself to blame. He dropped a perfectly thrown pass that would have been a 90-plus yard touchdown from Rodgers in a truly un-Jordy-like move. But there's no use crying over missed fantasy points, people.
What's really interesting here is that Manning and then Rodgers were shut down in subsequent weeks by the Bills defense. Sure, the Packers hurt themselves with dropped passes (I'm looking at you, Jordy), but give credit where credit is due; the Bills have basically dominated two future Hall of Fame signal-callers in back-to-back weeks (and destroyed countless fantasy football dreams). All without registering a single sack, too.
If Rodgers was your fantasy quarterback and you somehow survived this performance, Christmas comes early next week when an angry Rodgers will face off against the Buccaneers defense. He'll probably throw for 400 yards and five touchdowns, but unfortunately those points will be meaningless to most fantasy owners. Better luck next year, it you're among them.
-- Alex Gelhar is a fantasy and features writer for NFL.com. Follow him on Twitter @AlexGelhar
