Do Aaron Rodgers’ career stats signal a missed opportunity? Is he running out of time as Jordan Love waits in the wings
Aaron Rodgers was limited in practice for the Green Bay Packers this week. Though he is expected to play, Jordan Love may see some more game time this season.
The young quarterback's performance against the Philadelphia Eagles, when he replaced the veteran quarterback during the game, got a lot of people excited.
After back-to-back MVP seasons, Aaron Rodgers has been dealing with a broken thumb and now has a rib injury on top of it. He is having one of the worst seasons of his career with the Green Bay Packers sitting on a 4-8 record and all but eliminated from playoffs contention.
This might force the Packers' front office to ring in the changes by the end of this season, and they could decide to move on to Jordan Love in the coming year.
If that indeed happens, it will mean that Aaron Rodgers will finish his time with the Green Bay Packers having won only one Super Bowl. It will be a huge cause of regret for both the Packers and Rodgers.
During his time at Green Bay, AR12 has been one of the best quarterbacks in the league. His career stats, as good as they have been in the regular season, have not quite lived up to the expectations in the playoffs. We dive a bit deeper into his playoff stats to see where it has all gone wrong.
Aaron Rodgers career stats and journey in NFL playoffs over the years
Aaron Rodgers' playoff stats are a case of what-if when we look at them prima facie. He has played 22 playoff games in his career, winning 10 and losing 12. Of the 10 wins, four of them came during the run to their Super Bowl victory in 2011. In each of the subsequent seasons, he has therefore won just six playoff games.
That points to a high level of underachievement. But what is interesting is that his worst performance in a playoff game was actually in the NFC Championship game in 2011, against the Chicago Bears. He won that game with a passer rating of 55.4, en route to winning the Super Bowl.
It again reinforces the notion, as we have seen with other quarterbacks like Tom Brady, that the quarterback is not as fundamental to winning as we generally think.
The 2012 divisional round loss against the New York Giants could be laid at the feet of Rodgers as he put up only a 78.5 passer rating despite being the league MVP that season.
In each of the 2013 and 2014 season, he lost to the San Francisco 49ers in the playoffs, and had passer ratings in the low 90s, failing to lead his offense when it mattered the most.
Football is the ultimate team game.
If you average out Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady’s career playoff statistics and team wins over a 16 game season, it makes this abundantly clear.
Rodgers: 34 TDs and 10 INTs
Brady: 28 TDs and 13 INTs
Rodgers: 9-7 record
Brady: 12-4 record
His 2015 loss to the Seattle Seahawks was another low point as Aaron Rodgers threw a couple of interceptions and just one touchdown and posted a passer rating of just 55.8.
In 2016, their run ended with a loss to the Arizona Cardinals, with Rodgers having a passer rating of 77.9.
2017 saw another loss, this time to the Atlanta Falcons, with a passer rating of 91.6 for the celebrated quarterback.
2020 was particularly ugly as he threw two interceptions in the NFC Championship game against the San Francisco 49ers, and ended with a 97.2 passer rating.
The 2021 NFC Championship loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was particularly galling. The Bucs defeated the Packers 31-26 en route to winning the Super Bowl.
Rodgers had a passer rating of 101.6 and threw for three touchdowns and one interception, but that wasn't enough. Last season, he went out in the divisional round with a loss to the 49ers with a 91.9 passer rating and not throwing for a single touchdown.
Aaron Rodgers is 0-4 vs 49ers in his playoff career.
Rodgers now has the most losses without a win by a starting QB vs a single opponent in the playoffs since 1950. https://t.co/zMe1XqXHMK
Over his career, Aaron Rodgers has not been able to lead the Green Bay Packers to glory in the moments they have needed him the most. Despite having a 100.1 overall passer rating in the playoffs, at crucial junctures, he has not been able to get them over the line.
Whether Jordan Love can come in and accomplish where Rodgers failed is still a fair question.