Aaron Rodgers will miss game vs. KC Chiefs due to COVID

The Green Bay Packers will be forced to play on Sunday without their star quarterback Aaron Rodgers due to the fact that he tested positive for COVID-19, per a report from Tom Pelissero, meaning he will have to be quarantined for the team’s Week 9 visit to Arrowhead Stadium to face the Kansas City Chiefs.

The midseason meeting between the Chiefs and Packers has been circled on the NFL’s calendar by even casual fans of the game since the schedule was revealed back in the spring. It was supposed to be an ultimate showdown of Patrick Mahomes vs. Aaron Rodgers, but now the game will take on a different angle entirely with the emergence of Jordan Love in a big game at Arrowhead as Rodgers’ backup.

For the Chiefs, this will likely be viewed as the major break they needed, although everyone loses by not seeing a matchup of perhaps the two most talented quarterbacks in the entire NFL.

Aaron Rodgers will miss Sunday’s game against the Chiefs due to COVID.

Without Rodgers, the Packers are certainly much more vulnerable but Love is a former first-round pick who has been waiting in the wings for some time. The Packers are also extremely well-coached by Matt LaFleur and his staff with a loaded roster that includes Pro Bowl-caliber talent on both sides of the ball. The Packers only have a single loss and lead the NFC North for good reason.

With the Packers at 7-1, Rodgers has been putting up MVP-level numbers once again with 17 touchdown passes and only 3 interceptions to go with a 67 percent completion rate. He has a passer rating of 105.7 on the season, one year after leading the NFL in the category.

Love now takes over with only seven passing attempts in his NFL career, all coming in mop-up duty in a loss to the New Orleans Saints to start the season—the Packers only loss in 2021 so far.

As for the Mahomes-Rodgers matchup we were hoping to see, if the Chiefs can get their act together, there’s still a chance that both teams could represent their respective conferences in the Super Bowl. For the Chiefs, however, it means turning things around sooner than later—beginning this weekend against a Packers team that is less imposing than they were yesterday.