I hope none of you fell into the category of people who talked about Green Bay Quarterback Aaron Rodgers being on the decline. If you were…get the fuck out of here.
Before the Packers went on their current 8-game winning streak, I kept hearing chatter about how overrated Aaron Rodgers is. The banter wasn’t just coming from the mainstream douchebags like Stephen A Smith and Skip Bayless. It was coming from many sports writers, bloggers and fans alike.
Typically, I would expect this from the cum-guzzling Cowboy fan Skip Bayless and the guy who gets all his information from “close, dear, personal” friends of his, Stephen A Smith. But really, that many of you drank the kool-aid?
I know Aaron Rodgers up until the last six weeks of the season wasn’t playing his best football, but to call him overrated and claim he isn’t near the top signal callers in the league…jump off a bridge.
Let’s evaluate that claim…
- 4-6 Record
- 2,761 yards (276 ypg)
- 25 TDs to 7 INTs (3.6 TD/INT ratio)
- 63% completion rate
- 6.7 Yards pet attempt
If this is considered to be not among elites, you’re simply making that argument because his name is Aaron Rodgers and you expect more. To compare among some of 2016-17’s best, let’s take a look at Matt Ryan…
The same guy who has been having sunshine blown up his ass all year and rightfully so. Ryan was phenomenal this year and a massive reason why the Falcons will play the Packers for the NFC Title. By week 10, he had 23 touchdowns and 5 interceptions, which is right on par with Rodgers. Yet, we heard discussions about how down Rodgers was.
Derek Carr finished the year with 28 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. Granted, he did miss the last week of the season. I doubt he was going to throw 12 touchdowns in week 17 though to match Rodgers 40 touchdowns.
Let’s try to hold the same standard, shall we?
There is absolutely no denying that Aaron Rodgers was in a funk earlier this season. I won’t deny that. I watch him play more than any other quarterback besides Drew Brees (hometown QB). There is no one who can make the throws with the same velocity and pin point accuracy that he can. Earlier in the year, I wasn’t seeing him make those same back shoulder seams he has made a career off of. There was clearly something wrong. However, when you turn to the numbers…a bad Aaron Rodgers is still just as good as a great Matt Ryan or Derek Carr.
When you look at the other top quarterbacks in the NFL, most of them had decent enough running games to alleviate some of the pressure off their shoulders.
Matt Ryan has perhaps the best 1-2 punch in the NFL with Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman who amassed 1,600+ rush yards and 17 TDs. They also give Ryan a good dump off option as both finished the season with 400+ receiving yards and 5 TDs through the air.
Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger has Le’veon Bell. I am not even going to explain that one. We know how great he is.
Over in New England, Tom Brady had the luxury of Legarrette Blount who rushed for 1,100 yards and 18 touchdowns. Although, Brady is in the same classification as Rodgers in terms of skill level. They are the 1A and 1B of the league, period.
Derek Carr had a three headed combo of backs who collectively put up 1,700 yards and 15 TDs.
Meanwhile, Aaron Rodgers was less than 100 yards away from being the leading rusher for the Packers. The running game has been non-existent this year due to all the injuries. The running back load is being taken by a damn receiver for God sake in Ty Montgomery. This offense is all Aaron Rodgers.
Now that the team is on this 8-game streak, all of a sudden people are once again jumping on his jock at how great he is. He may have left us for a little while, but he didn’t go that far. You’re just blinded by the losses and being a prisoner of the moment. Classic sports media and fans. I swear, it is like talking to baked potatoes.
So let’s fast forward to what has been maybe the best 8-game stretch for an NFL quarterback ever. After the Packers lost a brutal 42-24 contest to the Washington Redskins, the media blew a load after Rodgers said he was confident the Packers could run the table. And here we are…I fucking love Rodgers. Have I mentioned that yet? Many thought he was just blowing smoke, but jokes on them I guess.
Here are the numbers for the last 8 games (playoffs included)…
- 8-0
- 2,384 yards (298 ypg)
- 19 TDs 1 INT (19 to fucking 1 TD/INT ratio)
- 69% completion rate
- 8.4 yards per attempt
So far this playoffs, Rodgers looks like a man on a mission. He looks calm, cool and collected. I know how cliche that is, but it’s true. Oh it’s damn true (shout out to Kurt Angle on the WWE HOF). That is a bad, bad man.
He carved up the New York Giants faster than my wife carved the Christmas Day turkey. He turned around and did the same thing to the Dallas Cowboys on the road. That was without his best receiver, Jordy Nelson. Meanwhile his second favorite target, Davante Adams was limited due to an ankle injury he sustained in that game.
After Dallas vehemently fought their way back, Rodgers had :30 seconds and two timeouts to get his team in field goal range.
He pulled a classic Rodgers and completed a bullet downfield to Jared Cook who made an unbelievable sideline catch to give kicker Mason Crosby a shot to put the game on ice, which he did.
There is no doubt who my vote would be for MVP this season and if I were the Falcons, I would be terrified to face Rodgers right now. I know they have home-field advantage, but he is a man on a mission right now. I just don’t know how much of a difference home-field will make.
I predicted a Super Bowl, Super Bowl MVP and Regular season MVP award for Rodgers in the preseason. That is my story and I am sticking to it. While we are talking about predictions, I also was pretty fucking close to predicting his stats. You can take a look by clicking here…
Aaron Rodgers Stat Predictions
To anyone who doubted the best quarterback in the NFL, I wasn’t born with enough middle fingers to let you know how I feel about you.
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