In a major setback for a Super Bowl championship contender, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers suffered a broken right collarbone Sunday and could miss the remainder of the NFL season.
The 33-year-old signal caller suffered the injury in the opening quarter of the Packers’ 23-10 loss at Minnesota, leaving both teams with 4-2 records.
“Losing Aaron Rodgers speaks for itself,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. “In my opinion, he’s the best player in football.”
In other games Sunday, Adrian Peterson made a successful debut for the Arizona Cardinals in their 38-33 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the New England Patriots cooled off the red-hot New York Jets and the Pittsburgh Steelers ended the Kansas City Chiefs’ unbeaten run.
Rodgers was hurt after taking a hard hit from Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr and falling on his throwing shoulder. X-rays showed the extent of the damage.
“QB Aaron Rodgers suffered a broken collarbone. There’s a chance he could miss the rest of the season,” stated the Packers’ Twitter announcement.
Rodgers missed seven games in 2013 after suffering a broken left collarbone.
Running to his right on a second down play from Green Bay’s 39-yard line less than nine minutes into the contest, Rodgers was struck by Barr after tossing an incomplete pass, landing on his throwing arm.
Rodgers completed two-of-four throws for 18 yards before the injury. Brett Hundley replaced Rodgers and finished 18 of 33 for 157 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions.
Rodgers was the Super Bowl 45 Most Valuable Player in 2011 as he led the Packers to a 31-25 victory over Pittsburgh.
Elsewhere, Le’Veon Bell rushed for 179 yards as the Steelers defeated Kansas City 19-13, handing the Chiefs their first loss of the season. Bell carried 32 times and scored on a three-yard run early in the second quarter.
“We came in expecting to run the ball and we stuck to that game plan,” Bell said. “We got the W today.”
Ben Roethlisberger completed 17-of-25 passes for 252 yards and a touchdown while Kansas City’s quarterback Alex Smith finished 19 of 34 for 246 yards.
Chiefs rookie running back Kareem Hunt was held to 21 yards. Kansas City linebacker Derrick Johnson said the Steelers played with more intensity.
“You’ve got to play the right way. They were tougher than us today,” Johnson said. In Phoenix, Peterson rushed for a pair of touchdowns as Arizona defeated Tampa Bay.  Peterson ran 26 times for 134 yards in his Arizona debut as the Cardinals stormed to a 31-0 lead. Quarterback Carson Palmer was 18 of 22 for 283 yards with three touchdowns while Larry Fitzgerald caught 10 passes for 138 yards.
Tampa Bay quarterback Jameis Winston did not return after injuring his right shoulder in the second quarter. Ryan Fitzpatrick replaced Winston and completed 22 of 32 passes for 290 yards and three touchdowns.
 In New Jersey, quarterback Tom Brady connected with Rob Gronkowski on a 33-yard touchdown in the third quarter to give New England the lead for good as the Patriots defeated the Jets 24-17 to claim sole possession of first place in the AFC East.  New England won its 11th straight road game and has won six of its last seven against the Jets, who had their three game winning streak snapped. Gronkowski scored two touchdowns - his first multi-touchdown game since the 2015 season-opener against Pittsburgh.