Four games into his second season replacing Packers legend Brett Favre under center, the arrow continues to point up for Green Bay's "A-Rod."

Aaron Rodgers' numbers certainly painted a pretty picture entering the Packers' bye week — a sixth-place league ranking in passing yards (274.5 yards per game) ...  a 6-1 TD-interception ratio ... a 101.1 passer rating ... 22 receptions of at least 20 yards or more, second in the league behind only Peyton Manning (23).

But there are other numbers that aren't so pretty — like his 8-12 record as a starter, with the latest loss to the division-rival Vikings coming on a national stage, where Rodgers was clearly outplayed by Favre at his best.

And let's not forget the 20 sacks Rodgers has suffered — at least half of which team insiders believe were his fault.

Add all the numbers up, and what you get, after all is said and done, is an ascending talent at his position who remains a real work in progress in a few very important areas.
 
The most apparent weakness in Rodgers' game — his bad habit of holding on to the ball too long and trying too often to make something out of nothing — was never more on display than in his Monday-night matchup against Favre, when he got a lesson from the master on how to use the entire field and effectively buy extra time with his feet.

But despite being clearly upstaged by Favre in one of the most anticipated regular-season Packers games in some time, it appears that Rodgers no longer plays second fiddle to Favre in Packerland in terms of popularity.

The day after the Packers lost to the Vikings, a Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel survey asked if the Packers did the right thing by getting rid of Favre. An eyebrow-raising 66 percent of the 21,000 respondents said yes — an impressive show of support for Rodgers, to say the least.

But despite his steady gain in popularity both locally and nationally, people who watch Rodgers every day will tell you his game-management skills still leave a lot to be desired.

It's also worth noting that those same people believe the uneven play up to now of the Packers' veteran playmakers — WR Greg Jennings particularly comes to mind — certainly hasn't helped Rodgers any.

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