Budding bromance: Aaron Rodgers and Martellus Bennett connect
Aaron Rodgers said after he and the Green Bay Packers escaped with a 17-9 win over the Seattle Seahawks Sunday that the late hit by teammate Martellus Bennett on Seahawks’ linebacker K.J. Wright that at the time seemed like a drive-killer, was appreciated.
“It meant a lot to me, it really did,” Rodgers said in his post-game press conference yesterday.
The first game of any season tends to set the tone for the rest of the year and if this was any indication of the connection between Rodgers and Bennett, it appears the two of them are prepared to go to war, to stand up for one another, and to win and lose together under any circumstance.
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Yesterday’s reaction by Bennett, in the moment, was one that every Packers fan was cringing about. How could Bennett have done something so stupid in such a crucial point of this game? It could easily have helped to kill a promising game-sealing drive in the final minutes. It could have turned the game the other way and could have easily left the Packers at 0-1 instead of 1-0.
But it didn’t.
And it didn’t because the Rodgers-to-Bennett connection rose up again two plays later when Rodgers rolled right on a naked bootleg and found Bennett wide open down the right sideline for 26 yards, a first down, and the win.
Rodgers and Bennett connected on three passes Sunday for 43 yards, most of it coming on the 26-yard pass play in the fourth quarter. Two of those passes, including the last one, resulted in big first downs.
For Bennett, he would do it all over again if he needed to do so and also said that he wasn’t about to stand for what took place against his quarterback.
On the play, Rodgers scrambled up the middle late in the fourth quarter and dove headlong for a first down that appeared to extend a time-chewing drive. However, when Rodgers stretched for the first down he was hit by Wright a little harder than Bennett thought was appropriate. Bennett was hovering around the pile and had a front row seat.
According to Packers.com, Bennett said after the game, “I think this early in the season it sets a tone. You take a shot at our quarterback, we take a shot on you.”
Despite the first down, the ball got pushed back to near midfield on Bennett’s personal foul penalty.
Packers fans muttered and mumbled, but should have known better.
How many times has Aaron Rodgers battled back from penalties with big plays that make the penalty an afterthought?
Many times, we all know that, and yesterday’s sequence proves that point.
Two plays after Bennett’s penalty, Rodgers helped Bennett redeem himself with the huge first down, game-sealing play that was designed to get Bennett the ball.
It was a fitting end to a day when penalties played a huge role in the outcome.
When Rodgers threw what appeared to be only the second pick-six of his career in the first quarter, a play that would have given Seattle at 7-0 early lead, it was called back because of a game-ejecting penalty on the Seahawks’ Jeremy Lane. Not only did the penalty result in wiping out the touchdown, but it set the Seahawks back to midfield where the drive stalled and resulted in no points.
But it was the penalty against Bennett that was most concerning for Packers fans. In the moment, most were thinking the worst.
But Rodgers and Bennett had other plans.
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Rodgers said the long-lasting effects of Bennett’s actions in coming to his defense will be significant: “I support Marty 100 percent in just about anything he does,” Rodgers said postgame. “He backed me up today on that scramble. Marty and I have become fast friends, and I respect him a lot. Those are moments you take with you for a long time. I love Marty for doing that.”
It appears the bromance between Rodgers and Bennett is just blossoming, but it was that penalty that could make this connection a longtime thing.