Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers is hitting his first dog days as a starting quarterback in the NFL.[img_r]http://images.dailyradar.com/media/uploads/ballhype/photos_large/2008/09/29/Aaron_Rodgers.jpg[/img_r]

His season suddenly is on the line after a loss in the Packers' biggest rivalry game of the season (to Minnesota in Brett Favres return to Lambeau Field) followed by a stunning defeat to previously winless Tampa Bay.

Quarterbacks are judged first by their records, and Rodgers is 4-4 halfway through the season. As importantly, although hes a highly ranked passer (No. 5 at 103.3 points), he shares responsibility for the Packers biggest shortcoming on offense, namely their league-worst 37 sacks allowed.

So both inside and outside the Packers organization, Rodgers is the subject of often harsh scrutiny, including complaints that are sometimes contradictory: Hes holding the ball too long and trying to make too many plays downfield; or hes playing too much by the book and not taking enough chances.

This is a welcome-to-the-NFL moment, something every NFL starting quarterback goes through often several times during their careers.

How will the 25-year-old Rodgers emerge? That depends on his temperament, mental toughness and ability to learn. The best come through it better than before.

Rodgers escaped that type of criticism last season, his first as a starter. His sound play in the face of difficult circumstances succeeding the future Hall of Famer Favre kept critics at bay. The only disapproval of note was based on Rodgers' failure to pull out a come-from-behind win in the final 5 minutes of any games.

But this season, as the sacks have piled up, so has the heat.

After showing no obvious problems last year, Rodgers has shown a tendency to hold the ball too long. For all the responsibility that lies with the disastrous offensive line, the ball ultimately is in Rodgers hands.

Whatever red flags that might raise, we dont know how Rodgers will or wont adjust in the second half of the season or how hell pan out, though scouts still have a high opinion of him. Anybody dismissing him now is making a classic rush to judgment, considering the skills hes displayed to date.

Just think back to Favre, before he was a future Hall of Famer.

He hit the halfway point of 1993, his second season as a starter, with a 4-4 record and more interceptions (13) than touchdown passes (11). Was he too wild to ever be consistently good?

Even as late as a year later, in Week 8 of 1994, coach Mike Holmgren broached the idea of benching Favre in favor of Mark Brunell after Brunell had played well when Favre sprained his ankle in a loss at Minnesota. Holmgren stuck with Favre, but he was concerned enough to raise the question and then had several assistant coaches argue in favor of sitting the young gunslinger.

The quarterback the Packers face this week, Tony Romo, has had as many ups and downs as any starter who has kept his job over the past 2 seasons.

Hes 0-2 in playoff games, including a crushing upset loss to the New York Giants in the divisional round of the playoffs in 2007, when the Cowboys had the best record in the NFC. Last season, he threw seven interceptions over the last four games in a 1-3 meltdown that kept the Cowboys out of the playoffs. Early this season, the 29-year old showed bad judgment in throwing three interceptions in a big Week 2 loss to the Giants.

Until Romo wins a Super Bowl, hell have critics questioning his ability to tame his gunslinger instincts and win big games. Yet, with the Cowboys at 6-2 and on a four-game winning streak, he might rate in the top 10 quarterbacks in the league, depending on the scout.

In the NFC, hes playing like top five right now, said a scout for an NFC team. Id say overall NFL, hes probably in the top eight. I think hes better than Rodgers.

Another scout said: Id say just outside of top 10. I dont see him as an elite quarterback. I wouldnt put him in the category of (Peyton) Manning, (Tom) Brady, (Ben) Roethlisberger, Cincinnatis guy, (Carson) Palmer, I wouldnt put him in that. Drew Brees, Donovan McNabb and you could probably keep listing a few. Hes not in their category. And you could put (Rodgers) is a better quarterback than that.

Even the great Peyton Manning had his big-game critics, stemming all the way back to college, until he finally won the Super Bowl. About the only quarterback in recent memory who seems to have escaped baptism by hard times is New Englands Tom Brady, who won the Super Bowl in three of his first four years as a starter.

So, Rodgers has hit a rough time, and it wont be the last. The question isnt as much how he got there, but how he comes back.