With the Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Green Bay Packers this week, NFL fans were supposed to be getting one of the most-anticipated showdowns of the regular season with Patrick Mahomes going up against Aaron Rodgers. However, that showdown will no longer be happening due to the fact that Rodgers has already been ruled out of the game due to testing positive for COVID-19.
It’s not just NFL fans who are disappointed that we won’t be getting a Mahomes-Rodgers matchup this week; the Chiefs quarterback is also disappointed that he won’t get to play against a guy who he grew up watching.
“It’s definitely disappointing,” Mahomes said Wednesday, via Pro Football Talk. “When you get to see an all-time great like him play, and I’ve kind of watched his game for a long time, feeling that I play a similar style, you always want to compete against the best. Hopefully he’s healthy, it’s not too bad. I’m sure he’ll come back from it stronger than he was before.”
Latest Odds: Kansas City Chiefs -7.5
The 2018 NFL MVP was asked during his press conference if he had reached out to Rodgers, and although he hasn’t, it does sound like Mahomes has been thinking of the Packers quarterback.
“I haven’t got to yet,” Mahomes said. “I heard about it as I was going on to the walk-through on the field. Obviously, it’s disappointing and I hope that he’s healthy and that he can get through it. COVID is a scary deal, and it can kind of get anybody so just praying for him that he can get back to who he is.”
With Rodgers and Mahomes not facing off against each other this year, it’s starting to feel like we may never get to see a showdown between the two players.
This week marks the fourth time that we’ve come tantalizingly close to getting a showdown between the two former MVPs, but each time, something has come up to prevent it from happening. We almost got a Mahomes-Rodgers game in 2019, but Mahomes injured his knee and ended up missing the game, which Green Bay won 31-24. Also in 2019, we almost got Mahomes-Rodgers in Super Bowl LIV, but the Packers lost in the NFC title game to prevent the showdown from happening. (The Chiefs played the 49ers.) One year later, we almost got Mahomes-Rodgers in Super Bowl LV, but once again, the Packers lost in the NFC title game and the Chiefs ended up playing the Buccaneers.
Assuming they don’t meet in the Super Bowl, the Chiefs and Packers won’t play each other again until 2023, and there’s no guarantee Rodgers will still be in Green Bay, which means we might not ever see the two star quarterbacks face each other.
