Aaron Rodgers has been playing the quarterback position at the highest level of anyone [of all-time] through the last seven weeks. The best part about his historic stretch is that he called his shot [saying that the Packers would “run the table”] and backed it up. The last six weeks of the season, Rodgers compiled the following stats while carrying his team to a division title; 15 TD’s and 0 INT’s while completing over 70% of his passes. By the way, he finished the season with 4,428 yards, 40 TD’s and 7 INT’s; and there’s still a debate about who’s the MVP?
Last week in his first round playoff game against the New York Giants, Rodgers torched the highly touted (many believed they were the best in the league) defense for 362 yards, 4 TD’s and 0 INT’s. He completed this feat without his top receiver [Jordy Nelson] who was knocked out of the game with an injury in the first quarter. The Packers went on to win the game easily, 38-13.
Rodgers’ historic run has given me pause to my initial title of “greatest quarterback ever”, which was held by Tom Brady. Let’s break this down, shall we? If we’re talking about the most accomplished quarterback of all-time, there’s no question it’s Brady. 6 Super Bowl appearances and 4 Titles (2 Super Bowl MVP’s), there’s no question he’s the most accomplished. However, the talent side of the argument is a different story. For my money, I’ve never seen a more talented quarterback than Rodgers. He has a rifle for an arm, throws with accuracy (over a 65% completion percentage for his career) and is deceptively mobile in and out of the pocket.
This year alone, Rodgers has carried a team with a horrific defense (although they’ve been playing better as of late), no running game, and a depleted receiving core. Everyone loves to give Brady and [Peyton] Manning credit for doing more with less; it’s time to start appreciating what Rodgers has done; especially this season.
The popular sports talk scenario is if you had one game to win, which quarterback would you chose (I’ll answer this question in depth in a future post). So for arguments sake, if I had one game to win for my life, with everything equal (i.e. receiver, coaching, defense, etc.), I’d take the following quarterbacks in this order:
- Aaron Rodgers
- Tom Brady
- Joe Montana
- Johnny Unitas
- Peyton Manning
Disagree with me if you will but one thing you can’t deny is this; what we’re seeing from Rodgers is something not just special, but historic. Standing in his way this weekend is the first place Dallas Cowboys, who beat Rodgers and the Packers in the regular season. This time around is going to be different (with or without Jordy Nelson) and the Packers will move on to the NFC Championship game.
Aaron Rodgers may not go down as the most accomplished quarterback in history [that’ll be Brady], but he sure as hell will be remembered as the most talented and/or possibly the greatest to ever play the position.
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