Packers: Aaron Rodgers on pace for career-best numbers
Aaron Rodgers is arguably having his best season for the Packers.
Aaron Rodgers won the NFL MVP award in 2011 and 2014. The Green Bay Packers‘ star quarterback could finish with even better numbers this season than in both of those incredible years.
Rodgers has led one of the league’s best offenses this season, with the Packers ranking seventh in offensive yards per game and third in points per game.
In only eight games, Rodgers has thrown for 2,253 yards and 24 touchdowns with just two interceptions. Already, he’s almost passed his passing touchdowns total for the previous two seasons.
Halfway through the year, we’ve got a strong sample size for Rodgers’ numbers. He’s currently on pace to finish the year with 4,506 passing yards and 48 touchdowns with four interceptions.
That’s three more touchdown passes than he threw in his historic MVP season in 2011. It would also be just the second time in his career that he’s hit 4,500 passing yards.
Rodgers deserves to be right there in the MVP race this season. Russell Wilson’s name keeps coming up as the favorite, but you could argue Rodgers has been every bit as impressive this year.
Wilson has more passing yards than Rodgers (2,541 to 2,253) and more touchdowns (28 to 24), but Wilson has also been far less careful with the football. Wilson has thrown eight interceptions and fumbled twice, compared to just two interceptions and one fumble for Rodgers.
Rodgers’ numbers are much closer to Patrick Mahomes’. Mahomes has played a game more than Rodgers, so here’s a look at their averages:
Mahomes averages per game: 298.6 passing yards, 2.78 touchdowns, 0.11 interceptions
Rodgers averages per game: 281.6 passing yards, 3 touchdowns, 0.25 interceptions
Wilson and Mahomes are often talked about as the potential MVP this year, but Rodgers should be right there in the same conversation.
Eight games through the season, he’s playing some of the best football of his career.
If Rodgers can continue this pace, he will set a new career-best for touchdown passes in a season and perhaps could lead the Packers all the way to the Super Bowl.