Aaron Rodgers has done astonishing things throughout his seven years as the Green Bay Packers quarterback. He holds the all-time record for touchdown/interception ratio with a 3.96 mark, an unbelievable mark compared to Tom Brady (2.74), which is second all-time. Rodgers 106 career quarterback rating is also the best all-time, nearly 10 points higher than Tony Romo who is second at 97.6. Despite these phenomenal records, one major criticism of Rodgers remains.
Immediately after the Packers lost in overtime to the Seattle Seahawks, some immediately brought up Rodgers 6-5 playoff record. They expanded on that by adding that if you take away his 2010 Super Bowl run, he is 3-5 in the playoffs. While these debates always can be found on Twitter in 140 character battles, it's more thorough to write about this belief and address it.
First off, completely removing one of the best Super Bowl runs by a quarterback is questionable to start. In the 2010 playoffs, Rodgers compiled 11 total touchdowns to two interceptions. Of course, the two interceptions came in the NFC Championship against the Chicago Bears.
The focus on Rodgers playoff failures points to the fact that Rodgers beat Caleb Hanie in a 21-14 win. That was the worst playoff performance of his career with a 55.4 quarterback rating and one of his two interceptions coming inside the red zone. So yes, Rodgers played poorly on the road versus the Bears and credit should go to his team for winning the game.
But in the two playoff games leading up to Chicago, Rodgers threw 6 touchdowns with zero interceptions and a rushing touchdown. He had a quarterback rating over 120 in both games and was magnificent in the Super Bowl. Against the Pittsburgh Steelers 2010 defense which finished second in total yards allowed per game, Rodgers completed 24 of 39 passes for 309 yards and three touchdowns. He fit passes into windows smaller than you could imagine and earned Super Bowl MVP honors. But for the sake of the "Rodgers lack of playoff success" narrative, we'll ignore this.
2009 NFC Wildcard Round: Green Bay Packers @ Arizona Cardinals
So now let's focus on Rodgers 3-5 record outside of 2010. He has helped lead Green Bay to the playoffs each of the past six seasons, with his first career playoff start resulting in a loss. That loss came on the road against the Arizona Cardinals, a wild card round game and things were ugly early. Arizona led 31-10 early in the third quarter and was well on their way to a blowout win. Rodgers led the Packers on a 21-point comeback and tied the game at 38 with 10:57 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Of course, Green Bay's defense followed the theme of that playoff game in 2009. Kurt Warner move down the field and take a 45-38 lead with 4:55 left. In Rodgers first playoff start, he answered right back by leading a three-minute drive capped off by an 11-yard touchdown pass to Spencer Havner to tie it at 45. The game would go into overtime where on a third and five, he was hit by Cardinals cornerback Michael Adams and the ball came loose as Adams hand hit the ball and Rodgers face.
The ball wound up ricocheting off Rodgers leg and into the arms of Karlos Dansby who returned it for a touchdown. In a game where Rodgers set the franchise-record for passing yards (423) and had five total touchdowns, he walked off the field with a playoff loss. Warner had a historic game as well, finishing with more touchdown passes (five) than incompletions (four). This is one of the losses that people refer to as part of that 3-5 record.
2011 NFC Divisional Round: New York Giants @ Green Bay Packers
In 2011 after the Packers 15-1 season, the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants immediately knocked out of the playoffs. In that playoff game at Lambeau Field, Green Bay lost 37-20 and Rodgers finished with just 264 passing yards and completing just 26 of 42 pass attempts. It certainly wasn't vintage Rodgers by any means, but many forget the play that really ripped the life out of Green Bay and Lambeau Field.
New York had a 13-10 lead with 15 seconds remaining on a running clock and the ball at their own 40 on 3rd and 1. Just as Eli Manning handed the ball off to Ahmad Bradshaw to seemingly run out the clock, the play was blown dead due to a Mike McCarthy timeout. On the next play, Bradshaw breaks off a 23-yard run and gets out of bounds with six seconds left at the Packers' 37-yard line. New York still ran the ball to try and outrun the clock but Green Bay wasn't prepared for it and Bradshaw made them pay. Then instead of attempting a 55-yard field goal, Manning lofted it deep to Hakeem Nicks for the touchdown and a 20-10 lead.
It was the switch that really flipped momentum for the game and things got worse. Green Bay got the ball to start the second half and took it all the way to the Giants' 30-yard line, but too much pressure got through on the blitz and the ball was knocked out of Rodgers hands and recovered by New York. It prevented a scoring drive for the Packers, but Green Bay still only trailed 23-13 in the fourth quarter. But with 7:08 left in the fourth quarter, Rodgers found running back Ryan Grant for a gain of 10, but Grant fumbled and Giants linebacker Chase Blackburn returned it to the Green Bay four-yard line. Manning hooked up with Mario Manningham immediately after to take a 30-13 lead, essentially sealing the game.
Rodgers finished with two touchdowns an interception and a fumble against the Giants, contributing to two of Green Bay's four turnovers. The interception came on the final drive of the game when Green Bay trailed by 17. The biggest impact from this game was New York capitalizing on Kuhn and Grant's turnovers along with McCarthy's timeout. Those three sequences alone contributed to 17 of the Giants' 37 points.
Rodgers plays a role in the loss–he completed fewer than 60 percent of his passes and could only put Green Bay in position for 20 points. But putting this loss on him when there were far bigger mistakes made by Green Bay makes simplifying it down to "Rodgers can't get it done", a ludicrous comment.
2012 and 2013: Green Bay Packers vs. San Francisco 49ers
Both teams have faced off at each other's home in the playoffs, so I've put them together to look at how Rodgers' fared against the defense and why the Packers were one and done in the playoffs in consecutive years to the same team.
It starts in 2012 in San Francisco, a return home for Rodgers as he tries to knock out the team that passed on him years ago. Thanks to a 52-yard interception pick-six and DuJuan Harris's 17-yard touchdown run, Green Bay leads 14-7 at the end of the quarter. San Francisco answered back with two touchdowns, but Rodgers came back and tied it at 21-21 with 2:39 remaining in the second quarter. David Akers went on to make a field goal with seconds remaining to give San Francisco a 24-21 lead, but the game was still close at 24-21.
The 49ers went on to score 21 unanswered points and it was all started by Colin Kaepernick’s 56-yard touchdown run off the read-option. Kaepernick torched the Packers defense up and down the field, setting an NFL record with 181 rushing yards by a quarterback. The running threat of Kaepernick and Gore combined for 300 rushing yards and three touchdowns, Kaepernick also chipped in 263 passing yards and two more scores. San Francisco went on to score 45 points in that game, the second time in four years Green Bay’s defense allowed 45-plus points in a playoff game.
It was an unspectacular night for Rodgers, completing 26 of 39 passes for 257 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. The interception resulted in seven points for the 49ers but their biggest problem in that matchup was their inability to stop the 49ers’ running attack. As a result, San Francisco won time of possession 38 minutes to 22 minutes. Even if Rodgers avoided the interception, Green Bay was not going to put up more than 45 points against a 49ers defense that finished second in points allowed that season. If this playoff loss is placed single-handedly on the shoulders of anyone, the blame rests on Dom Capers and his defense.
Green Bay had a shot at redemption the following season against the 49ers, this time with a chance to beat them at Lambeau Field. In 2013, Green Bay sneaked into the playoffs after Rodgers missed half the season with a broken collarbone then returned in Week 17 to beat the Chicago Bears and clinch the NFC North.
Of course, this was the year that the 12-4 49ers had to travel to (7-9-1) Green Bay, but that discussion is for another time. This was a much different game from the one fans saw just a year earlier.
San Francisco broke out to a 6-0 lead, but Rodgers hooked up with Jordy Nelson for a touchdown midway through the second quarter. Frank Gore quickly answered by running right at the defense and eventually found the end zone, taking a 13-7 lead. The 49ers held the lead until the fourth quarter when John Kuhn punched it into the end zone from a yard out to give Green Bay a 17-13 lead. Unfortunately the lead didn't last long, two minutes later Kaepernick connected with Vernon Davis for a 28-yard touchdown.
Despite the narrative that Rodgers can’t lead comebacks in the fourth quarter, he answered with a five-minute drive. The drive stalled six yards short of the end zone, but Mason Crosby converted the 24-yard field goal to tie things up at 20 with five minutes remaining. Now all Green Bay needed was to hold the 49ers and give Rodgers enough time for a game-winning drive.
That opportunity never came to fruition, though Green Bay came very close. San Francisco started at their own 20-yard line with and immediately converted an 11-yard pass to Michael Crabtree. After an incompletion, Kaepernick locked on to his first read and fired to Anquan Boldin. Packers free safety Micah Hyde jumped up and timed the pass perfectly. The ball went right off his hands, a game changing interception slipped right through his fingertips. Green Bay would have been set up with the ball at the 49ers 31 with 4:14 remaining, instead the 49ers got a second chance.
Kaepernick completed his next three passes, moving the 49ers down to the Packers 40-yard line. They used the remaining minute on the clock to set up Phil Dawson for a game-winning 33-yard field goal. The clock expired and the 49ers walked off Lambeau Field with a 23-20 playoff victory.
In this game, Green Bay changed up their game plan. Rodgers attempted a career playoff-low 26 pass attempts for 177 yards, while Green Bay ran the football 31 times for 124 yards. McCarthy’s decision to go with a balanced attack might have prevented any turnovers, but it took the ball out of the hands far too often from their best player. Then when the defense needed to make a play, they couldn’t get it done.
In both of these matchups, Green Bay ultimately couldn’t stop Kaepernick’s dual-threat ability enough. He combined for 279 rushing yards, 490 passing yards and five total touchdowns. Meanwhile, Rodgers combined for 43/65 for 434 passing yards, three touchdowns and one interception.
Rodgers vs. Tom Brady
The numbers certainly aren’t stellar, but his numbers against the 49ers in recent years could be compared to Tom Brady who is constantly praised for his playoff success. Between 2009-2012, Brady faced Baltimore’s defense three times (2009. 2011, 2012). Over those three playoff meetings, the Patriots went 1-2 and their quarterback’s numbers were not impressive. Brady’s stat line was 74/132 for 713 yards for four touchdowns and seven interceptions. Brady was facing a tremendous defense, but the Ravens had his number each time. Now Brady does have three Super Bowl rings, but there is already proof that some future Hall of Fame quarterbacks just have a team they struggle against in the playoffs.
Brady earned his revenge this year against the Ravens, granted their secondary was ripped to shred by injuries. But Brady still knocked off a team that has always been a thorn in his side, just like Rodgers will have the chance to do in future seasons. If you just want to compare each quarterbacks past 12 playoff games, Brady is 6-6. Some will point to Rodgers beating the Minnesota Vikings led by Joe Webb and the Bears led by Caleb Hanie, but Brady has those playoff games as well. New England trounced the Tim Tebow-led Broncos in 2011 and quickly dispatched the Matt Schaub led Houston Texans. The only real difference is because Brady won three Super Bowls a decade ago, his recent wins and losses aren’t examined as much.
But the bigger point in all of this is that playoff wins and losses are not a direct quarterback statistic. While the quarterback certainly plays a big role in a game, wins and losses are determined by how a team plays. If Hyde holds on to that interception or Brandon Bostick doesn’t interfere on the onside kick last Sunday versus the Seahawks, Rodgers playoff record would at least be 9-3. Rodgers has a better offensive line and better wide receivers than Brady, but Brady also has arguably the best coach the game has ever seen. This is why surrounding talent is important but the most important factor is having a great head coach who has an excellent game plan, can make adjustments and put his team in the best position to win.
If anyone’s record or performance in the playoffs should be scrutinized here, it’s Mike McCarthy. He made costly decisions versus the Seahawks this year, New York Giants in 2011 and a handful of more errors scattered throughout his playoff tenure. That includes the 2010 NFC Championship where with a 14-0 halftime lead against Caleb Hanie, he went conservative and it nearly cost Green Bay the game. There is a trend of costly decisions and passive football that has dearly cost Green Bay in the postseason.