The NFL has become a passing league. As fans, we are well aware of that. Records are going to be broken quite frequently with the emphasis on throwing the ball. That being said, just because teams like to throw it doesn’t mean anyone should be able to do it as well as Aaron Rodgers. When we watched Tom Brady dismantle the NFL back in 2007, it seemed as though no player would ever come close to duplicating his 50-touchdown, 8-interception performance. Enter Rodgers, who is on pace to come awfully close to matching Brady’s touchdown mark while breaking a few records of his own.
On Sunday, Rodgers led the Packers to their 12th victory in as many tries this season by throwing for 369 yards, four touchdowns and — shame on him — one interception. The four touchdowns give him 37 on the season with four games remaining. His completion percentage is a whopping 70.6, which puts him dead even with the record mark Drew Brees set in 2009. Rodgers’ passer rating on the year is an amazing 125.3, which is significantly higher than the 117.2 Brady put up in 2007 and more than four points better than Peyton Manning’s single-season record of 121.1 from 2004. Those are all reasons both Brady and Kurt Warner called Rodgers’ 2011 season the best ever by any quarterback.
“It’s so impressive when you watch a team that can string together that many victories,” Brady said on Showtime’s Inside the NFL last week. “It really tells you what the character and makeup of the players on that team are. Getting off to the start they’ve gotten off to, and the way Aaron’s playing … I mean, it’s impossible to play the position any better than he’s playing it right now.”
“Wow — high praise from Tom Brady, who, I believe, had the best season of any quarterback in history a few years ago with 50 touchdowns and [the Patriots] went 16-0,” Warner added on the NFL Network on Sunday. “If you look at Aaron Rodgers, and you project out what he’s done at this point, I will say that if he stays anywhere close to where he is right now, it is the best quarterback season ever. You look at yards? He’s going to have more yards than Brady [in 2007]. Completion percentage? He’s going to set a record there. Touchdowns, he’ll be a bit below, but in interceptions, he’ll probably be the best ever. You’ve got to project it out, and he’s got five games left, but I’ve never seen anyone play the quarterback position this consistently. That’s the thing most impressive to me — he’s had a 111.0 quarterback rating or better in every single game … there have been no clunkers.”
We must note that Rodgers’ passer rating on Sunday night against the Giants was a petty 106.2, so there goes his streak of ratings over 111.0. However, he did throw for four touchdown passes to bring his total up 37, meaning he needs 13 to tie Brady’s mark with four games remaining. With the way Aaron and the Green Bay offense is clicking, I wouldn’t be so quick to rule it out.
Brady’s 2007 season was truly one for the ages, but I don’t think anyone realized how quickly someone would rival it. Considering Rodgers is a mere 28 years old and has clearly been the best quarterback in the league this season — after already having won a Super Bowl — I think it’s safe to say no franchise in the NFL is more set at signal-caller than the Green Bay Packers.
