Jarrett Bell

USA TODAY Sports

LANDOVER, Md. -- Not five minutes into Sunday’s game, Aaron Rodgers crumpled into the end zone at FedEx Field, buried beneath the indignity of a safety.

Then there was that string of wayward throws. He started 1-for-8 for 11 yards.

The scoreboard was cruel, too. Early in the second quarter, the Green Bay Packers trailed 11-0, with a raucous crowd of 80,000-plus taunting, “You Like That?!” as they waved the rally flags emblazoned with that Kirk Cousins-inspired slogan.

But none of this weakened the spirit. Rodgers has been around long enough to know better.

Why not worry?

“Because we’ve been there, done that,” Rodgers said after the 35-18 rout of Washington propelled the Packers into the second round of the NFC playoffs.

Packers' defense sets the tone with goal-line stand

Cousins may have entered the game as arguably the NFL’s hottest quarterback, but it was Rodgers who undeniably left Fed Ex Field sizzling.

You Like That?!

All of the social media activists, pundits and bandwagon-jumpers who contended in the days leading up to the wild-dard matchup that they take Cousins over Rodgers are sorely in need of a discount double-check.

After plodding through the most frustrating regular season of his career, Rodgers knows that doesn’t really matter now. The NFL’s best quarterback is still in the mix.

“I talked a lot the last couple of weeks about being able to turn it on, and a lot of you probably thought that was lip service,” Rodgers said. “But we just needed a game like this to get our mojo back and get our confidence going.”

First look at NFC divisional round: Will Seahawks win rematch with Panthers?

The rough start on Sunday was so symbolic, a reminder of the struggles – including a battered O-line that started its fourth left tackle in as many games – on Green Bay’s journey.

But Rodgers, a man who won at Detroit last month with a 60-yard Hail Mary heave, has so much to draw on. Like a Super Bowl ring, two MVP awards, and even the sting of losing last season’s NFC title game to the Seattle Seahawks on the wrong end of a dramatic meltdown.

The numbers hardly tell the whole story. Rodgers passed for just 210 yards with two TDs. He’s gone eight games now without cracking 300 yards, which may fuel some of the doubt. But this was more about presence, guile and all of the intangibles that make him special.

So much for Rodgers, last season’s MVP, losing his fastball.

“Man, that’s Aaron Rodgers,” Packers linebacker Mike Neal told USA TODAY Sports. “That’s Aaron Rodgers. I don’t care what people say. I’m in the locker room with him. And that’s Aaron Rodgers.”

Tearful Blair Walsh on missed kick: 'I didn't come through for' Vikings

Neal, who had two sacks, sensed the game’s potential to turn as Rodgers got going.

“All season, the only thing we have said as a defense is ‘Get Aaron the ball back,’ ” Neal said. “At one point in time, it’s going to crack for him. Just get him the ball back.”

Rodgers used his guile as much as his arm to flip the game’s script when his team needed it most. Green Bay’s first third-down conversion didn’t come until the second quarter, but the manner in which it moved the chains was classic Rodgers.

He caught the defense flubbing a sub, drawing a flag for 12 men on the field. This might also be called jump-starting a drive.

Then it happened again, with even more impact. But not only was Washington flagged when Trent Murphy couldn’t get to the sideline quick enough, Ricky Jean-Francois jumped offside. Rodgers turned the free play into a 12-yard TD pass to Randall Cobb, who took his route to the back of the end zone before circling back toward the goal line.

It’s just one more thing – on top of deadly accuracy, a cannon arm, the ability to extend plays, competitive fire – that Rodgers has in his arsenal.

“He was able to adapt and make changes,” Washington safety DeAngelo Hall said. “Early on, we were able to get pressure on him, kind of had him flustered a little bit, but he’s one of the great quarterbacks in this league for a reason.”

Last week, Rodgers expressed the sense that the Packers needed to open up a bit, to let it rip, earlier in the game with the hurry-up scheme that was effective in the second half of the Week 17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings that cost them a division title.

“That’s us,” receiver James Jones said. “When we get into a fast tempo, we are hard to stop. We haven’t been that for a couple of weeks.”

They were on Sunday. In the nick of time.

“They just kept trucking,” said Hall. “They kept their foot on the pedal. When you face a team like that, you just can’t give them free opportunities.”

Easier said than done. With Rodgers catching fire, the Packers struck for 17 points in the second quarter. That forced Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins to try and keep up in his playoff debut. He couldn’t.

Neither could a defense that was left gassed.

“It just takes one performance to get us going back in the right direction,” Rodgers said, “and believing that we can make a run.”

Sounds like a man who has indeed been there before.

Follow Jarrett Bell on Twitter @JarrettBell.

PHOTOS: Best of NFL wild-card games