SmashMouth

So why is Aaron Rogers considered by some better than Brees already?

CHA_CHING

Rodgers has always been considered better than Brees since 2011. I think it's due to him playing for a storied franchise with the Green Bay Packers having loads of iconic history and 2 previous HoF QBs.

Rodgers' MVP over Brees in 2011 don't help the case either and he has 2 MVPs. In both of his MVP seasons though, Rodgers did not lead the league in anything except QB rating. He was outplayed by Brees and Brady in 2011 and was outdone by Peyton Manning for most of 2014.

In 2011, he was behind Brees in yards and TDs (also behind Tom Brady, who finished the year just slightly behind Brees and should've been in the MVP debate too). The only thing he really had over Brees was that holy precious TD/INT ratio that he has always played to protect by taking a large amount of sacks and throwing the ball out of bounds rather than risking an INT. It helped that Rodgers' team was 15-1, while both Brees and Brady's teams were 13-3.

Rodgers' Packers with a 15-1 record hilariously went one and done to a flukey 9-7 team they had previously beaten in the regular season. Rodgers didn't play all that well in that playoff game either, as he got outplayed by Eli Manning.

In 2014, I think everyone has forgotten that Peyton Manning was the front runner for MVP that year until he fell off a cliff. Manning was lighting the league on fire early in 2014 as Denver didn't look like they were suffering any hangover from their bad blowout loss in the SB. Denver even went into Seattle and had the defending champs on the ropes with Manning leading a huge 4th quarter comeback and taking the game to OT. Something went horribly wrong for Manning and the Broncos around week 11 when they faced the Rams and they were never the same again. After that Rams loss, was when Denver transitioned from an offense heavy team, to winning games by their defense doing all the heavy lifting. Manning still threw for over 4,900 yards and 30+ TDs (ahead of Rodgers) though he ended the year on a sour note with how badly he collapsed. Brees' end to 2018 was similar to this.

The Packers went into the 2014 playoffs favorites to make the SB. They didn't look all that impressive against Dallas; a game where Tony Romo thoroughly outplayed Rodgers. At one point, Dallas led by 8 and had the chance to really blow their doors off. GB needed one of the most horrible calls (The Dez Bryant catch) to barely escape a Cowboys team that had completely outplayed them that day. If the Dez Bryant catch isn't overturned, Dallas most likely reaches the NFC title game.

A week later, like perfect karma, the Packers blow a 16-0 lead in the NFC title game. Rodgers had 2 early INTs in this game and spent the remainder of the game playing to protect his stats and not doing much else. Russell Wilson had a total of 5 INTs yet despite this horrible number, still arguably outplayed the league MVP by leading a comeback and having the game winning hail mary in OT. (Rodgers did not have another deep pass for the rest of the game after his 2nd INT in only the first quarter.)

Even during his prime, Rodgers was often getting outplayed by 3 older QBs who are all historically better than him - Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Drew Brees. It's a shame Brees couldn't win an MVP when Manning and Brady racked were able to get one during this time.

Rodgers is overrated and I've been saying this for years. On the other Saints forum, some of my most-liked posts were on the Aaron Rodgers threads pointing out how the only stat he is really impressive in, is his TD/INT ratio. He's not even in the top 10 on yards, Y/A, sack percentage or completion. He plays to protect his stats and when you take away that TD/INT ratio, you start to see that he's just a barely above average QB. Rodgers has historically benefited from the worst division in the NFC. People love to talk about how bad the AFC East is, but the NFC North has been just as bad during Rodgers' career if not worse. His QBR and win/loss percentage against Detroit, Chicago and Minnesota is ridiculously high, and his stats go down dramatically when Green Bay has had to face teams above .500 - this cannot be said about Brady and the Pats, whom have been dominating the entire league for nearly 20 years.

I point to Aaron Rodgers when arguing that avoiding sacks should be a more important stat than INT percentage, cause he's one of the worst QBs of this era when it comes to avoiding sacks. So many times, Rodgers will stand there and take the sack or end up getting sacked by stupidly moving out of the pocket trying to extend plays, rather than throw a checkdown pass or force a ball in tight coverage. That super amazing TD/INT ratio is worthless when you aren't taking risks to move down the field. The Packers ranked worse than Cleveland in the last 3 years at first downs.

This idea that he was the next Manning/Brady/Brees, was laughable years ago. He's not better than Brett Favre either. Say what you will about Favre's interceptions, but Favre was more consistent with moving down the field and taking chances. Favre also was much better at avoiding sacks. If he was going to lose, he was going down in flames trying, not standing there taking sacks to avoid risking an INT or throwing the ball out of bounds constantly.

jeanpierre

My favorite from the talking heads is that Brees has the advantage of a passing system...

Exactly who has Green Bay had as a running back? All they do is throw, throw, throw and that's why they're in mediocrity...

Payton finally figured it out you gotta run and guess what? Brees was more efficient as the top ranked passer throwing 32 PaTds to Rodgers 25...

st thomas

Green Bay better pick some good athletes to get out the hole they just dug for themselves

jeanpierre

Well, Payton gifted 'em an add'l first round pick, so it's on them if they fumble it...