Aaron Rodgers (cont.)

Veteran wide receiver Donald Driver (80) has helped quarterback Aaron Rodgers become a leader in the Packers locker room.

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Up until this week, it has been Rodgers' play that has done most of the talking. Unless you count the pivotal players-only offensive team meeting that he initiated early last November, after Green Bay was upset 38-28 at winless Tampa Bay, dropping the Packers to 4-4 and representing the nadir of their rollercoaster-like 2009 season. The meeting was spawned by a soul-searching conversation between Rodgers and veteran receiver Donald Driver on the plane ride home from Tampa, but evolved into a full-throated airing of the grievances that had built up between members of the Packers' frustrated offense.

"It was the first time in my five years here that we had a players-only meeting that was actually productive,'' Rodgers told me. "It was all about conflict. It was guys getting on the linemen about blocking, linemen getting on the receivers about catching the ball, guys getting on me about getting the ball out of my hands quicker. Everything just got out on the table. It was all out there, and the great thing was we were able to talk through our issues and move forward. And from that day on, I felt a different air of confidence about our team. We believed in each other and it was a different group of guys, a different team after that.''

It's hard to dispute that. The Packers only loss in the second half came at Pittsburgh, when Ben Roethlisberger threw an improbable 19-yard, final-play touchdown pass as time expired to beat them 37-36. As is, Green Bay's 11-5 finish left them just a game behind first-place Minnesota (12-4) in the NFC North, a likelihood that seemed far-fetched after Favre and the Vikings had twice beaten the Packers and Rogers in the season's first half. As uncharacteristic as the early turnovers were in the playoff loss at Arizona, Green Bay's comeback from that 17-0 deficit showed to the rest of the NFL the capabilities of Rodgers and Co.

"It was one of those games where you get in the second half and you're on a roll and you know they can't stop you,'' Rodgers said. "That was the energy on the sideline that we had. We just kept telling Mike [McCarthy], 'Just be aggressive. Keep doing what we're doing.' We knew they could not stop us. It was a matter of us getting a stop, getting the onside kick, which we finally got, and going back at them. Once we went into overtime I thought we were going to win, but we turned the ball over.''

Now entering his sixth year in Green Bay, and third year as the Packers starter, Rodgers seems more comfortable than ever in his own skin and in his role as the team's focal point and most visible leader. Aware of how much and how quickly their quarterback has achieved, Green Bay fans have accepted and embraced him in a way that seemed unimaginable two years ago this summer. This is Rodgers' team, and this is his time. And if he wins big with the Packers, Green Bay, which once belonged to Favre, will definitely be his town. And he knows it.

"I agree with you that the fans [are behind me],'' Rodgers said. "I just wanted to do things the right way and I feel like for the most part I did that. Whether you like me or not, like the way I play or not, or my personality, it's hard in my opinion to not pull for somebody who does things the right way. For the most part, at least until a couple days ago, I've kept my mouth shut, and tried to play the game the right way, and show people that I love the game.''

It's so far, so good for Rodgers in Green Bay. Two years into the Packers' big gamble, their bet on No. 12 looks like a payoff that has just begun.