GOAT Paths: a series of articles detailing what a player needed to do to become the GOAT player or GOAT at their position.
So without saying anything else, Aaron Rodgers is easily one of the best QBs ever. He’s exceptional; he may be the best pure thrower of the football ever, and has great mobility and play extending to boot. His MVPs amongst other accolades and success speak for themselves.
Aaron Rodgers is not unanimously considered the GOAT though, not in the way Brady is. This is attributed to his lack of rings. Defenders of Rodgers point out how Rodgers has not had the luxury of playing with many great defenses, and the Packers’ front office for not spending high picks on receiving talent. All of this may be true, but it is not actually the primary reason for Rodgers’ lack of extra rings. After all, not every postseason loss did their defense play horribly in. In some losses, they gave up less than 20 points. Additionally, Rodgers has played with some good receiving talent – including time with Davante Adams, who reached his prime during 2017 and became one of the best receivers in the league. What has really hurt Rodgers is that in some of the opportunities where things were there for him, he has often left plays on the field sometimes in these moments. This issue has hurt Rodgers’ ability to increase the likelihood of winning more championships.
For anyone who thinks this standard is unfair, we can start by saying this: Aaron Rodgers would not have needed to win up to 7 rings to be considered GOAT. We acknowledge defensive help, we acknowledge age, etc. What Rodgers needed to do was win the winnable key games that would have bolstered his legacy. This article (and series) is not even meant to attack these players – it’s meant to highlight the type of extraordinary feats needed and expected out of GOAT players.
Here’s how Rodgers could have been the GOAT:
Win the 2014 NFC Championship Game against Seattle
This is where it starts for Rodgers. Everyone knows that the 2009 Wild Card game was a horrible defensive performance that you can’t blame him for, 2011 was an overall team loss, 2012 was his defense being historically bad, and 2013… eh, we could scrutinize his performance here, but you’re allowed to have a loss like that when playing against a good defense. Otherwise, we’d have to scrutinize a LOT of QBs, including QBs like Brady and Peyton that have had mediocre offensive performances against strong defenses.
But there’s no excuse for 2014. The Green Bay Packers defense forced 5 turnovers. 4 in the first half. And yet, the score was only 16-0 halfway through the 3rd quarter. Seriously, watch this video.
That’s the definition of just leaving plays and drives on the field. Rodgers himself threw 2 interceptions despite being gifted good field position several times. The fact of the matter is the game should have been at least 26-0 late in the 3rd – to where Wilson and the Seahawks would not have anytime at all to comeback. Especially given how the Packers defense picked off Wilson again in the 4th quarter.
Seriously – Rodgers actually escaped a lot of criticism for this performance. Watch the full game on YouTube if you can – it’s actually crazy how often Rodgers and the offense squandered scoring of turnovers opportunities and good field position they were gifted. Wilson threw 3 picks in the first half, and again, another pick with 5 minutes to go in the 4th quarter down 12 on a tipped pass. For a quarterback to play in a conference championship against another top 6 quarterback that year and have his defense force that many interceptions would actually be considered great luck from his perspective given how rare it would be.
And this wasn’t the 2013 peak Legion of Boom defense either. It’s hard to even say Rodgers got unlucky at the end, because again, the game should have never been that close.
* Play Better in the 1st Half of the 2019 NFC Championship Game
This one is more controversial, hence the asterisk. Disclaimer: No one is saying Rodgers is the reason they lost this game. Many people’s first impression of this game is that his defense got gashed and ran over. They did. And also that they gave up 30+ points. They did. But what people forget – and what they usually forget – is that these points are scored within the ebbs and flows of the game. In other words, the Packers defense actually did get some stops here and there to force field goals in the first half. But Rodgers and the Packers offense did nothing – in fact, Rodgers turned the ball over twice. All one has to do is look at the 1st half game log.
With 9 minutes left in the second quarter, the Packers were down 17-0 – so clearly their defense wasn’t playing well. But we’ve seen games like this where all that needs to happen is a good scoring drive to keep the team in the game – look at the 2012 San Francisco 49ers –Atlanta Falcons NFC title game, where the 49ers were down 17-0 after the first quarter but came back partially because their offense got going.
What happened? Well, on 3rd down, Rodgers fumbled the ball. But even then, their defense held the 49ers to a field goal, with the score being 20-0.
With 2 and a half minutes to go in the first half, Rodgers had the ball back with a chance to score before half and make the lead more palatable. If he scores to close out the half, then he will have a very good opportunity to cut into the lead further since the Packers were set to start the 3rd quarter with the ball. However, he threw an interception on just the 3rd play of the drive that set up the 49ers in good field position for an easy touchdown, making the game 27-0 at half time.
The Packers defense did not play particularly well – but if Rodgers had performed better in the first half, it would have put the 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan into a position where they would have to make Garopollo pass the ball to protect a smaller lead. Keep in mind, the 49ers gameplan for much of that playoffs was to limit Garopollo’s pass attempts.
And in case you have any doubts, it’s Kyle Shanahan here. He’s been willing to overpass it in these spots. And we have examples of this in Super Bowl 51 and Super Bowl 54.
This is important because part of being a GOAT level player is being able to lead a comeback or win in the face of adversity. Part of why Brady is the GOAT isn’t just the super bowl rings: it’s that he’s led multiple game-winning drives, and 4th quarter comebacks in these super bowls. Perhaps his finest game as a pro was 28-3.
This 49ers-Packers game is a game that could have easily been a comeback if Rodgers had just gotten going earlier. Even 1 turnover before half is okay. You just can’t have two in bad field position, and not score anything, and lead short drives that puts your defense on the field quickly.
And if you think this is too much to ask, or simply disagree, look at what happened to the 49ers in the Super Bowl literally 2 weeks later. Mahomes and the Chiefs scored 10 points in the first half, and got going in the second and put the 49ers in a position where Jimmy Garopollo had to throw the ball. Part of why Mahomes gets “GOAT” buzz is because you never feel like a game is over when Mahomes is down (just like Brady). He puts enough pressure on the other team to not screw up.
Again, Rodgers is not the reason they lost. You would put the defense first. But this doesn’t mean that had the defense played better, the Packers would have won. Rodgers played terribly in this game and made things harder for his defense, and the way he played was still concerning. We don’t know what would have happened – but the fact that he didn’t step up, is telling.
Win the 2020 NFC Championship Game against Tampa Bay
This is a game that, at the time, many used in defense of Rodgers. Many claim that this game showed why Brady is so lucky because he threw 3 interceptions but still won, because his defense made enough stops.
But since then, people have pointed out that Rodgers didn’t do enough to win this game. More importantly, people have realized that if Brady threw 3 interceptions, it means that Rodgers’s defense bailed him out 3 times. And the fact of the matter is that Rodgers only scored 6 points off of those turnovers.
And to top if off? At the very end of the game, Rodgers did not go for it.
The reality is that part of being the GOAT is being able to lead comebacks – and part of how you do that is by scoring off turnovers and taking advantage of any opportunity you have. It’s why Brady has so many playoff game-winning drives, and why people think he’s so lucky: he does a much better job of taking advantage of every little opportunity he has.
Win the 2021 NFC Divisional Round Game against San Francisco
This one doesn’t need explanation. There wasn’t much required of Rodgers in this game. For all of the special teams miscues Green Bay had, the game was 10-3 for much of the game. And the last special teams miscue – the blocked punt – could have actually been avoided if Rodgers didn’t take a terrible sack on 3rd down and instead hit his running back open for a checkdown.
And everyone acknowledges him not seeing Davante Adams wide open.
This is a game that most sensible people can agree Rodgers really messed up with.
If It Happened…
Again, Rodgers is a great QB. This isn’t a hate article. As acknowledged, he’s amazing, and in some of those games, he would have had to lead some heroic comebacks. But the point is that being the GOAT requires you to be able to do this routinely. Brady isn’t the GOAT just because he has 7 rings; it’s that in the lead up to many of those titles, he had many iconic, heroic moments. Leading a comeback doesn’t always lead to the team successfully pulling it off because the defense might not always get enough stops, there might be bad officiating, or offensive players might screw up (crucial penalty or fumble). However, leading a comeback attempt raises the odds that one’s team will win at least some of the games in this situation.
If Rodgers had been able to do what was outlined on this list:
In 2014, he and the Packers would have been able to play the Patriots in the Super Bowl – a team that he and the Packers beat in the regular season, and whose defense struggled against him. If he and the Packers win this game, Rodgers has 2 rings, and Brady is still stuck at 3 at this point in 2014. Who knows what would happen with Brady and the Pats if they had lost a 3rd Super Bowl following spygate?
In 2019, if Rodgers plays better, then there is always a chance that the momentum of that game changes. Who knows what happens in the Super Bowl? This one is less bad though, so we can actually exclude it to be nice to him – and to prove a point of how not much was really asked of Rodgers).
Anyway – 2020 – this is one where if Rodgers was the GOAT, it would have been a signature comeback – and another potential postseason victory against Brady. Which means that (assuming the Packers beat the Chiefs in the Super Bowl)… Rodgers in this timeline has 3 rings to Brady’s 5 (Assuming Brady still wins in 2016 and 2018, whether he’s in the Patriots or leaves earlier).
And lastly, in 2021 (the most obvious one in this list), they would have then played a Rams team at home that they dismantled at home earlier in the year. (Stafford’s record against Rodgers at Lambeau is not good.) And they would have played that trash offensive line the Bengals had in the Super Bowl. They defeated the Bengals in the regular season.
This then means Rodgers has 4 Rings and 4 MVPs to Brady’s 5 Rings and 3 MVPs.
All of a sudden… all of those “Brady had better defenses!” arguments are much more credible and worth taking seriously – because in this timeline, you’ll see how Rodgers would have actually won more of those games where his defenses played well. It would also be argued that Rodgers managed to do this with less years starting (2008-2021) than Brady (2001-2021). Add in Rodger’s skillset… then at this point, it would actually be easy to argue him over Brady.
But a lot of this did not happen – largely because in these games listed above, Rodgers did not score off turnovers (something Brady damn near always did), and trust and throw to his other receivers by reading the coverage instead of playing it too safe and targeting the same guy all the time. He also took too many sacks in certain drives.
Again, Rodgers is still a great QB. But these games have hurt his GOAT case.
