Throughout Rodgers’s NFL career, he has been surrounded by poor coaching and an awful organization.
When it comes to the NFL, there is one player who is the clear GOAT. His name is Tom Brady, and there is no debating his skill and accomplishments.
The skill that he has in his 21st year in the NFL is unmatched and will go down in history. Although Brady is an amazing quarterback, his name gets tossed around with another quarterback with a lot fewer achievements than Brady. That quarterback is Aaron Rodgers. How does a guy with one Super Bowl win get put into the same category as the most winningest quarterback of all time?
It’s simple. I believe Aaron Rodgers is the unluckiest quarterback of all time.
This article is not designed to say that Aaron Rodgers would have done more in Brady’s position because to make a statement on hypotheticals diminishes Brady’s accomplishments. Instead, it shows how the Packers organization has failed Aaron Rodgers and ruined an opportunity to win championships.
We have seen many organizations make countless poor decisions and lead their teams into years of rebuilds and failures. But the Packers were different. They did the hard part. They obtained a once-in-a-lifetime talent in a quarterback who may have the greatest skill of all time. What did they do with it? Nothing. They gave Aaron years of poor coaching, some of the worst defenses of all time, and little help by drafting and building a winning team.
The incredible Aaron Rodgers (photo, LATimes)
The best thing this organization did was allow Rodgers to be the backup for Brett Farve. No one can be certain of the impact this had on Aaron’s career, but it is fair to assume this built his character and ability to play the game of football. This was the last good thing they did for him. It all starts with Mike McCarthy. Mike’s coaching style was not meant to win football games. This can be clearly seen in his 1st year in Dallas. Mike underperformed so much in Dallas his first year that rumors were flying he might be fired after one season.
It took the Packers too many years to realize how much Rodgers was dragging him through games. After finally removing McCarthy, they gave Rodgers Matt Lefleur. Coincidently, Aaron Rodgers puts up his best season ever at 37 in just LeFleur’s second season as head coach. The weapons at Rodgers’s disposal can be debated, but they were certainly not one of the best he’s seen in his career…
Aaron Rodgers has only thrown one touchdown to a first-round pick. Yes, you read that correctly…ONE. How does an organization with a quarterback of Rodger’s nature not even attempt to get him a wide receiver in the first round?
We can look back in the drafts and see the countless mistakes made, but none is worse than the 2020 draft, where not only did they not give the team who lost the NFC Championship the year before a wide receiver but drafted ANOTHER QUARTERBACK. This is absolutely mind-boggling when you see players like Tee Higgins, Michael Pittman Jr, Laviska Shenault Jr, and Chase Claypool still on the board. All four of these receivers had incredible years without a training camp, and it is fair to say putting one of the opposites of Devante Adams may have been all the difference. Regardless, this is just one of many failed instances by this organization.
This season is an obvious representation of the failure of the packers. But when you think about it at the other teams Rodgers had in the playoffs. This may have been the best one.
Let’s take a look at the final scores of elimination games that the Packers played in during Rodgers career:
2020: 31-26 LOSS
2019: 37-20 LOSS
2016: 44-21 LOSS
2015: 26-20 LOSS
2014: 23-20 LOSS
2013: 23-20 LOSS
2012: 45-31 LOSS
2011: 37-20 LOSS
2009: 51-45 LOSS
Those were the scores of each of the Packers’ losses while in the Playoffs from 2009 to 2020 (Note: Packers won the Super Bowl in 2010). Out of his nine playoff losses in the 10-year stretch, the defense was respectable in three of them. Even over the years, Rodgers never put up under 20 points. Taking all those playoff losses, the defense gave up an average of 38 points per game!
Courtesy: tensportsclub.com
Even if you take away the two worst defensive games, they still were giving up an average of 32 points per game. If you look at the points per game that a team defense has allowed over a season in the past 10 years, only the 2020 Detroit Lions game up more a game (32.4 points per game. Many fans will say, “Oh, Rodgers’ choked!” or “He isn’t built for the playoffs!” without realizing the extent to which his surrounding cast has hindered him. Rodgers and the company put up 25 points per game over those losses. In many playoff games, this is enough to win games.
Throughout Rodgers’s career, he was surrounded by poor coaching and an awful organization. After dealing with McCarthy for years, he finally gets a good coach at the age of 37. After the team chooses not to give him another playmaker just one year after missing the Super Bowl by one game, he puts up MVP numbers to watch his defense give up 31 points.
There have been players like Marino, and organizations like the Bills have had their fair share of tough beats. But I can confidently say Rodgers had the worse end of the stick. Rodgers constantly put-up winning numbers in games his team did not win. After watching his defense allow 38 points per game in losses (and yes, some of the numbers in wins are just as bad), it is fair to say that Aaron Rodgers is the unluckiest player in NFL History.
