Aaron Rodgers has entered an exclusive club after becoming a three-time MVP. He shows no signs of slowing down and has the potential to be a four-time MVP after next season. There is a lot of discussion about whether Rodgers will be in Green Bay next season, but the organization shows no sign of moving on from the MVP. They will look to hold on to him as he goes for back to back MVP awards. Regardless of what he does in the future however, when you look back at his three MVP seasons it’s difficult to just point one out as his best. These seasons don’t even take into account seasons where he’s been in the conversation and just hasn’t come away with the hardware.
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2011
- Led Packers to 14-1
- One seed
- 48 Total Touchdowns
- 4,643 Yards
- Six Interceptions
- 68.3 Completion Percentage
2014
- Led Packers to 12-4
- Two Seed
- 40 Total Touchdowns
- 4,381 Yards
- Five Interceptions
- 65.6 Completion Percentage
2020
- Led Packers to 13-3
- One Seed
- 51 Total Touchdowns
- 4,299 Yards
- Five Interceptions
- 70.7 Completion Percentage
What’s the Context?
The numbers alone would point to 2011 being his most dominant season. However, each season presented different circumstances and situations for Rodgers to overcome.
2011
In 2011 the Packers were coming off of a Super Bowl win. The dominant season solidified Rodgers as one of the top quarterbacks in the entire league. Green Bay had the best offense in football and Rodgers posted a 122.5 passer rating (best in NFL History).
2014
In 2014 Rodgers returned from a broken collarbone he sustained in 2013. Green Bay started the season 2-2 and Rodgers delivered an all-time great quote.
“Five letters here just for everybody out there in Packer-land: R-E-L-A-X”
After this Green Bay would finish the season 12-2 with the league’s best offense. Rodgers solidified himself as the best quarterback in football through the regular season and would be named first-team all-pro.
2020
The pandemic season, as it may be referred to in the future, presented a whole new landscape of challenges. 2020 was Green Bay’s second season with a new head coach. The ambiance at Lambeau was completely different without fans. There were no offseason programs. All offseason the discussion was whether Aaron Rodgers was washed, and to add on to that the Packers drafted Jordan Love in the first round. However, Aaron Rodgers went on to throw 48 touchdowns, rush for three touchdowns, post a 121.5 passer rating (second all-time to himself), and lead the Packers to the number one offense in football. Rodgers was also named first-team all-pro.
My Answer
Al three seasons are without a doubt historic in their own ways. However, if one was to be crowned the best in my opinion it would have to be 2020 for two key reasons. The first being all the outside noise and circumstances with COVID and the media negativity towards Rodgers. Second, the improvement from the previous season. In 2010 Rodgers was a young quarterback who made plenty of mistakes, so in 2011 he gave himself plenty of room to improve and put up great numbers. In 2013 Rodgers broke his collarbone so going into 2014 he really had nowhere to go but up. Although he put up generational numbers in both instances, he really had no chance to regress in terms of his previous season. However, in 2019 Green Bay was 13-3, and Rodgers threw for 4,002 yards. He threw only four interceptions and was a pro bowler. Improvement was much more difficult, but Rodgers became more accurate and precise with his decision making.
Below are his charts from 2019 and 2020. It’s evident that his success came mostly on the right side of the field denoted by the oblong shape which indicates where he was elite. This is in contrast to his ability to make plays going left where he was simply average as a whole. However, in 2020, Rodgers was above the league average everywhere on the field in terms of passer rating.
As Always
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